2012 elections

August 22, 2012 - The theme of the Republican National Convention in Florida is "We Built This," an echo of the GOP's anti-government spending message. But bashing the public sector may not fly in Florida, a state that relies on defense dollars, the space program and other taxpayer-funded programs for economic survival.

August 10, 2012 - Latinos are a fast-growing electoral force -- but will they realize their political potential in November?

July 26, 2012 - Big spending by super PACs in federal races has grabbed headlines, but outside money can have an even bigger influence in state-level politics. Enter FollowNCMoney.org, a landmark project to track the deluge of independent spending in the battleground state of North Carolina.

July 17, 2012 - A new report finds that more than 4 million Southern citizens are blocked from voting by laws that deny citizenship to those with a felony on their record. In a state like Florida, it could tip the election.

July 12, 2012 - The Democratic Party tied its upcoming convention's fortunes to Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, now embroiled in a scandal over an abrupt CEO switch following the company's merger with Progress Energy. What will the controversy mean for the party in the upcoming election?

July 12, 2012 - To quell criticism of the state's new voter ID law, Tennessee lawmakers offered to provide free photo IDs to those without one. But the state's own data shows that the program is reaching only a fraction of voters who will need it to vote this fall.

July 10, 2012 - The recent jobs report showed the economy continues to struggle. Many of the states that have seen the biggest job gains are in the South -- but that likely won't help Obama much in November.