Destin Hall, The Next Big Raleigh Sugar-Daddy

This is about the Lenoir lawyer Destin Hall, elected to the NC House from Dist. 87 in 2016. He rose fast in the Republican caucus, became head of the Redistricting (Gerrymandering) Committee and as a favor to Ray Pickett, carved the largest precinct (Blue Ridge) out of Watauga County and added it to his own Dist. 87 and gave Pickett's 93rd the whole county of Alleghany to make up for the loss of Blue Ridge Precinct. Yeah, that guy.

'

Destin Hall is the presumptive new Speaker of the NC House, soon to replace Tim Moore, who seems destined for greater profit margins in Mugstomp-on-the-Potomac. As Speaker, Hall will wield great power. With the war chest of campaign money described below, Hall will be undisputed sugar daddy to aspiring Republican politicians.

Lucille Sherman for Axios Raleigh:

Republican state Rep. and House Rules Chairman Destin Hall, who is on track to become North Carolina's next House speaker, brought in $750,000 in the second half of 2023 to his campaign.

That appears to be the highest amount ever raised in a non-election year by a lawmaker not at the helm of the House or Senate chambers, his team told Axios.

Though Hall is up for re-election this year, he's expected to easily win his Republican-leaning district, which means he doesn't need to raise a significant amount of money to win. But legislative leaders tend to be major fundraisers, which in turn helps them keep their party in power. Hall's latest campaign finance report signals he's well-positioned to help Republicans get re-elected and maintain power in the House.
"As our caucus prepares for a transition of leadership, it's important that we have unity and a common focus as we enter 2024," Hall said in a statement to Axios.

"My goal was to help the caucus close 2023 in a strong position and start the new year in a strong cash position as we look to the elections. We've accomplished that goal and we are now laser-focused on adding to our supermajority in 2024."