The Maryland Legislative Black Caucus and the NAACP announced a new legislative agenda last week, following the release of a U.S. Department of Justice report chronicling a system of discrimination in the Baltimore Police Department. Changing police recruitment practices was on the list. “We will mandate and oversee the recruitment of officers by the Baltimore…
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Western Maryland town proposes fracking ban
Maryland’s two-year ban on hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, is expected to end in October 2017. But a small town in northern Garrett County wants to keep the drilling technique from ever being used within its borders. The issue is divisive among the town’s roughly 500 residents. “I’d say it’s about 50-50 in the…
Continue ReadingCapitol Gains: South Carolina politicians use office to pad pockets
South Carolina elected officials and candidates have what amounts to a personal ATM that dispensed nearly $100 million since 2009 for such things as car repairs, football tickets, male-enhancement pills, GoPro cameras, overseas junkets and gasoline. A joint investigation by The Center for Public Integrity and The Post and Courier also found state lawmakers and…
Continue ReadingSecretive group destroys candidates’ chances, leaves few fingerprints
LAKE RIDGE, Va. — Wedged between a nail salon and a pizza shop in a strip mall about 25 miles south of Washington, D.C., is a postal supply store where a small brass mailbox sits stuffed with unopened envelopes. It’s the unlikely home of one of the country’s most mysterious political hit squads. The Law Enforcement Alliance…
Continue ReadingNational donors pick winners in state elections
If money is influence, the Republican Governors Association wielded more of it than anyone else last year in state elections nationwide. The group, led in 2014 by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, gave roughly $69 million to candidates, political parties and independent groups — more than double its Democratic counterpart — as it tried to…
Continue ReadingCharities risked tax-exempt status with political ads
The Internal Revenue Service prohibits charities from getting mixed up in politics, and those that do risk losing their tax exemption. Despite the threat, a handful of groups in the 2014 midterm elections paid for ads that appeared to be campaign-related. The Natural Resources Defense Council, for example, is known as a 501(c)(3) organization, meaning…
Continue ReadingAd war winners take governors’ mansions
Nearly all of the governors elected Tuesday dominated the airwaves in TV ads before voters went to the polls, bolstered by their campaign war chests and outside groups that advertised on their behalf. Candidates outspent on TV ads won in only seven of the 32 races called as of early Wednesday. However, in six of…
Continue ReadingDC’s Council holds unique power
An investigation by WAMU and the Investigative Reporting Workshop identified more than $5 million in political contributions from more than 300 businesses that have contracts with the District. Nearly $1 out of every $5 that current Council members’ campaigns have received came from a firm seeking a city contract. Unlike the District, the federal government…
Continue ReadingLand of sun and political ads
The race to occupy the Florida governor’s mansion is among the most expensive state-level contests in the country this year, with roughly $31.8 million spent through September 8 on 64,000 television ads. But the campaign committees of incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic challenger and former Gov. Charlie Crist are responsible for less than 4 percent…
Continue ReadingHow cozy can candidates be with political groups?
The criminal investigation into Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s collaboration with independent political groups has been making national headlines, but in certain other states, such a relationship would barely raise an eyebrow. Prosecutors in multiple counties have been investigating whether Walker, a potential GOP presidential candidate, illegally coordinated with a slew of independent conservative nonprofits leading up…
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