$2.3 million poured into NC legislative races, much of it from Art Pope

The N.C. FreeEnterprise Foundation has done some heavy lifting to break down outside group spending in state legislative races this year. Turns out there was a lot of it.

From the full report:

Based on our review of the public data currently available, the NCFEF has determined that well over $2.3 million was spent by outside groups in state legislative races during 2010. ...

These funds were spread among 34 legislative campaigns, and the bulk of it (over 90 percent) was spent to the benefit of Republican candidates. ...

Six groups in particular utilized electioneering communications or independent expenditures in North Carolina legislative contests: Real Jobs NC, Real Facts NC, Civitas Action, Americans for Prosperity, Driving NC Forward (NC Automobile Dealers Association), and NC Homeowners Alliance (NC Realtors Association). The investment of these groups ranged from just over $80,000, spent by the NC Homeowners Alliance, to approximately $1.5 million, spent by Real Jobs NC.

Real Jobs NC is the now-well-known Art Pope vehicle, which generated quite a few stories in the waning days of this election season, and in the weeks that followed.

The Rob Christensen piece linked above was the most thorough, but I think my favorite piece was a bit of a hit-job from the liberal Independent Weekly in Raleigh:

Pope, of course, did not have to look to the government for his job. He looked to his daddy, the late John William Pope, who in 1949 was put in charge of five family-owned dime stores in eastern North Carolina. John William Pope turned that modest grubstake into a retailing empire spanning 14 southeastern states. He hired Art as a vice president. Now Art's the CEO! ...

The company makes no secret that its target demographic is low-income communities with large minority populations. ... Using the profits he makes from selling to the less fortunate, Art Pope pours millions into conservative and right-wing organizations that advance his anti-government, I-made-it-why-can't-you? agenda.

Lots of anger in that writing. But you do have to appreciate what it takes for an unabashedly conservative multi-millionaire to make it perfectly clear that he wants to build stores near poor black people. The screen shot below is from Variety Wholesalers website, and it describes the types of locations where Pope's company will consider locating new stores.

Click the image to enlarge, and focus on bullet points 3 and 4.



One thing to be clear about: This post is a mash up of sorts. The N.C. FreeEnterprise report didn't mention Pope by name, or at least didn't do so in the portions I read. Their report was a news peg for me to mention something I found interesting a few weeks ago, when I first saw The Independent's piece.