for campaign spending, with 98 percent of the donors from North Carolina. For 2012, the North Carolina Board of Elections required second-quarter campaign-finance reports to be filed by July 11. In the first-quarter campaign-finance reports, McCrory showed that his campaign added at least $1 million more to its bottom line than Dalton's campaign. In the first quarter McCrory reported outraising Dalton by more than $1 million. He also reported raising nearly $3 million more than Dalton for the election cycle to date. McCrory reported having $3.1 million cash on hand, and Dalton reported $670,356.14. 2016 McCrory faced Cooper in the hotly contested 2016 general election. On election night, McCrory narrowly trailed Cooper, with fewer than 5,000 votes separating the candidates out of more than 4.6 million cast. On November 10, 2016, McCrory's campaign set up a legal defense fund in anticipation of a legal battle and potential recount. The campaign cited "grave concerns over potential irregularities" regarding 90,000 votes from Durham County. McCrory conceded the race to Cooper on December 5. The McCrory campaign filed election protests alleging that voter fraud helped Cooper in 50 counties. On December 5, 2016, McCrory conceded the race to Cooper. McCrory is the first sitting Governor of North Carolina to lose a bid for reelection since Charles Manly in 1850. In November 2018, McCrory falsely claimed that there were many North Carolina students who committed voter fraud during the 2016 election. McCrory said that North Carolina students with out-of-state driving licenses were illegally voting and that voter ID laws would have stopped them; however, it is entirely legal for college students to vote in the state where they are attending college. The News & Observer noted that it is illegal to spread misinformation about people's voting eligibility; McCrory said he was simply "raising questions." Tenure McCrory took office on January 5, 2013, the first Republican Governor of the state since James G. Martin left office on January 9, 1993. His swearing-in gave the Republicans complete control of state government for the first time since Reconstruction. Legislation McCrory's election marked the first time that Republicans controlled both houses of the General Assembly as well as the governorship since 1870. From taking office, McCrory had signed into law a number of bills promoting conservative governance. He signed legislation which made North Carolina the 8th state to cut unemployment benefits since the 2007 start of the Great