Wealthy hosiery factory owner Rep. Robin Hayes (R) raised nearly $673,000 during the third fundraising quarter, according to his campaign. Hayes reported $1.1 million in cash roughly three weeks before his tough rematch with high school teacher Larry Kissell (D), whose campaign bill essentially is being paid for this cycle by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

“This report is a strong show of support, and our support is gaining momentum as we get closer to Election Day,” Hayes said in statement.

The National Republican Congressional Committee continued to hammer Kissell’s campaign last week for “cheating his campaign employees by refusing to pay for workers’ compensation benefits.”

The NRCC has alleged for months that, under North Carolina law, “Kissell’s campaign meets all definitions as an employer that must provide workers’ compensation to its employees,” a claim that the Democrat’s campaign continues to deny

“Either Larry Kissell is providing none of his employees with workers’ compensation benefits as North Carolina stipulates or he is under-reporting the number of staffers he is employing in order to circumvent the law,” NRCC spokesman Ken Spain said in a statement. “For a guy who claims to be fighting for better-paying jobs in a struggling economy, Larry Kissell doesn’t seem too interested in looking out for his own workers.”