Wealthy retail magnate Art Pope, who stepped down as North Carolina’s state budget director, has helped reshape North Carolina politics by creating and financing a network of conservative groups that buttressed GOP efforts to take on the long-dominant Democratic establishment. Along the way, he has played key roles in state government as a four-term state legislator and now as budget director for Gov. Pat McCrory, the first Republican to lead the state in two decades. Read related article.

Sources: John William Pope Foundation, John Locke Foundation, Civitas Action, Americans for Prosperity, Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, Institute for Southern Studies, North Carolina State Board of Elections | Matea Gold and Cristina Rivero/The Washington Post