dark money

July 25, 2025 - A North Carolina bill is the latest effort by GOP donors and advocates to hide Big Money political spending from public view. As they try to overturn the governor's veto, they're lobbying Democrats to join the anti-transparency cause.

May 26, 2022 - Republicans and corporate interests spent large sums on recent appellate court elections in Arkansas and North Carolina. Incumbents fended off the challenges, but the results set the stage for multimillion-dollar judicial elections this fall as the GOP and its business backers prepare to spend unprecedented amounts on crucial court races.

January 16, 2020 - Since the U.S Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United 10 years ago, corporate campaign cash has poured into supreme court races across the South. With seats up for grabs this year in Arkansas, North Carolina, and West Virginia, that trend is likely to continue.

June 17, 2016 - A watchdog group has filed complaints against 10 "social welfare" nonprofits for allegedly breaking campaign finance laws. Six of the nonprofits are also targets of a criminal complaint submitted to the FBI and Justice Department accusing them of lying to the IRS. Several are part of the Koch brothers' conservative spending machine.

June 10, 2016 - MapLight has compiled a database of all politically active "social welfare" nonprofits, many of which formed after a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling loosening rules for political spending. It documents 650 such groups in the South, with some of the top-grossing ones part of the billionaire Koch brothers' formidable political spending machine.

May 28, 2015 - North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has become a leading national advocate for expanded offshore drilling — a role that builds on almost three decades of his close personal, economic and political ties to the energy industry.

May 6, 2015 - Over 100 corporations will receive shareholder resolutions this year calling on them to voluntarily disclose their political spending and lobbying activities. Some companies have already begun disclosing this information voluntarily, including North Carolina-based tobacco giant Reynolds American.