North Carolina

mahatmakanejeeves

(60,683 posts) Mon Jul 21, 2014, 08:22 AM Jul 2014

In N.C., conservative donor Art Pope sits at heart of government he helped transform

Art Pope spent a quarter-century helping turn North Carolina red. Now he’s the state’s budget director. (Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post)

By Matea Gold July 19

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There is no one in North Carolina, or likely in all of American politics, quite like Art Pope. He is not just a wealthy donor seeking to influence politics from the outside, nor just a government official shaping it from within. He is doing both at the same time — the culmination of a quarter-century spent building a sphere of influence that has put him at the epicenter of North Carolina government and moved his state closer to the conservative vision he has long imagined.
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From the outside, Pope’s family foundation has put more than $55 million into a robust network of conservative think tanks and advocacy groups, building a state version of what his friends Charles and David Koch have helped create on a national level.
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Pope, 58, oversees the action from his fifth-floor corner office overlooking the colonnaded State Legislative Building. He serves as a top adviser to {Republican Gov. Pat McCrory} with some familiar faces; at least four of the governor’s staffers worked at Pope-backed groups, including the chief of staff, Thomas Stith, and the policy director, Chloe Gossage.