eric levinson

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.

November 21, 2014 - Independent spending continues to grow in North Carolina politics, topping $9 million in 2014. But the groups involved and the way the money is spent is evolving, reshaping the state's political landscape.

October 31, 2014 - In the first year since the demise of the state's judicial public financing program, candidate fundraising and outside spending have pushed the cost of North Carolina court elections to a record high.

October 23, 2014 - Over the past 15 years, North Carolina's high court has sided against the environment in every major environmental law case it's considered, a new study finds. And with the court's three Democrats facing tough re-election challenges, the odds could become even more stacked.

October 17, 2014 - In the first election since the end of North Carolina's judicial public financing program, Supreme Court and Court of Appeals candidates have raised nearly three times the amount of individual contributions as they had in recent elections -- and much of that money is coming from those with matters before the courts.

September 11, 2014 - A Facing South analysis finds that candidates for the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals are set to spend record sums on campaign ads in the coming weeks. The election will be the first in a decade without the state's public financing program for judges, and special-interest money is pouring in.