501c4s
March 12, 2015 -
Independent political groups unaffiliated with campaigns spent more than $10 million in North Carolina's 2014 state-level elections, nearly tripling the amount spent on legislative races two years earlier. While Republicans enjoyed a slight edge in support, Democrats are catching up.
December 19, 2014 -
501(c)(3) nonprofits are not supposed to get involved in supporting or opposing political candidates -- yet such groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads criticizing specific candidates during the North Carolina election this year. Are they breaking the law or just pushing it to its limits?
August 14, 2014 -
The 60 Plus Association shelled out $11 million in independent expenditures in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles but didn't account for the spending in reports to the IRS. The nonprofit, funded by the billionaire Koch brothers and the oil and gas industry, is spending heavily to defeat Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina in her race against Republican state House Speaker Thom Tillis.
May 23, 2014 -
The agency has postponed indefinitely a hearing on new regulations for social welfare nonprofits that have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars from anonymous donors into elections.
December 6, 2013 -
The American Legislative Exchange Council lost members and money after the 2011 shooting death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his assailant under the state's Stand Your Ground law, which the corporate interest advocacy group helped craft and promote nationwide.
May 17, 2013 -
The recent IRS scandal has brought new attention to the role of so-called "social welfare" nonprofits in politics. What nonprofit groups are trying to influence elections in North Carolina?
