Bob Phillips, the head of the North Carolina chapter of Common Cause, an organization that promotes stricter controls on political money, watched the unfolding drama closely and concluded that the Citizens United decision was an even bigger “game changer” at the local level than at the national. He said it enabled a single donor, particularly one with access to major corporate funds like Pope or the Kochs, to play a significant and even decisive role. “We didn’t have that before 2010,” Phillips says. “Citizens United opened up the door. Now a candidate can literally be outspent by independent
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