Ron Margiotta holds fundraising lead over Susan Evans

Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta and Susan Evans are both pulling in substantial amounts of cash in the District 8 race, including money from the Popes, Bob Luddy and the Campbells.

The new campaign report filed today by Margiotta shows he had raised $40,367.33 as of Aug. 30 with $34,111.23 on hand. The new report for Evans shows she had raised $26,406.43 as of Aug. 30 with $21,405.30 on hand.

The biggest donors for Margiotta in his new report are the $4,000 apiece from conservative businessman Art Pope, his wife Katherine Pope and conservative businessman Bob Luddy.

Margiotta got donations from Thomas Farr and Kieran Shanahan, attorneys who've both done work for the school board since the new majority took over.

Margiotta also got money from the Lacy Elementary crowd, including SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope and Hope Carmichael.

Other donors include state Reps. Marilyn Avila, Dale Folwell and Tom Murry; Wake County commissioner Phil Matthews; the campaign committee of school board vice chairman John Tedesco; former school board candidate Curt Stangler; the campaign committee of state Rep. Nelson Dollar; the Republican Women of Cary and Southwest Wake and the Southern Wake Republican Club.

Click here for a prior post on Margiotta's donors.

Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here for Margiotta's latest report.

The biggest donors for Evans in her new report are the $4,000 apiece from Ann Campbell and John Campbell. The Campbells have now given at least $48,000 — the maximum pre-runoff amount possible to the five Democratic school board candidates and to the Wake Citizens for Good Government PAC.

We don't have an updated report from for the Wake County Democratic Party. The Campbells were sponsors of a August fundraiser so they gave at least some money then. Unlike candidates and PACs, the amount that can be given to parties is unlimited.

So far, Art and Katherine Pope are recorded as giving a combined $28,100 to three of the GOP school board candidates and the Wake County Republican Party. (I'll get into their new donations to Heather Losurdo in a separate post.)

Luddy is recorded so far as giving $16,000 to four GOP school board candidates.

Evans also got $1,100 from the Democratic Women of Wake County and $1,000 from Swain Wood, the lead attorney in the Open Meetings lawsuit filed by diversity policy supporters against the school system.

Evans also got donations from state Sen. Josh Stein and former school board members Beverley Clark, Wray Stephens and Jeff York. BTW, York is the person that Margiotta defeated to win the board seat in 2003.

Evans also got money from former school board candidate Lois Nixon, Wake County Democratic Party Chairman Mack Paul, Rob Schofield of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch and Ron McFarlane, who is the husband of Raleigh mayoral candidate Nancy McFarlane.

Some other familiar donors for Evans from the diversity fight include Brenda Berg, Matthew Brown, Anne Cooper, Heather Koons, Amy Lee, Betsy Lovejoy, Adrienne Lumpkin, Lettice Rhodes, Neil Riemann, Gerda Stein and Amy Womble.

Click here for a prior post on Evans' donors.

Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here for Evans' latest report.