Republican State Leadership Comm

yikes, primary 7/18root of RAGA AND REDMAP?!oops see dup/disambigsee LEO state scotus==state scotus...The JCN and The 85 Fund have paid both of Leo’s for-profit groups, CRC Advisors and BH Group, tens of millions of dollars since 2016, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/us/politics/leonard-leo-network.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">according</a> to the New York Times. Most of the money going through all of these groups trickled down from a dark money group <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wellspring_Committee#Ties_to_the_Koch_Brothers" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">called the Wellspring Committee</a>, according to the New York Times, which was founded and primarily funded by the Koch Brothers until it <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/05/an-influential-dark-money-group-turns-off-the-lights-for-the-last-time/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">dissolved</a> in 2019.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; line-height: 1.5;">Leo-affiliated dark money found its way into state supreme court races through the Republican State Leadership Committee, a super PAC that focuses its spending on right-wing candidates in state elections. An arm of the RSLC called the Judicial Fairness Initiative focuses on state judicial elections and, according to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230309135455/https://www.grid.news/story/politics/2022/12/27/leonard-leo-is-quietly-remaking-state-high-courts-in-his-conservative-image/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">Grid’s investigation</a>, spent more than $10 million on state judicial elections between 2014 and 2018. Over the past several election cycles, JCN has been a <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?cycle=2020&ein=050532524" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">top donor</a> to the RSLC, giving the group nearly $5.5 million since 2016.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; line-height: 1.5;">The RSLC has played a pivotal fundraising role in some of the most contentious state supreme court races of the past several years. In the 2021 Pennsylvania Supreme Court race, for example, the group <a href="https://readsludge.com/2021/11/01/outside-groups-spend-big-on-pennsylvania-supreme-court-race/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration: inherit; outline: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">spent</a> $1.2 million in last-minute ads to support Kevin Brobson, the conservative candidate who <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/gop-poised-to-sweep-pa-judicial-elections-as-ballot-counting-finalizes/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">won</a> the election. Last fall, the RSLC <a href="https://americanindependent.com/right-wing-think-tank-ohio-supreme-court-election/" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">spent $2 million</a> in support of three right-wing justices running for reelection to the Ohio Supreme Court. Most recently, the group <a href="https://americanindependent.com/right-wing-dark-money-wisconsin-supreme-court/" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">spent</a> at least $200,000 to support Dan Kelly, the conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate who lost in April in what was the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-supreme-court-abortion-spending-82a3481a75665110e6d4b3d503ee2a24" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">most expensive</a> state judicial election in U.S. history.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; line-height: 1.5;">In 2020, Leo founded a new organization called Marble Freedom Trust, which, according to its <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22156171-marble-freedom-trusts-2020-form-990-may-1-2020-april-30-2021" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px solid; box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x:0; --tw-border-spacing-y:0; --tw-translate-x:0; --tw-translate-y:0; --tw-rotate:0; --tw-skew-x:0; --tw-skew-y:0; --tw-scale-x:1; --tw-scale-y:1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness:proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width:0px; --tw-ring-offset-color:#fff; --tw-ring-color:rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow:0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored:0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-text-opacity:1;">tax filings</a>, was created to “maintain and expand human freedom consistent with the values and ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.”=  <a href="https://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/11/13169/republican-state-leadership-committee-spends-big-keep-state-houses-red">https://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/11/13169/republican-state-leadership-committee-spends-big-keep-state-houses-red</a>[map]The  little-known <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Republican_State_Leadership_Committee" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); word-spacing: 3.6px; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Republican State Leadership Committee</a> (RSLC) is spending big this election cycle to maintain GOP control over state houses and is coordinating with dark money groups to fight off liberal ballot initiatives.<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="word-spacing: 3.6px;"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The RSLC is a 527 group which gained notoriety for its 2010 efforts to capture state houses and secure GOP control over decennial redistricting in a project called REDMAP.This successful effort was spearheaded by President George W. Bush advisor Ed Gillespie, who is chairman emeritus of the RSLC for the 2016 election cycle. Gillespie founded American Crossroads with Bush campaign guru Karl Rove and Rove's Crossroads helped fund the 2010 REDMAP project.Although little known to the public, the RSLC has been described by Politico as "one of the most influential outside players on the right." And New Yorker writer Jane Mayer describes the RSLC as a critical cog in the "shadow political machine" that emerged following the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. Emails and court filings unearthed by the Guardian showed that RSLC was being investigated for illegal campaign coordination by Wisconsin prosecutors due to its close contact with top campaign aides of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in 2011 and 2012.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">What Industries and Interests Are Bankrolling RSLC?</h2>So far in 2016, according to CMD analysis, the RSLC has raised $17.95 million, the vast majority of which has come directly from corporations. Roughly 94.4% or $16.9 million has been raised from corporations, special interests and CEOs.This includes: $1.34 million from fossil fuels interests, $2.7 million from the FIRE industries (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate), $2.16 million frompharmaceutical and healthcare-related interests, $1.56 million from gambling and tobacco interests, and $3.52 million from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.Prominent corporate donors include Reynolds American, $427,335; Altria Group, $206,000; Koch Industries, $216,590; PhRMA, $243,700; Wal-Mart, $200,300; Exxon $100,000; Peabody Energy $36,000 and CitiGroup Management Corp. $120,000.Individuals have also invested heavily in the group. The RSLC's second largest donor is the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who contributed $500,000, while eight members of the Michigan-based Devos billionaire family collectively gave $225,000.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">Matching Up Secretaries of State with Donors to Talk Ballot Measures</h2>Secretaries of State are charged with ensuring fair and accurate elections, but as the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/05/us/politics/secretaries-of-state-elections-ballot-initiatives.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">reported</a> this week, under the leadership of RSLC, these state officials are working "to defeat liberal ballot initiatives on topics like the minimum wage, and to raise money from corporations that also wanted to kill these efforts."The Times reported that on May 3, four Republican secretaries of state, Jon Husted of Ohio; Wayne Williams of Colorado; Barbara Cegavske of Nevada; and Kim Wyman of Washington, met with the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Restaurant_Association" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">National Restaurant Association</a> to discuss minimum wage initiatives in Colorado, Washington and Ohio, as well as minimum wage battles in Cincinnati and Seattle. The NRA is a proponent of the $2.15 tipped minimum wage and a major corporate opponent to Fight for $15 and any effort to raise the wage.That meeting was followed by one with Reynolds Tobacco to discuss tobacco tax ballot initiatives. What was decided at those meetings was not disclosed.The Times also <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/24/us/politics/document-GOP-SOS-Fund-Raising-and-Ballot-Initiative-Project.html#document/p18/a324354" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">revealed</a> that the RSLC created tiered sponsorship packages that rewarded its largest donors with "private briefings with Secretaries of State," and with regular ballot initiative briefings led by the Center for Conservative Initiatives, a project of the State Government Leadership Foundation, a "dark money" social welfare organization originally <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/big-corporations-put-up-seed-money-for-republican-nonprofit" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">seed-funded</a> by Exxon, Pfizer, and Time Warner, among other corporations.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">RSLC Spending in the States</h2>Most of the RSLC's contributions are funneled to state PACs that run vicious attack ads. By channeling their money through the RSLC, corporate interests are able to distance themselves from the ugliest aspects of electioneering, while providing the financial means to make it possible.In Nevada, the RLSC has given $600,000 to the Nevada Jobs Coalition, a PAC running attack ads that critics on both sides of the aisle <a href="http://www.ktnv.com/news/political/digital-ads-attack-democratic-state-senate-candidates-in-key-districts" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">submit</a> "just keep getting nastier and more deceitful--the things they say in these ads simply aren't true."In Colorado, the RSLC has given $800,000 to Colorado Citizens for Accountable Government, an organization that is being sued for sending out fortune cookies attached to mailers that falsely accuse a Democratic senate candidate of taking a taxpayer-funded junket to China. ("I've never been to China," the candidate, Rachel Zenzinger has <a href="mailto:http://www.coloradoindependent.com/161888/china-girl-zenzinger-attack-fortune-cookies" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">said</a> repeatedly.)In Minnesota, the RSLC has dumped $275,000 into Minnesota Jobs Coalition, an officially non-partisan dark money social welfare group that exclusively supports Republican candidates, and is spending big on attack ads against Democrats like State Representative Paul Marquart.In North Carolina, the RSLC has given $500,000 to Truth and Prosperity Inc., a PAC formed "to support incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest," and is running <a href="mailto:https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv=ljRInjotOoE" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">ads</a> touting, not coincidentally, Forest's pledge to eliminate corporate income taxes.In Washington state, the RSLC has given $200,000 to the Leadership Council, which subsequently donated to the Working Families PAC, a group that is running ads against State Senator Mark Mullet in his race against Representative Chad Magendanz, a candidate who, unlike Mullet, opposes increasing the minimum wage to help real working families.In New Mexico, the RSLC has given $100,000 to Advance New Mexico Now, a PAC that is <a href="mailto:https://www.abqjournal.com/865157/anxious-voters-line-up-in-new-mexico-on-first-polling-day.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">supporting</a> Republicans and their bid for stricter criminal sentencing laws. Of note, the RSLC filings show that the organization received over $70,000 from the private prison giants CCA and Geo Group.In addition to funding state-based PACs, the RSLC has also contributed $2,695,223 to its own "Judicial Fairness Initiative," a project the RSLC started in 2014 that produces attack ads in judicial races.In Montana, the RSLC's Judicial Fairness Initiative was <a href="http://www.starherald.com/news/nation_world/montana-official-group-broke-disclosure-law-in-court-race/article_84b7a8ee-a12d-5709-919a-6d6fb669fc4c.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">reprimanded</a> and forced into compliance by the state's campaign finance regulator for having "blatantly violated state law by not reporting $268,000 that was used for attack ads."The <a href="http://stopsetemfreesandefur.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Montana advertisements</a> in question have been condemned across the board for their sensationalism, and other advertisements the organization has aired (see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZIA4X8rvuc" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">this</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19AdObdG0YM" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 51, 51) 0px 3px 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">this</a>) are no different.Although the Democrats have a partisan counterpart to the RSLC, the DLSC, the Republicans are far more eager, willing and systematically structured to solicit campaign donations from corporations.By comparison to the RSLC numbers listed above, the DLSC has raised $8.25 million so far this year, with $3.14 million coming from trade unions, and $4.2 million coming from CEOs and corporations giving over $1,000 in aggregate contributions.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-13 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden" style="background: url(" sites="sites" all="all" themes="themes" prw="prw" images="images" tag_blue.png="tag_blue.png" left="left" no-repeat="no-repeat" scroll="scroll" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" em="em" margin="margin" px="px" padding="padding" word-spacing="word-spacing"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 1em;"><a href="https://www.prwatch.org/topics/campaign-finance" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Campaign Finance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 1em;"><a href="https://www.prwatch.org/topics/democracy" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Democracy</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-12 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden" style="background: url(" sites="sites" all="all" themes="themes" prw="prw" images="images" tag_red.png="tag_red.png" left="left" no-repeat="no-repeat" scroll="scroll" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" em="em" margin="margin" px="px" padding="padding" word-spacing="word-spacing"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 1em;"><a href="https://www.prwatch.org/news-types/news" style="text-decoration-line: none;">News</a></div></div></div>Until early 2014, RAGA was a part of the Republican State Leadership CommitteeThe RSLC, for example, received at least $200,000 from Devon Energy, $201,000 from Marathon Petroleum, and $150,000 from Noble Energy–all of whom operate fracking wells–yet state campaign finance filings only show the Republican State Leadership Committee's name when the committee makes a disbursement, if the name is mentioned at all.===NB 3 scotus 6/18?<a href="https://us-mg5.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=esmkmv4qcvjj7#3913245312">https://us-mg5.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=esmkmv4qcvjj7#3913245312</a>facing sothis week a panel of three

federal judges refused to delay its order that North Carolina redraw

congressional maps before the state's March 15 primary elections on the

grounds that North Carolina's 1st and 12th districts were

unconstitutionally gerrymandered along racial lines.

The ruling was not a surprise: North Carolina's congressional and

legislative districts have been embroiled in litigation since they were

devised by state Republicans after the 2010 Census. In their decision,

the judges agreed with voting rights plaintiffs who argued that the

unconstitutional way race was used as a "nonnegotiable criterion" in

drawing up the maps outweighed the inconvenience the ruling posed to the

state, which would could be forced to move its primaries if the ruling

stands.

State attorneys immediately appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court; <a id="yui_3_16_0_1_1455381332111_18776" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=EXEo9x%2FXKzZJMpFHMEkBA6DHvA8T5rim">elections experts are split</a> in their predictions about which way the high court will rule.

The North Carolina case highlights the growing role of powerful,

well-funded political organizations in the high-stakes world of election

map-making. In North Carolina, the Republican State Leadership

Committee — a Washington, D.C.-based super PAC created in 2002 to elect

state-level GOP candidates — played a uniquely influential role in both

creating the state's contested districts and helping to elect state

lawmakers and a N.C. Supreme Court Justice who would pass and approve

them.

WINNING THE LEGISLATURE: As

documented by Facing South and others, in 2010 the Republican State

Leadership Committee made it a priority to win over state legislatures

in time for the biennial redistricting process. The RSLC funneled $1.25

million to Real Jobs NC, a 527 political committee launched by

conservative donors including Art Pope, who sat on the group's board.

Real Jobs NC was part of a constellation of Pope-connected groups that

targeted nearly two-dozen races. Republicans won 80 percent of the

contests, helping fuel the GOP's historic capture of the N.C. General

Assembly, and putting Republicans in charge of drawing the state's new

Congressional and legislative districts.

DRAWING THE LINES: After winning the election, the Republican

State Leadership Committee turned to its nonprofit arm, the State

Government Leadership Foundation, to aid in creating North Carolina's

new political districts.

As <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=NlJiGpIH%2FSs830hM6ZCMe6DHvA8T5rim">reported by ProPublica</a>, Chris Jankowski — who headed both the RSLC and the Leadership Foundation — wrote a <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=jV3ZaNYDQjlfErEnsBxkeqDHvA8T5rim">letter</a>

to North Carolina lawmakers describing the role his groups could play

in the process. The letter, which became public as a result of the

redistricting lawsuits, read in part:

<blockquote> Our team would be happy to assist in drawing proposed

maps, interpreting data, or providing advice … We are engaged in a

number of states and believe we are playing a meaningful role in helping

draw fair and legal lines that will allow us to run competitive

elections in 2012 and in future cycles.</blockquote>

Heading the Leadership Foundation's redistricting team was Tom Hofeller, a <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=oO4jVRIHvXlKpOdSm5taRXEQQs6p4oN7">GOP mapmaking veteran</a>.

On Feb. 1, 2011, Hofeller came to North Carolina for the first of 10

visits he would make to the state. According to depositions gathered in

the lawsuit, Hofeller and others — including Art Pope — used Hofeller's

software to create a so-called "10-3" map that would pack Democrats (and

African Americans) into three districts, allowing 10 others to be

dominated by Republicans.

SECURING THE COURT: With

North Carolina's controversial districts guaranteed to face a robust

legal challenge, the RSLC moved aggressively to secure a conservative

majority on the N.C. Supreme Court, where the redistricting lawsuit

would be heard.

In 2012, with conservative Justice Paul Newby ) facing a

tough election and the court's 5-4 conservative majority on the line,

the RSLC funneled nearly $1.2 million into the North Carolina-based

group <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=s0NbAhDG3LFnso%2BBGGzNNKDHvA8T5rim">Justice for All N.C.</a>,

formed in May of that year. Justice for All then used that money and

donations from other sources to fund another state-based group, the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OQHaJrfdaan76ccU8cU4kaDHvA8T5rim">North Carolina Judicial Coalition</a>,

which ultimately spent nearly $2 million on ads supporting Newby.

Justice for All also spent $175,000 directly on ads supporting Newby,

who beat opponent Sam Ervin by a 52-48 margin.

In 2014, the RSLC sent over another $1.3 million to Justice for All, which spent nearly $900,000 on a <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wzc3OqVifho0wYumTGjBKKDHvA8T5rim">widely-panned attack ad </a>against incumbent justice Robin Hudson, and <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=6dw2SRkaM%2FJZ51DEaMAWz6DHvA8T5rim">$425,000 more</a> supporting conservative candidate Mike Robinson in a second supreme court race. Both liberal incumbents held onto their seats.

The N.C. Supreme Court <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4ls1IIrWEM7EKlBfcefEeaDHvA8T5rim">ruled twice</a>

to accept the congressional and state legislative districts, most

recently in December 2015 on a 4-3 decision following party lines.

Justice Newby <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=gKKhD16IScRm3vtCvb7fdaDHvA8T5rim">refused a request</a>

from attorneys involved in the redistricting lawsuit that he recuse

himself, given the role the RSLC played in both drawing the maps and

electing him to office.

The conservative N.C. Supreme Court majority approved the maps in

December even after the U.S. Supreme Court, which remanded the case back

to North Carolina, had taken a clear stand against racial

gerrymandering in a similar case in Alabama. As legal expert Billy

Corriher <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=6381hk6Njb2hqNBAwR9R8qDHvA8T5rim">wrote for the Center for American Progress</a>,

"When it upheld the maps [in December], the North Carolina Supreme

Court's four-justice conservative majority essentially ignored the rules

laid out in the Supreme Court's Alabama decision."

This week, the state Supreme Court <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Ndka72ZJfJbkx%2FkpRzJRXHEQQs6p4oN7">refused to rehear a different case</a> that challenges both the legislative and congressional districts, a case that may also end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Big Money, court conflicts

The RSLC's role in North Carolina's judicial elections has been

especially controversial given the backing the political group receives

from key corporate interests in North Carolina, including companies and

groups with business before the N.C. Supreme Court.

A Facing South/Institute for Southern Studies analysis of reports

submitted to the Internal Revenue Service finds that eight North

Carolina companies have given $100,000 or more to the RSLC since 2011.

While the donations slowed slightly in 2015, they continue to come from

many of the companies that have been faithful donors over the years.

Total contributions from North Carolina businesses to the RSLC totaled

nearly $733,000 last year.

Among the largest North Carolina backers of the Republican State Leadership Committee:

REYNOLDS AMERICAN: Leading the pack by a wide margin is tobacco

giant Reynolds American, based in Winston-Salem, which has given the

RSLC close to $3.1 million over the past five years. Last year, Reynolds

completed a <a id="yui_3_16_0_1_1455381332111_18770" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=oKHXbLzS8X%2F%2BU5DWh6FQYaDHvA8T5rim">$27.4 billion merger</a>

with Greensboro-based tobacco company Lorillard, which is the state's

second-biggest donor to the RSLC, having pitched in nearly $335,000

since 2011. The merger <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=3mWkU7gE0AovV%2F%2B9G2Z6raDHvA8T5rim">unites</a>

two already substantial political donors to conservative groups. In

addition to funneling money through the RSLC, the two companies — which

have had key cases appear in N.C. courts in recent years — have been

directly involved in spending on judicial elections: Since 2012,

Reynolds American has given Justice for All $130,000 and Lorillard has

donated $25,000. Reynolds gave $150,000 to the N.C. Judicial Coalition

in 2012.

DUKE ENERGY: The nation's

biggest utility company, which has had considerable business before the

high court regarding rate hikes and environmental issues such as its

2014 coal ash spill, has given consistently every year since 2011 for a

total of $305,000.

Other leading corporate donors to the RSLC from North Carolina include Time Warner Cable ($300,000) and Variety Stores,

the retail chain owned by Art Pope ($250,000). The following chart

outlines North Carolina's top corporate contributors to the RSLC (click on it for a larger version):...

oops see duplicate


propubl:

In the November election, a million more Americans <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/us/politics/redistricting-helped-republicans-hold-onto-congress.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">voted</a> for Democrats seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives than Republicans. But that popular vote advantage did not result in control of the chamber. Instead, despite getting fewer votes, Republicans have maintained a commanding control of the House. Such a disparity has happened only three times in the last century.

(<a href="http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/seats-vs-votes">Here’s a chart comparing 2010 and 2012</a>.)

</div>

Analysts and others have identified redistricting as a key to the disparity. Republicans had a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/us/politics/redistricting-helped-republicans-hold-onto-congress.html?ref=reapportionment&pagewanted=all">years-long strategy of winning state houses</a> in order to control each state's once-a-decade redistricting process. (Confused about redistricting? Check out our <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/video-the-redistricting-song">song</a>.)

Republican strategist Karl Rove laid out the approach in a Wall Street Journal <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703862704575099670689398044.html">column</a> in early 2010 headlined "He who controls redistricting can control Congress."

The approach paid off. In 2010 state races, Republicans picked up 675 legislative seats, gaining complete control of 12 state legislatures. As a result, the GOP oversaw redrawing of lines for four times as many congressional districts as Democrats.

How did they dominate redistricting? A ProPublica investigation has found that the GOP relied on opaque nonprofits funded by dark money, supposedly nonpartisan campaign outfits, and millions in corporate donations to achieve Republican-friendly maps throughout the country. Two tobacco giants, Altria and Reynolds, each <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?cycle=2010&ein=050532524">pitched in</a> more than $1 million to the main Republican redistricting group, as did Rove's super PAC, American Crossroads; Walmart and the pharmaceutical industry also contributed. Other donors, who gave to the nonprofits Republicans created, may <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/how-nonprofits-spend-millions-on-elections-and-call-it-public-welfare">never have to be disclosed</a>.

While many observers have <a href="http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/08/15001252-money-cant-buy-happiness-or-an-election?lite">noted</a> that mega-donors like Sheldon Adelson backed losing candidates, a close look at the Republicans' effort on redistricting suggests something else: The hundreds of millions spent this year on presidential TV ads may not have hit the mark, but the relatively modest sums funneled to redistricting paid off handsomely.

Where Democrats were in control, they <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/redistricting_and_congressional_control_following_the_2012_election/">drew gerrymandered maps</a> just like Republicans. They also had their own secretive redistricting <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/us/politics/08elect.html?_r=0">funding</a>. (Last year, we <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/how-democrats-fooled-californias-redistricting-commission">detailed</a> how Democrats in California worked to undermine the state's attempt at non-partisan redistricting.) But Democrats got outspent 3-to-1 and did not prioritize winning state legislatures. They also faced a Republican surge in 2010.

Exactly how the Republican effort worked has been shrouded in mystery until now. But depositions and other documents in a little-noticed lawsuit in North Carolina offer an exceptionally detailed picture of Republicans' tactics.

Documents show that national Republican operatives, funded by dark money groups, drew the crucial lines which packed as many Democrats as possible into three congressional districts. The result: the state's congressional delegation flipped from 7-6 Democratic to 9-4 in favor of Republicans. The combination of party operatives, cash and secrecy also existed in other states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan.

Redistricting is supposed to protect the fundamental principle of one-person-one-vote. As demographics change, lines are shifted to make sure everyone is equally represented and to give communities a voice. In order for Republicans to win in North Carolina, they undermined the votes of Democrats, especially African-Americans. (Party leaders in North Carolina say they were simply complying with federal voting laws.)

The strategy began in the run-up to the 2010 elections. Republicans poured money into local races in North Carolina and elsewhere. It was an efficient approach. While congressional races routinely cost millions, a few thousand dollars can swing a campaign for a seat in the state legislature

The Republican effort to influence redistricting overall was spearheaded by a group called the Republican State Leadership Committee, which has existed since 2002. For most of that time, it was primarily a vehicle for donors like health care and tobacco companies to influence state legislatures, key battlegrounds for regulations that affect corporate America. Its focus changed in 2010 when Ed Gillespie, former counselor to President George W. Bush, was named chairman. His main project: redistricting.

Soon after Gillespie took over, the RSLC announced an effort to influence state races throughout the country, the Redistricting Majority Project, or <a href="http://www.redistrictingmajorityproject.com/?page_id=2">REDMAP</a>. Fundraising soared. The group raised $30 million in 2010, by far its best year. (Its Democratic counterpart raised roughly $10 million.)

The RSLC is organized as a type of political group that can take in unlimited corporate donations. It must disclose its contributors. But that doesn't mean it's always possible to trace the origins of the money.

Along with Walmart and tobacco companies, the RSLC's largest funders in 2010 were the Chamber of Commerce and <a href="http://americanjusticepartnership.com/about.php">American Justice Partnership</a>, which gave a combined $6.5 million. Those two groups raise money from corporations and others but don't have to disclose their donors.

As the 2010 North Carolina legislative elections heated up, the RSLC jumped into local races. But the way they made contributions kept their involvement away from the attention of state voters. Rather than running campaign ads under its own name, the RSLC distributed money to a newly formed local nonprofit. The RSLC declined to comment.

The RSLC gave $1.25 million to its vehicle of choice <a href="http://realjobsnc.com">Real Jobs NC</a>. The group <a href="http://realjobsnc.com/about/">calls itself</a> a "non-partisan organization that believes we need to return to a reliance on the free enterprise system that made our country great for real answers." It was started in 2010 and got a hefty $200,000 boost from dollar store magnate and Republican supporter Art Pope, although Pope denies his donation was related to redistricting or REDMAP.

Real Jobs NC produced ads and mailers slamming more than 20 state Democrats.

"Steve Goss … nice guy," intoned the voiceover in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8t03K9nleo">one such ad</a> in North Carolina, attacking then-Democratic State Senator Goss. "Too bad he's voting with the Raleigh liberals over hometown conservatives."

Goss lost, and Democrats lost control of North Carolina's General Assembly for the first time in a century. The pattern repeated itself across the country.

"Twenty legislative bodies which were previously split or under Democratic control are now under Republican control," said a triumphant RSLC REDMAP post-election <a href="http://www.redistrictingmajorityproject.com/?p=638">analysis</a>, highlighting its spending in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, among other states.

The next step for Republicans was to draw district maps, which can be expensive. The maps require expertise, extensive data and sophisticated software. Skillful map drawers can make even the most partisan gerrymander look reasonable.

To fund the work, the Republican State Leadership Committee used its previously dormant nonprofit arm, the State Government Leadership Foundation. Such dark money groups are <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/how-nonprofits-spend-millions-on-elections-and-call-it-public-welfare">increasingly popular</a> because they are allowed to keep secret the identity of their donors. Federal tax law permits them to do this as long as they pledge that politics is not their primary focus.

<a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537961-state-leadership-government-foundation-2011-990#document/p1">Flush</a> with anonymous donors' cash, the Foundation <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537961-state-leadership-government-foundation-2011-990#document/p8">paid</a> $166,000 to <a href="http://rslc.com/_blog/RedMap/post/Presidents_Welcome/">hire</a> the GOP's pre-eminent redistricting experts, according to tax documents. The team leader was <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/10/the-league-of/309084/">Tom Hofeller</a>, architect of Republican-friendly maps going back decades.

"Our team would be happy to assist in drawing proposed maps, interpreting data, or providing advice," wrote Chris Jankowski, the head of both the RSLC and State Government Leadership Foundation, in a <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537408-hofeller-sglf-rslc-letter"> </a> of introduction to North Carolina legislators. The letter was disclosed as part of the North Carolina lawsuit.

"We are engaged in a number of states and believe we are playing a meaningful role in helping draw fair and legal lines that will allow us to run competitive elections in 2012 and in future cycles," Jankowski added.

The same letter emphasized that the Republican redistricting push was being funded through its dark money nonprofit: "The entirety of this effort will be paid for using non-federal dollars through our 501c(4) organization."

Jankowski, representing both the RSLC and the Foundation, declined to comment.

Because Hofeller's team was paid with dark money and the redistricting process is so secretive, it is hard to know the full extent of its activities. In Wisconsin, the team provided <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/539678-dep-of-andrew-speth-dkt-143-11cv562">technical assistance</a> to an aide to Rep. Paul Ryan as he drew new districts that <a href="http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=38333">favored Republicans</a>. In Missouri, Hofeller was the <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2012/Feb/01/gop_redistricting_expert_says_mo__map_is_compact.html">sole witness</a> called by attorneys representing the Republican legislators who drew the maps there.

In the case of North Carolina, Hofeller made his <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537517-naacp-431#document/p1">first trip</a> to Raleigh on Feb. 1, 2011, even <a href="http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn61.html">before</a> final state Census data had been released, the first of 10 trips that year.

From then on, two parallel redistricting processes unfolded in the state.

Through the spring and summer, legislators in charge of redistricting traveled the state holding public meetings at local colleges, soliciting comment and proposed maps from citizens — though the Republicans on the committee would not produce draft maps themselves.

"We are not here to answer questions. We are not here drawing maps," state Senate redistricting committee chairman Bob Rucho <a href="http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/redistricting-without-a-map/Content?oid=2426024">told the crowd</a> at a hearing in Durham. "What we are here for is to basically hear your thoughts and dreams about redistricting."

But that input had little influence on the districts that were eventually drawn.

Instead, the real maps were being produced behind the scenes by a team that based its operations at Republican Party <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1506+Hillsborough+St.,+Raleigh,&ll=35.784112,-78.657432&spn=0.0094,0.013819&sll=35.784636,-78.658077&layer=c&cbp=13,24.8,,0,3.79&cbll=35.784338,-78.658211&gl=us&hnear=1506+Hillsborough+St,+Raleigh,+Wake,+North+Carolina+27605">headquarters</a> on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. Armed with advanced <a href="http://www.caliper.com/maptovu.htm">mapping software</a>, Hofeller and others crafted districts that would virtually guarantee big gains for the party.

Hofeller did not attend or read transcripts of any of the public meetings, according to his deposition. Hofeller did not respond to requests for comment.

A mysterious state dark money nonprofit that <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537894-fair-and-legal-redistricting-incorporation-doc">sprung up</a> just in time for the process, called Fair and Legal Redistricting for North Carolina, <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537152-exhibit-8-raupe-transcript-6-18-12#document/p28">hired</a> a technician to operate the mapping workstation day-to-day, and <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537148-exhibit-4-deposition-rucho-transcript-5-4-12#document/p29">another Republican mapping expert</a>. The group did not respond to our requests for comment.

State-based nonprofits have been a vehicle for Republicans to funnel anonymous money into their map-drawing operations in a number of states, including self-proclaimed nonpartisan groups in <a href="http://www.michiganredistrictingresourceinstitute.com/">Michigan</a> and <a href="http://minnesotaindependent.com/88645/undisclosed-money-flows-into-minnesotas-redistricting-process">Minnesota</a>.

Republican state legislators tasked with redistricting frequently visited and consulted with the mapping team, according to depositions. Even Art Pope, the <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/10/111010fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=all">most influential</a> conservative donor in the state, was appointed "<a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537149-exhibit-5-deposition-oldham-transcript-6-27-12#document/p126">co-counsel</a>" to the legislative leadership and allowed in the room to give direct instructions to the technician.

"We worked together at the workstation," <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537152-exhibit-8-raupe-transcript-6-18-12#document/p42">said</a> Joel Raupe, the technical expert paid by Fair and Legal Redistricting, in a deposition. "He sat next to me."

Pope, who is a lawyer but does not actively practice, was made co-counsel to the state legislature, offering his services <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/540997-farr-response-to-newby-recusal-motion#document/p12">pro bono</a>. Now, because he was technically a legal adviser to the state, he says any information about his involvement in the redistricting is privileged.

(The New Yorker had a <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/10/111010fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=all">sweeping profile</a> of Pope last year, detailing how he has used his fortune to dominate North Carolina politics.)

North Carolina's Republican incumbents in Congress pushed for a so-called "<a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537525-naacp-447#document/p1/a84871">10-3 map</a>," the majority they hoped to win in the state's delegation.

Hofeller, the mapping expert, delivered. His maps kept most of the districts from being competitive — or even remotely winnable — for Democratic candidates.

A key part of the redistricting strategy was to push minority voters into three districts. Republicans <a href="http://propublica.org/documents/item/539914-joint-statement-by-senator-bob-rucho-and">insisted</a> their maps were "fair and legal," necessary to conform to <a href="http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/intro/intro_b.php">laws</a> protecting minority voting rights, although according to a well-known voting rights attorney, the opposite is true.

But federal voting rights law "doesn't require a jurisdiction to pack blacks in districts," said Laughlin McDonald, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project. "If you tried to pack minority voters into a district, that would arguably be a violation."

In two of those districts, African-American incumbents been already been winning by large margins for years. Republicans' maps added yet more African-Americans to the districts, what's known in redistricting parlance as "<a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/redistricting-a-devils-dictionary">packing</a>." As Hofeller wrote in an email about one of the districts, the plan was to "incorporate all the significant concentrations of minority voters in the northeast into the first district."

A third district was 120-mile long, and sea monkey-shaped, connecting pockets of African-Americans from three different, distant cities. Republicans justified it on the basis of a common media market.

The maps were designed to "segregate African-American voters in three districts and concede those districts to the Democrats," says Bob Hall of <a href="http://www.democracy-nc.org/about-us/">Democracy North Carolina</a>, a nonpartisan public interest group that joined the lawsuit against the new maps.

In 2012, Democrats won the three districts by more than 70 percent of the vote. Another effect: the surrounding districts were much more Republican.

Rucho and other Republican legislators had presented the maps as <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/539914-joint-statement-by-senator-bob-rucho-and#document/p8">advantageous</a> to Democrats. Indeed, registered Democrats actually outnumbered registered Republicans in seven additional districts beyond those that were clearly slated to be Democratic.

<a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537529-naacp-460">Emails</a> show Republicans decided to make that fact a major talking point.

But the stat was misleading, as the Republicans' own data indicates. An internal analysis of one of Hofeller's later drafts (code name "Blue Horizon 3") obtained by ProPublica shows that those seven allegedly "competitive" districts would have been landslide wins for John McCain in 2008, and for Republican Senator Richard Burr in 2010.

The carefully drawn maps <a href="http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/House/2012/NC">worked</a>. In this year's elections, Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina won 50.6 percent of the total vote. But the state's House delegation now has nine Republicans and just four Democrats. One of the Democrats won by just a few hundred voters, despite the fact that his newly drawn district skewed heavily Republican and that his own home had been drawn out of it. North Carolina's <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_21/Race-Ratings-GOP-Looks-for-Major-Gains-North-Carolina-208044-1.html">delegation</a> before the election had seven Democrats and six Republicans

In addition to his pay from national Republican groups, invoices show Hofeller <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/537518-naacp-432">billed</a> North Carolina taxpayers $77,000 for his services.

The Republican maps are still under threat by suits filed by Democrats and the NAACP. The lawsuits are headed to the state Supreme Court. But a flood of contributions tied to the RSLC have lowered the risk of the maps' being overturned.

While judicial elections in North Carolina are nominally nonpartisan, it was <a href="http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2012/jul/29/political-balance-stake-nc-supreme-court-race-ar-2473469/">common knowledge</a> that Republicans held a 4-3 majority on the court. One of those Republican incumbents was facing a tough challenge in 2012, potentially throwing the whole redistricting result in jeopardy.

Justice Paul Newby was running for re-election against appellate judge Sam Ervin IV, grandson of the famous North Carolina senator who investigated Watergate. With a few weeks left until the November election, Newby was trailing Ervin.

But then, in the final stretch, Newby was the beneficiary of a flood of late spending that can be traced back to the Republican State Leadership Committee.

Once again the contributions were funneled through homegrown groups. With only a few weeks to go, the RSLC gave more than $1.1 million to a group called Justice for All NC. Campaign finance filings show Justice for All NC in turn gave nearly $1.5 million to a super PAC running pro-Newby ads, the NC Judicial Coalition.

Most of the money spent by the super PAC went to pay for <a href="http://www.wcnc.com/decision2012/TV-ad-in-NC-Supreme-Court-Race-brought-to-you-by-murky-super-PAC-175488831.html">hundreds</a> of airings of a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sumn4Hc9OvM">jingle ad</a> featuring lines like, "Paul Newby / Justice tough but fair / Paul Newby / Criminals best beware" set to infectious banjo music.

The spending didn't end there: and Pope's fingerprints were also on the race. Two dark money groups affiliated with Pope — the state-based <a href="http://www.civitasaction.org/">Civitas Action</a> and <a href="http://americansforprosperity.org/about/directors/">Americans for Prosperity</a> — spent another $300,000 on radio ads and mailers supporting Newby. Pope's company also gave to the RSLC in the run-up to this fall's elections.

Pope says he gave money to Americans for Prosperity for years before the judicial race even came up, and that he was not involved in the decision to run pro-Newby ads.

"I'm Republican, I support Republican groups," Pope said. "But just because you support something doesn't mean you're responsible for all they do."

It was an unusually large amount of outside spending for a judicial race. The outside pro-Newby groups had <a href="http://www.telegram.com/article/20121101/APN/311019774">spent more</a> on the race than the two campaigns combined.

In the end, Newby eked out a 52-48 victory, preserving the court's Republican majority.

When the groups contesting the maps called for Newby to recuse himself from redistricting litigation, lawyers for Republican legislators <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/540997-farr-response-to-newby-recusal-motion#document/p6">argued</a> that because the campaign ads were paid for by "independent" groups, they did not jeopardize Newby's impartiality.

On Monday, the state Supreme Court rejected the motion for Newby to recuse himself.

"I've got no control over who contributes to an ad. I have no control over who endorses me," Newby — who did not respond to a request for comment — <a href="http://www.wcnc.com/decision2012/SuperPACs-spend-millions-for-Republican-in-NC-Supreme-Court-176496161.html">told</a> a local TV station on the eve of the election. "You've got to put your blinders on like lady justice."</div></div></div>