RALEIGH – Republicans now in charge of the North Carolina Legislature are capitalizing on their newly-earned political power and filling their campaign coffers for a big election year.

GOP leaders of the Senate and House held a fundraising advantage over their Democratic counterparts during 2011, according to campaign finance reports filed recently with the State Board of Elections. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, reported raising $505,866 in the past year – more than what all 19 Democrats currently in the Senate raised for their individual campaigns, the state Senate Republican Caucus said.

In the House, Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, reported raising $490,898 over the past year, compared to $189,541 for Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, their campaign committees reported. Fundraising totals by legislative leaders are considered key indicators. Those lawmakers historically have raised money so it can be distributed to other candidates, often using the state parties as conduits. The committees of Berger and Tillis also had more than $837,000 in cash combined as of Dec. 31.

“Being able to raise money is critical for us to communicate our message directly” to voters, Tills said Tuesday in an interview. “The fact that we reached the levels that we did bodes well for us to continue that going into the election season.”

Campaign finance analyst Jonathan Kappler said the advantage is not surprising, given that Democrats in the Legislature had a fundraising edge over Republican candidates when they were in the majority. Political action committees, many of which are linked to interest groups that lobby lawmakers, also funneled more money to Republican leaders in advance or and after the 2011 budget-writing session at the Legislature.

“It’s clear that money flows to power,” said Kappler, research director at the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation, a nonpartisan business-oriented group. “It did when Democrats were in control. That’s exactly what we’re seeing with Republicans in control.”

Republicans said the overall advantage is larger in the Senate when all incumbents and announced candidates for the 2012 elections are counted. In the Senate, Republicans say they raised nearly $2.1 million from individuals and PACs compared to $447,150 for Democrats. There’s also a nearly 4-to-1 ratio in favor of the GOP senators and candidates it comes to cash on hand.

The House is more competitive. Republican incumbents and candidates raised $2.4 million compared to $1.7 million for the Democrats, while the GOP candidates and incumbents had $2.1 million on cash compared to $1.9 million for Democrats, according to House Republican Caucus documents based on campaign reports.

Democrats said the fundraising advantage is skewed because campaign committees of Republican incumbents have reported nearly $1.2 million in loans from their personal funds to help inflate their totals. The money will have to be repaid at some point unless GOP lawmakers are willing to risk never getting their money back, said Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe.

“You don’t ever want to be behind, but most of the fundraising that I’ve ever done” occurs in the election year, not the year before, said Nesbitt, who reported raising $52,264 in 2011. The committee of Minority Whip Josh Stein, D-Wake, brought in the most among Senate Democrats at $145,871.

Berger, the Senate leader, reported no outstanding debts by his political committee. Stein’s committee reported a $50,000 loan to himself that originated in 2008.

Until 2010, it wasn’t unusual for Democrats to have a sizeable fundraising advantage of 3- or 4-to-1 over Republicans. Democratic heavyweights such as Senate leader Marc Basnight, Sen. Tony Rand and House Speaker Jim Black helped raise money for other candidates for commercials and mailers as the party preserved their majorities.

State Republicans kept within striking distance financially of Democrats in 2010 and were aided by $1.7 million in spending by outside groups that targeted more than 20 Democratic incumbents. In November 2010, the GOP won simultaneous control of the House and Senate for the first time since 1870.

Kappler said it remains to be seen whether Republicans such as Tillis and Berger can grow the kind of statewide fundraising network such as Basnight did to help Democrats remain in charge of the Legislature for so long.

“The political calculus has just changed in North Carolina,” he said.

Nesbitt said legislative Democrats would pick up fundraising during 2012. He predicted party candidates would benefit this year from outside political groups, too, and receive assistance from get-out-the-vote and other campaign efforts by President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in North Carolina.

By Election Day 2010, Republicans were on par with Democrats on fundraising, Nesbitt said, “and we’ll be at parity in this election.”

Fundraising totals by the state parties show the North Carolina Republican Party raised $932,629 during 2011 compared to $733,975 by the state Democratic Party. Cash on hand is essentially even, with the state GOP at $273,116 and the Democrats at $262,610, according to campaign finance reports.