State politics findings you may have missed

Introduction

The Center for Public Integrity’s investigations into state politics involved nearly every state in the country. If there was a state-level office up for grabs, we had data on it.

So it’s understandable if some of our reporting on the money behind state politics missed you the first time around, and we’ve prepared our best stories from 2014:

1. Ballot measures draw big bucks

Through late October, $108 million had been spent on TV ads for statewide ballot initiatives. Four of the five most expensive ballot initiatives featured at least one corporate patron helping pay for ads.
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2. Who’s behind $25 million in TV ads?

About 40 nonprofit groups spent an estimated $25 million on TV ads related to state-level elections in 2014 while keeping their donors secret. That’s nearly double the amount spent in 2010, when a comparable number of offices were up for grabs. What’s more, a Center analysis showed that these groups backed the winner, or bashed the loser, in 63 percent of the races in which they were involved.
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