Recent reports show spending supporting and opposing pro-fracking candidates

Recent reports posted on the NC State Board of Elections website show state legislative candidates who support hydraulic fracturing are seeing significant money spent supporting and opposing them by outside groups. The American Petroleum Institute has spent over $350,000 on radio ads in support of incumbent state representatives Chad Barefoot, Mike Stone, Michele Presnell, Tim Moffitt, Jamie Boles and incumbent senators Ronald Rabin and Wesley Meredith. The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Southern Environmental Law Center have run TV ads since March opposing Barefoot, Moffitt, Rabin, Meredith, and Presnell (as well as others), criticizing them for their support of fracking. 
 
Meanwhile, North Carolina Citizens for Protecting Our Schools, a liberal-leaning group that was active in the 2012 elections, has spent nearly $80,000 on "posters," presumably opposing Moffitt, Presnell, and Representative Nathan Ramsey. The group also reports receiving $237,000 from other groups this year and donating almost $1 million to North Carolina Families First. The latter group, also funded by Real Facts NC and the NC Futures Action Fund, has spent over $13,000 on a TV ad opposing Rep. Stone and has bought over $600,000 in ad time at TV stations in the state.