Nov. 4, 2010 (Facing South) -- The Republican takeover of North Carolina's state legislature in 2010 -- the first time since Reconstruction -- caught many by surprise, but perhaps none more than state senator John Snow.
A three-term Democrat in the senate's western-most district in the mountains, Snow largely avoided controversy and often bucked his party; one group rated him as the state's second-most conservative senate Democrat. What's more, his Republican opponent Jim Davis -- a dentist and newcomer to state politics -- seemed like a long shot.
But then the money flooded in. Smelling an upset, the state Republican Party injected $321,600 [pdf] into Davis' challenge campaign. By mid-October, the Republican had raked in a total of $448,000 -- a staggering sum for the small district, and nearly double the $225,000 incumbent Snow had raised. (Final campaign finance reports will be released in January.)
If he was caught off guard by the GOP's big spending, Snow was completely blindsided by another onslaught: A barrage of attack ads and mailers from Civitas Action and Real Jobs NC, outside groups backed by conservative donor Art Pope. In lockstep with the Republican Party, the ostensibly non-partisan organizations poured over $205,000 into attacking Snow -- almost as much as Snow had raised for his entire campaign.
The money Republicans and aligned advocacy groups lavished on the Sen-50 race may well have tipped the balance: Two days after the election, Sen. Snow trailed his Republican challenger by just 187 votes.
Sen. Snow was not alone. According to a Facing South analysis of state and federal campaign records, in 2010 three independent groups backed by Art Pope -- Americans for Prosperity, Civitas Action and Real Jobs NC -- poured $1.1 million into 21 state legislative races targeted by Republicans. Art Pope and his family members injected another $252,000 into 19 of those races, for a total of over $1.3 million spent on the targeted state contests.
In most cases, the record-setting investments paid off. Republicans won 18 of the 21 races deluged by party and outside spending -- a stunning 86% win rate. Democrats decisively won just one contest; in two others -- senate districts 44 and 45 -- Democrats are clinging to leads of less than 100 votes. …
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