2016 elections

November 13, 2015 - Republicans may dominate state politics in the South, but Democrats have managed to hold on to the mayorships of the region's biggest cities. There are limits to local control, however — and in recent years GOP state lawmakers have imposed even more.

October 16, 2015 - A growing body of research, including a new report from the Institute for Southern Studies, details the growing gap between those funding elections and we the people.

September 21, 2015 - So far this year 67 individuals and companies have given $1 million or more to super PACs supporting presidential candidates. Southern donors, including many Texas oil billionaires, account for over 50 percent of the contributions and have given exclusively to GOP candidates. 

September 17, 2015 - Millions of people across the South and the rest of the country will cast ballots next year using outdated voting equipment, increasing the risk of failures that could cause long lines and missed or incorrect votes. While many local election officials want to buy new machines, they say they don't know where they'd get the money.

September 15, 2015 - "I came here today because I believe from the bottom of my heart that it is vitally important for those of us who hold different views to be able to engage in a civil discourse," the U.S. senator and presidential hopeful told the crowd at Liberty University, an Evangelical Christian school in Lynchburg, Virginia.

June 19, 2015 - A new study from the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina estimates that tens of thousands of would-be voters were prevented from casting ballots or having them count in last year's elections due to a restrictive voting law passed in 2013. The law is being challenged in federal court, with arguments set to begin next month.

April 10, 2015 - The current field of declared and soon-to-be declared presidential candidates includes politicians who've gone to bat for tax avoiders -- and have sought to avoid taxes themselves.