Over the last four years, the Koch brothers and Americans for Prosperity have spent shocking sums of money to shape and control North Carolina’s policy landscape and help their hand-picked extreme, Tea Party candidates get elected. For the 2014 Senate race in North Carolina alone, as of February, they had already dropped $8.2 million trying to sink Kay Hagan.

But their mischief goes far beyond that. In 2010, after helping to crush a public financing proposal that would have limited outside influence in statewide elections, AFP poured $285,000 into 22 targeted races across the state. Their funding helped Republicans control both chambers of the North Carolina Legislature for the first time in over 100 years, allowing the Kochs and AFP to start championing the extreme agenda that has left so many middle class families in the Tar Heel state struggling.

As Of Mid-February 2014, AFP Had Spent $8.2 Million On Ads Against Sen. Kay Hagan – More Than All Democratic Outside Group Senate Race Spending Combined. According to Politico, “The Koch brothers have a seemingly bottomless pot of cash this election year — and no one knows it better than Sen. Kay Hagan. Americans for Prosperity, a group co-founded by the conservative billionaires, has already dropped $8.2 million on TV, radio and digital ads in an effort to defeat the North Carolina Democrat. According to sources tracking media buys, the group has so far spent more in North Carolina than all Democratic outside groups in every Senate race in the country — combined.” [Politico, 2/12/14]

Americans For Prosperity Spent Nearly $285,000 In 22 Targeted North Carolina Races In 2010. According to the Institute for Southern Studies, “Americans For Prosperity spent $284,850 in the 22 targeted North Carolina races. Art Pope is one of the national advocacy group’s four board members. While Americans for Prosperity isn’t required to disclose its donors, tax records show that since 2004 Art Pope’s family foundation has give [sic] $1.3 million to AfP’s sister group, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which is allowed to share resources with Americans for Prosperity.” [Institute for Southern Studies, 11/9/10]