Business and industry leaders depend upon credible and reliable information to understand North Carolina’s political landscape and to make decisions that will foster a business-friendly climate in our State. The North Carolina FreeEnterprise Foundation provides cutting-edge research and analysis to help North Carolina’s business community stay ahead of the curve.

NCFEF Business Ratings

Following each “Long” Legislative Session of the North Carolina General Assembly, the NC FreeEnterprise Foundation conducts an in-depth evaluation of the performance of state lawmakers on critical business issues, including voting records, legislator effectiveness, and overall business performance.


  1. ➡Go to Business Ratings of the 2011 N.C. General Assembly

  2. ➡Go to Business Ratings of the 2009 N.C. General Assembly

Candidate Surveys

Each election year, the NC FreeEnterprise Foundation surveys hundreds of candidates seeking election to federal and state offices in North Carolina to determine their positions on a wide range of business issues. The NCFEF’s surveys provide vital information about the candidates to the state’s business community and the public.


  1. ➡Go to 2012 Candidate Surveys

NCFEF Election Tracker - Comprehensive Candidate Listing

Well before the official candidate filing period begins, the NC FreeEnterprise Foundation compiles and maintains one of the most comprehensive lists of candidates and would-be candidates in the state. Stay up-do-date on who is running and who is not through the NCFEF’s Election Tracker.


2012 Election Tracker:

  1. ➡Download the latest 2012 Election Tracker

  2. ➡Download the 2012 General Election MatchUps


2011 Freshman Lawmakers:

  1. ➡Download the 2010 Freshman Legislator Guide

  2. ➡Download the 2010 Freshman Legislator One-Page Pocket Guide


2010 General Election Candidates

  1. ➡Download the 2010 General Election Results report

  2. ➡Go to 2010 General Election Candidate Match-Ups report

  3. ➡Go to 2010 Election Tracker

North Carolina State Government Directory

This handy, pocket-size guide is an essential tool for anyone contacting members of the North Carolina’s Congressional Delegation; Governor, Cabinet and Council of State; N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals; N.C. Senate and N.C. House. The Directory includes personal, business and legislative office contact information; terms in office; counties represented; date of birth; staff names; committee assignments; and much, much more!


Cost: $10 each (bulk discounts apply); Custom cover and binding options available... more information.


  1. ➡Order 2013-2014 North Carolina State Government Directories

The Almanac of North Carolina Politics

The Almanac of North Carolina Politics is the product of countless hours of research and objective analysis by the NC FreeEnterprise Foundation and contains valuable information on the state of politics in North Carolina including profiles of North Carolina candidates and the districts in which they are running.


The Almanac also contains detailed district voter demographic information, past district voting performance, the partisan lean of the districts, as well as special reports on party and candidate campaign finances, changing voter registration in the state, business ratings for incumbent members of the North Carolina General Assembly and much more!


The 2012 General Election Edition of the Almanac contains over 500 pages printed in black & white and bound as a single volume. Cost is $30.00 per copy.


  1. ➡Order The Almanac of North Carolina Politics - 2012 General Election Edition

  2. ➡Order The Almanac of North Carolina Politics - 2010 General Election Edition

Congressional & State Legislative Redistricting Analysis

Every 10 years after the decennial census, the North Carolina General Assembly redraws North Carolina’s congressional and state legislative district maps. During redistricting, the NC FreeEnterprise Foundation closely monitors the remapping process and provides detailed analysis as the maps are published.


  1. ➡Go to 2011 Congressional Redistricting Analysis

  2. ➡Go to 2011 N.C. Senate Redistricting Analysis

  3. ➡Go to 2011 N.C. House Redistricting Analysis additional analysis here

Campaign Finance Reports

Throughout the election season, the NC FreeEnterprise Foundation tracks the campaign finance activities of North Carolina’s federal and state elected officials and candidates. The NCFEF provides comprehensive, detailed reports of campaign finances showing how much money candidates are raising and spending, where the money comes from and how it is being spent.


  1. ➡Go to 2012 Comprehensive Congressional Campaign Finance Report

  2. ➡Go to 2012 Comprehensive Governor & Other Statewide Races Campaign Finance Report

  3. ➡Go to 2012 Comprehensive N.C. Senate Campaign Finance Report

  4. ➡Go to 2012 Comprehensive N.C. House Campaign Finance Report


  1. ➡Go to 2012 Second Quarter Reports: Congressional; Governor & Statewide Races; N.C. Senate; N.C. House

  2. ➡Go to 2011 Year-End Reports: Governor & Council of State; N.C. Senate; N.C House

  3. ➡Go to 2010 Election Cycle Reports: Congressional; N.C. Senate; N.C. House

P.O. Box 12406     Raleigh, NC 27605     Phone: 919.896.8347     Fax: 919.896.8349

NCFEF Turnover Tracker

Just as important as who is running for office in North Carolina is which incumbents are not. Find out who has resigned, is retiring, running for other office, or otherwise leaving their position in North Carolina politics with the NCFEF’s Turnover Tracker.


2012 Turnover Tracker:

  1. ➡Download the latest 2012 Turnover Tracker

NCFEF Presidential Tracker

North Carolina was a key battleground state in the 2012 Presidential race. Accordingly, North Carolina received more political attention from the President that any time in recent history. Find out when, where and why President Obama visited North Carolina since taking office in January 2009 with the NCFEF’s Presidential Tracker.


2012 Presidential Tracker:

  1. ➡See the 2012 Presidential Tracker

NCFEF Youtube Channel - Campaign Ads & Videos

With a full slate of competitive races up and down the ballot and across the state, candidates are taking to the air waves like never before. The NCFEF is tracking the latest political ads running in North Carolina on our YouTube Channel by saving them to our “Favorites.”


  1. ➡See the 2012 Political Ads

NCFEF Independent Expenditure Tracker

The amount of money being spent by outside groups seeking to influence the outcome of elections up and down the ballot is growing. As this spending by outside groups at the state and congressional level continues to increase, keep tabs on the rising totals with the NCFEF Independent Expenditure Tracker. Due to variations of reporting requirements at the state and federal levels, spending in congressional races is tracked close to real-time, but spending in state legislative races can only be compiled after the election.


2012 Independent Expenditure Tracker (Primary Election):

  1. ➡Download the 2012 Congressional Primary Independent Expenditure Tracker

  2. ➡Download the 2012 Primary Outside Spending Report

  3. ➡Download the 2012 General Election Independent Expenditure Tracker


2010 Independent Expenditure Tracker:

  1. ➡Download the 2010 Congressional Independent Expenditure Tracker


2010 Independent Expenditure Report for State Legislative Races:

  1. ➡Download the 2010 Outside Spending Report

Most Competitive Races

The NC FreeEnterprise Foundation took an early look at 2012’s most competitive NC Senate and NC House races. This preliminary analysis can be found in the reports below.


  1. ➡Go to 2012 Most Competitive NC Senate Races

  2. ➡Go to 2012 Most Competitive NC House Races

NCFEF Poll Tracker

It can be difficult to keep tabs on all the polling data being released during campaign season, which is why the NC FreeEnterprise Foundation created the Poll Tracker to keep all of the latest information organized and in one place. The link below will always have the latest polling data that is publicly available on races in North Carolina.


  1. ➡Go to 2012 Poll Tracker

NCFEF Partisan District Ratings

At the conclusion of the redistricting process in the Summer of 2011, the North Carolina FreeEnterprise Foundation analyzed the new congressional and legislative districts to assign them each with a Partisan District Rating. When determining the Partisan District Rating for each district, the Foundation considers voter registration data, recent voter performance, demographic and geographic information, historical voting trends, and numerous other factors. Note, the  districts in each category are listed in order of strength, with the strongest Democratic district listed in the top of the left column and the strongest Republican district listed in the bottom of the right column.


  1. ➡Go to Post-2012 General Election N.C. Senate Partisan District Ratings Chart

  2. ➡Go to Post-2012 General Election N.C. House Partisan District Rating Chart

  3. ➡Go to Pre-2012 Election Congressional Partisan District Ratings Chart

  4. ➡Go to Pre-2012 Election N.C. Senate Partisan District Ratings Chart

  5. ➡Go to Pre-2012 Election N.C. House Partisan District Rating Chart

NCFEF Cutting-Edge Events, Forums & Seminars

Throughout the year, the NC FreeEnterprise Foundation holds cutting-edge events, forums and educational seminars featuring the state’s top elected leaders and political experts.


  1. ➡Go to 2012 N.C. Leadership Luncheon Pictures & Videos

  2. ➡Go to 2012 N.C. General Assembly Candidate Forum Videos


  4. ➡Go to 2011 N.C. Leadership Luncheon Pictures


  6. ➡Go to 2010 N.C. Leadership Luncheon Pictures & Videos

  7. ➡Go to 2010 Citizens United v. FEC Seminar Videos

Political Action Committee (PAC) Reports

Following the two-year election cycle, the NC FreeEnterprise Foundation conducts an extensive study and analysis of the activities of political action committees (PACs) in state elections. The NCFEF’s PAC Report includes a listing of the TOP 100 PACs during the election cycle, as well as a breakdown of PAC giving by industry category, candidates, political parties, etc.


  1. ➡Go to 2010 Election Cycle Political Action Committee (PAC) Report (including TOP 100 PAC List)