LOD: Corporate $ in Gov’s Contest

The Center for Public Integrity has a useful new report about the role of outside money in the North Carolina governor’s contest. It picks up on a theme raised by Democracy North Carolina in a formal complaint to the State Board of Elections in 2008 – namely, that national Republican and Democratic groups were pumping money into the election without the knowledge of the real donor who gave the money, even though the donors were listed on reports as giving to the NC effort. The Center’s report says, “North Carolina’s race for governor is expected to be the most expensive in the state’s history thanks largely to two deep-pocketed, Washington, D.C.-based organizations whose underwriters may not even know how their funds are being spent. . . . According to paperwork filed with North Carolina election authorities, the ad was paid for by 38 out-of-state corporations to the RGA [Republican Governors Association] – among them, a $75,000 contribution from insurance giant AFLAC. The fact that AFLAC’s donations were used to pay for an ad attacking [Democrat Walter] Dalton was news to the company, according to spokesman John Sullivan. Of the donation, $25,000 was meant to be used for ‘2012 convention sponsorship,’ he said. The RGA says it reserved the right to use the sponsorship money for any purpose it chose, including the ads in North Carolina.” The report includes a chart of the 38 companies and how much they gave, as well as a discussion of the strategy used by the Democratic Governors Association to not even identify which donor’s money it is using for NC “independent” expenditures.