5 top Election Watch 2010 stories at Facing South

Thanks to our generous supporters (you can still donate today!), Facing South's Election Watch 2010 was a huge success. In case you missed them, here were some of the big stories we covered and broke about the changing Southern political landscape in 2010:

1 - HOW TO BUY A STATE LEGISLATURE

While the media focused on Big Money flooding into Congressional races, flying under the radar were groups like those in North Carolina centered around Republican benefactor Art Pope working to win state races.

As Facing South documented, Pope's family and groups injected more than $2.2 million into some 22 key races in North Carolina -- an average of $100,000 per contest. The result: 16 GOP victories, and five more that could still face recounts -- and Republican control of both state chambers since Reconstruction.

It was especially notable that this spending spree happened in North Carolina, a national leader in campaign finance reform including publicly-financed, "voter-owned" elections for various council of state races. Those reforms are now a top target for the incoming GOP leadership.

2 - DRAWING THE LINES

One of the big reasons outside groups flooded states like North Carolina with so much money is because of redistricting -- the once-a-decade redrawing of political lines that will kick off in 2011 and greatly shape the future of politics.

In all but one Southern state (Arkansas) redistricting is decided by the state legislature. Republicans control seven of the Southern legislatures, including big pick-ups in Alabama and North Carolina; Democrats run three; and three are split. Although polls show the public likes the idea of independent redistricting commissions, lawmakers are saying there's not enough time to have them implemented in time for 2011.

The new lines will also affect Congress: Thanks to the 2010 Census, Southern states are expected to pick up eight new Congressional seats -- thanks especially due to burgeoning Hispanic/Latino populations -- which Republicans will also be in charge of designing.


3 - THE VOTER FRAUD FRAUD

Fox News covered it 24/7 around Election Day. State attorney generals issued dire alerts and warnings about it. It had returned: The Voting Fraud Phantom.

There was only one problem: Despite years of investigations and money from powerful interests, those whipping up voter fraud hysteria had very few cases of verifiable fraud to show for their efforts. The five-year investigation by the Department of Justice under President Bush famously only led to 86 convictions after analyzing millions of voter records.

With its deep roots in opposition to civil rights in the 1960s, the voter fraud crusade wouldn't die. But as Facing South showed, in 2010 -- as in the past -- the voter fraud hype quickly turned into the voter fraud fizzle.

4 - NEW CONGRESS VS. THE ENVIRONMENT

Facing South was one of the first to document what the change in House leadership will mean for the environment.

Over half of the incoming Republicans don't believe in human-caused climate change, the result of an anti-climate science campaign generously backed by energy and other conservative interests. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) takes the especially unusual view that, human-caused or not, sea levels won't rise because "God said the Earth would not be destroyed by a flood."

5 - HAWKS ROOST IN THE HOUSE

The new House leadership is also pushing for a dramatic shift in how the U.S. relates to the world, with two GOP hawks from Florida -- Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Connie Mack -- gaining new power over foreign policy.

Both are especially known for their hard-right positions on Latin America -- especially Cuba -- which has included calling for the assassination of Fidel Castro and defending any opponents of left-leaning governments, even terrorists like Orlando Bosch.

Given the South's unique dependence on the military economy,