In 2004, North Carolina established the nation’s first effective public financing program for judicial elections. The Judicial Public Campaign Fund addresses the inherent conflict of judges raising big money from attorneys who appear in their courts. It provides an alternative source of campaign money for candidates for the NC Supreme Court and Court of Appeals [...]
Regardless of how you felt about who won the White House or State House, record levels of Big Money and new restrictions on voting played a bigger role in the 2012 election than you might imagine, according to this sweeping essay in The American Prospect magazine. As you might expect, North Carolina takes center stage [...]
Here’s a link to a short and powerful video that documents the impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United (“corporations may buy elections”) decision on North Carolina politics – and what North Carolinians can do about it. The video was produced in conjunction with Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies. Speakers are available to show [...]
Here’s an essay from the Center for American Progress about the need for reforming how judicial elections are financed. It features North Carolina’s public financing program and discusses ways it could be improved with a new provision that said qualifying candidates could receive supplementary public funds to match small donations they raise from voters, up [...]
“If justice and fairness are to prevail, the integrity of the court's justices and the proceedings cannot be influenced by money or even have the appearance of being sold to the highest bidder. Whenever this possibility arises, we must call on the court to examine itself, and if necessary, recuse any justice or judge whose [...]
For the latest analysis of electioneering groups spending money to influence the outcome of North Carolina’s gubernatorial, Supreme Court and other elections, see this updated report from the Institute for Southern Studies released today. WRAL reports that the volume of Republican Party money spent on ads to elect Paul Newby to the Supreme Court puts [...]
An update from the Institute for Southern Studies asks, “What do Big Tobacco, insurance interests, and a D.C. group that's spent millions to help Republicans draw political lines all have in common? In North Carolina, they've all put big money into a pair of super PACs that want to re-elect Justice Paul Newby and maintain [...]
A concise column by veteran reporter and former Raleigh city council member Barlow Herget begins: “There are two, fast-moving major trends in the United States that are changing society and government. And they are connected. The older trend is the increasing inequality of income in the country. It started in the 1960s when CEO’s were [...]
The group that spent $1.5 million in 2010 to help Republicans win control of the NC General Assembly is back again this year. New reports show Real Jobs NC has spent nearly $700,000 so far on a handful on state legislative races and the governor’s contest. More spending is expected, most of it for nasty [...]
North Carolina is not the only state where judges are elected in nonpartisan contests on a ballot full of partisan candidates. In Michigan, one Supreme Court candidate has found a way to call attention to the problem. She’s enlisted her sister’s co-stars from the “West Wing” hit series to cut a polished ad about getting [...]