Campaign commercials Coverage

Political ad spending surges in NC, boosted by outside groups

Candidates across the political spectrum are pouring millions of dollars into ads in the walkup to North Carolina's May 17 primary elections. The intensity surged this week, fueled by outside financial backers.

Ali Ingersoll, WRAL investigative data journalist

NC congressional candidate's viral campaign ad raises profile, prompts apology for HB2 vote

State Rep. Charles Graham's congressional campaign hit the ground running this week with an online ad that quickly went viral. But the the attention Graham D-Robeson, garnered from the ad also prompted some people to point out conservative stances he has taken on legislation in the General Assembly, such as limiting transgender individuals' access to public bathrooms.

Matthew Burns, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor

Woman featured in Josh Stein attack ad works for Stein's department

In the ad, a sexual assault survivor blasts Attorney General Josh Stein's opponent but doesn't mention her job with the state Department of Justice.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter

Rocky Mount small-business owners featured in Biden ads

Two new television ads promoting Democrat Joe Biden for president will feature Rocky Mount entrepreneurs.

Third-party political ads flooding airwaves, mailboxes

Groups with names like Majority Forward and One Nation are airing numerous TV ads and sending out mailers telling people to call or email politicians about various issues as the November elections approach.

Facebook attacking fake news in 2020 elections but not in political ads

Facebook has invested more in cybersecurity and is partnering with fact-checkers, according to Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Facebook's cybersecurity policy. Facebook has come under fire recently for declining to censor political ads that feature false statements.

How you can track the money funding political ads on NC airwaves

Months away from the general election, North Carolinians have already seen millions of dollars worth of political advertising on their televisions in 2020. Now you can find out who's behind those ads.

Tyler Dukes, WRAL investigative reporter

WRAL 2020 political ad tracker

Take a look at how campaigns have spent their broadcast ad dollars in the races for governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and state legislative races in 2020.

GOP says Democrats funded similar ads in 2014 Senate primary

A political committee linked to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is funding ads and other campaign materials designed to meddle in North Carolina's Democratic Senate primary, the group acknowledged on Friday.

Lots of ads for few candidates before NC primary

With North Carolina's primary less than five weeks away and early voting set to start two weeks from Thursday, thousands of political ads are starting to pop up on the state's airwaves.

Campaign ads for a couple of candidates flooding NC before primary

With North Carolina's primary less than five weeks away and early voting set to start two weeks from Thursday, thousands of political ads are starting to pop up on the state's airwaves.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Late to presidential race, Bloomberg jumps in with major ad campaign

Billionaire businessman and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending millions on campaign ads as he prepares to join the scramble for the Democratic nomination for president.

Bloomberg ads could soon heat up presidential race in NC

The 2020 election may be 347 days away, but time is running out for presidential candidates to convince voters they're the best person for the job.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

WALT de VRIES: Is political consulting taking campaigns 'back to the future?'

Sunday, April 14, 2019 -- While we seem still to be in a movement from personal campaigning and print media to television, we also appear to be moving back to the old-time 19th and 20th century personal campaign methods. Television is changing from party and issue orientation messaging to a focus on the personality of the candidate. This trend has evolved from positive personality ads to negative commercials that attack the character of the opponent. It is, I believe, a very disturbing trend that is not diminishing.

With midterms over, NC ad spending tops $29M

Almost 80,000 ads aired in markets across the state ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, an amount dominated by contested congressional and state legislative races. And health care was dominant theme.

Tyler Dukes, WRAL investigative reporter

Immigration not part of official duties? That's not stopping candidates from running ads about it

The migrant caravan in Mexico headed for the U.S. is still months away from reaching the border, but it's showing up everywhere on television in the final days of this campaign season.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

With one week to go, ad spending nears $22 million

With a week to go before Election Day, political campaigns and groups have now spent almost $21.9 million dollars to air ads over North Carolina airwaves.

Tyler Dukes, WRAL investigative reporter

Outside groups, political parties often exploit loopholes in campaign law

Ad money from outside groups is pouring into North Carolina this fall to back or oppose candidates for Congress, the General Assembly and the state Supreme Court, including millions of dollars from anonymous sources who want to influence voters.

NC Democrats, GOP accuse each other of breaking rules involving outside political groups

Ad money from outside groups is pouring into North Carolina this fall to back or oppose candidates for Congress, the General Assembly and the state Supreme Court, including millions of dollars from anonymous sources who want to influence voters.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Campaign ads already cranking up in one congressional race

The midterm election is still almost four months off, but a television ad war has already started between Republican 2nd District Congressman George Holding and an outside group over health care.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Multiple names, but all one group behind attack ads

A dark money group is making buys on television and Facebook, kicking campaign season into gear ahead of November elections.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter

WRAL 2018 political ad tracker

2018 political ad spending

Bolton's super-PAC, Cambridge Analytica teamed up on pro-Tillis ads in 2014

New National Security Adviser John Bolton's super-PAC worked with British data mining firm Cambridge Analytica on targeted ads supporting Republican Thom Tillis in his 2014 U.S. Senate campaign.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

How you can help track political ads on Facebook

We've teamed up with ProPublica to promote its Facebook Political Ad Collector, a free browser plugin that enables users to automatically send political ads on their Facebook pages to a database.

Tyler Dukes, public records reporter

Supreme Court spending 'all about redistricting'

North Carolina Supreme Court decisions are overwhelmingly unanimous. But the few cases where they split represent opportunities for those who invest in judicial elections.

Mark Binker