Update on U.S. Senate Candidate Wiley Nickel’s Fundraising
Two weeks after relaunching his campaign, lack of fundraising update raises serious questions
Two weeks ago, former Rep. Wiley Nickel relaunched his campaign for the United States Senate, in a long-shot attempt to defeat Republican incumbent Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina).
After serving in the Obama administration as an advance staffer, responsible for planning and executing events, Nickel set up a law firm in Cary focused on traffic and drunk driving offenses. He later partnered with a seasoned lawyer specializing in criminal defense. During his 2022 House campaign, he clarified that he focused on the lower-level traffic and drunk driving offenses and stayed away from the more challenging criminal defense work.
After one term in Congress, Nickel decided to focus on a race for U.S. Senate instead of building a bipartisan coalition for his reelection. He has effectively been running for Senate since late 2023.
Nickel’s lackluster fundraising
As The Blue Ridge Times observed when he first announced, Nickel’s fundraising so far is not where it needs to be for a major Senate contest. His most recent fundraising report came out late last week, and it does not paint a rosy picture.
Here are some of the key takeaways from his most recent fundraising report.
Since 2023, Nickel has raised only $2.4 million, including a $765,000 loan from himself.
His campaign had over $1.9 million in total disbursements during this time.
The report shows that his campaign only has $521,848 cash on hand at the end of Q1, with $926,858.01 in debts/loans owed by the committee.
The campaign has a burn rate of 78%.
For comparison, Cheri Beasley raised nearly $1.3 million in the first quarter of her 2022 Senate campaign and went on to raise over $38 million.
Tim’s Take: Typically, a financially struggling campaign like Nickel’s would announce fundraising numbers after a campaign launch to soften the impact of a lackluster campaign finance report. But so far, his campaign has provided no update on his fundraising. The silence from the Nickel campaign may indicate that they know that they are in trouble and that relaunching the campaign did not fix their financial situation.
