No contest: congressional reps with scant opposition still attract money from industry giants.

• Position: NC trend

Elections in 11 of North Carolina's 13 congressional districts aren't competitive because gerrymandering gives one party or the other a big majority of registered voters. Still, some large companies --including the biggest cable company, electric utility and retail bank --were major donors to the state's reps in the 2014 election, according to campaign filings compiled by the website OpenSecrets.org, part of the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. Comcast Corp., Duke Energy Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. were among the largest contributors to candidates who faced nominal competition. Excluding two competitive races--won by Renee Ellmers of Dunn and Mark Walker of Greensboro --the 11 winning candidates received an average of $1.1 million in contributions. Their competitors pulled in an average of $65,000. Rep. Patrick McHenry won his race with 61% of the vote, raising $1.7 million, while his rival, Asheville teacher Tate MacQueen, pulled in $82,000. McHenry received at least $10,000 from more than 20 financial-services companies. He is vice chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Beltway backers U.S. Representative 2014 Opponent Big spenders raised raised...