Realtors spending big on legislative, city council, races across NC

A group representing real estate agents has been one of the biggest spenders on North Carolina General Assembly and city council races across the state this year, putting close to $1 million into various primaries since Jan. 1.

The spending is bipartisan, flowing through an entity called the N.C. Property Rights Fund, which has produced mailers and digital advertisements in at least 30 races.

In some cases the funding benefits real estate agents running for office. In others the group has targeted seats expected to be won in the primary because the district in question leans so heavily toward one party or the other.

That appears to be the case in Wake County’s Senate District 13, an open seat where the fund spent more than $75,000 supporting Raleigh City Councilman Patrick Buffkin in the Democratic primary. Other development-friendly groups have also backed Buffkin, including the NC Chamber, a group called Mainstreet Merchants for a Better North Carolina, which is funded by the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association, and the Home Builders Education Fund, which is funded by the state’s Home Builders Association.

Some of these groups, and particularly the NC Chamber, typically support Republicans. Buffkin said he was “just as surprised as everybody else” by the mailers.

In the primary, Buffkin faces Lisa Grafstein, a civil rights attorney endorsed by the Sierra Club, along with a number of other progressive groups. Grafsetin said she doesn’t see development as the key issue in the race. She said it’s unfortunate “that these groups are trying to dictate in a Democratic primary.”

Spokespeople for the groups either declined to comment on their political advertising strategy or didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Mark Zimmerman, senior vice president of external affairs for NC Realtors, said in an email that the N.C. Property Rights Fund is financed by Realtor organizations.

It’s a 527 group, named after a section of the U.S. tax code, and can raise and spend as much as group leaders want to influence elections. Its spending flows largely through a pair of political consultancies: Sinclair Public Affairs, which primarily works on behalf of Republican candidates, and Campaign Connections, which typically works with Democrats.

Close to $544,000 flowed through Sinclair Public Affairs, and about $363,000 went through Campaign Connections, state records indicate.

Based on North Carolina State Board of Elections records, that makes the N.C. Property Rights Fund the single largest disclosed spender on state-level elections—a description that doesn’t include expensive U.S. Senate and congressional races underway—so far this election cycle.