nc citizens for protecting our schools

October 14, 2016 - Numerous political spending groups unaffiliated with campaigns have already poured $6 million into advertising in the key battleground state, with others likely to get involved in the upcoming weeks.

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.

March 12, 2015 - Independent political groups unaffiliated with campaigns spent more than $10 million in North Carolina's 2014 state-level elections, nearly tripling the amount spent on legislative races two years earlier. While Republicans enjoyed a slight edge in support, Democrats are catching up.

December 19, 2014 - 501(c)(3) nonprofits are not supposed to get involved in supporting or opposing political candidates -- yet such groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads criticizing specific candidates during the North Carolina election this year. Are they breaking the law or just pushing it to its limits?

November 21, 2014 - Independent spending continues to grow in North Carolina politics, topping $9 million in 2014. But the groups involved and the way the money is spent is evolving, reshaping the state's political landscape.

September 30, 2014 - Liberal-leaning groups in North Carolina are building their independent political spending network -- but as of now they're still being outspent by conservative-leaning groups by a 2-to-1 margin.

August 29, 2014 - Groups in favor of and opposed to school vouchers have invested heavily in the North Carolina legislature and the state Supreme Court, which is now being asked to release voucher money despite a recent lower court ruling that the program is unconstitutional.