money in politics
March 11, 2016 -
Independent political groups representing business interests are spending big to influence this year's primary races for North Carolina state House and Senate. The outside groups have poured more than $1 million into races, mostly supporting Republicans and conservative Democrats.
February 19, 2016 -
With concern and anger growing over the corrupting influence of big money in politics, activists nationwide and across the South are planning to risk arrest in Washington and take part in solidarity events in states nationwide to demand reform.
February 12, 2016 -
The court battle over North Carolina's congressional and legislative districts highlights the role of well-funded interests in shaping political maps. A Washington, D.C.-based super PAC not only helped draw up the congressional districts that were recently ruled unconstitutional, but also helped elect legislators and an N.C. Supreme Court justice who approved the maps.
February 4, 2016 -
The only super PAC in the billionaire Koch brothers' conservative political network, which is set to spend almost $1 billion on this year's election, Freedom Partners Action Fund just submitted its year-end report to the Federal Elections Commission. It shows a small number of conservative mega-donors are bankrolling the group's efforts, including seven Southern businessmen.
January 21, 2016 -
On the sixth anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision that allowed unlimited private money to flow into U.S. elections, with political spending showing no signs of slowing, citizens and some elected officials are taking action to end what some call "legalized corruption."
December 18, 2015 -
Super PACs, "social welfare" nonprofits, and other outside groups are spending record amounts on ads in the 2016 presidential race, more than triple the total at this point compared to four years ago. But are the ads effective? We consider lessons from North Carolina, a key swing state that in recent elections has attracted record amounts of outside money.
December 10, 2015 -
Twenty-two out of the South's 26 U.S. senators voted against two gun-safety measures the day after last week's massacre in San Bernardino, California. All but one Southern senator voting "nay" received direct campaign donations from the National Rifle Association, benefited from outside political spending by the NRA, or both.