Wake County school board member Chris Malone's alleged affair with fellow school board member Debra Goldman is being used against him in his bid for the state House 35 seat.

In a new robocall today from the liberal Common Sense Matters, the group brings up the allegations raised in the 2010 police report about whether they had a romantic relationship and that Goldman named Malone as a suspect in the reported burglary of $130,000 from her home.

"With these kinds of distractions, it’s no wonder the schools screwed up student assignment plans and the bus schedule," says the robocall. "Don’t reward Malone’s unprofessional behavior by sending him to the state legislature."

The Wake County Democratic Party outspent the Wake County Republican Party by more than two to one last year to help win the pivotal school board battle.

While it's hard to say how much was specifically spent on the Wake County school board races, the campaign finance reports would suggest that the Democrats were more active in getting their candidates elected. For instance, Democrats had a target of $80,000 in their get-out-the-vote efforts for the October races.

According to their year-end report, the Wake County Democratic Party received $176,227.18 and spent $183,252.88. According to their year-end report, the Wake County Republican Party raised $81,965.98 and spent $83.089.33.

The numbers keep rising in the most expensive race in Wake County school board history.

As noted in today's article, campaign finance reports filed Monday show that the candidates raised more than $470.000. The wild card though is the spending from the outside groups and the political parties, numbers which are already at $150,000 and rising.

Once the final numbers are in, the spending might hit $700,000 to $800,000 this year.

The latest campaign finance reports show even more how much of a role liberal activist Dean Debnam played to get a new Democratic majority elected to the Wake County school board.

This year-end report filed Friday by Wake Citizens for Good Government, which was formed by Debnam in 2009, shows the PAC donated $25,000 during the school board campaign.

The biggest chunk of $10,000 went to the N.C. Democratic Party, whose final report isn't viewable yet but is expected to show something was spent in Wake on the school board races.

We're now getting concrete evidence that national money was used in the Wake County school board races to help Democratic candidates retake the board majority.

A new campaign finance report posted today by the Wake County Board of Elections shows that N.C. Citizens for Protecting Our Schools spent $8,418.69 on get-out-to-vote calls to help Democratic school board incumbent Kevin Hill.

The calls were made possible, according to the report, by a $30,000 donation on Oct. 26 from D.C.-based America's Families First Action Fund. The national 501(c)4 group has been called a super PAC that helps Democratic candidates and is heavily backed by labor unions.

Common Sense Matters targeted Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo with more than $27,000 in attack mailers the week before the election, part of more than $80,000 the liberal advocacy group spent against her during the campaign.

A new campaign finance report released Monday by the Wake County Board of Elections shows that Common Sense Matters targeted Losurdo with $27,154 in mailers on Nov. 2-3. Based on this and earlier filings, the group spent at least $82,258.18 attacking Losurdo.

The actual number Common Sense Matters spent against Losurdo is higher because it doesn't include an unknown portion of $10,431.06 on postage for mailers targeting both Losurdo and school board chairman Ron Margiotta. All together, the reports show that Common Sense Maters spent $111,701.75 in mailers throughout the school board campaign.

The last-minute mailers from Common Sense Matters were made possible by a Nov. 4 infusion of $28,500 from the N.C. Futures Action Fund, led by Democratic activist Dean Debnam. All together, Debnam's group gave Common Sense Matters $133,500 during the campaign.

The groups not affiliated with Wake County school board member Kevin Hill and challenger Heather Losurdo pumped out a lot of campaign mailers.

As noted in today's article, at least $70,000 was spent by outside groups in targeted mailers in the District 3 runoff election. Some of the mailers got pretty rough.

For instance, Dean Debnam, a local Democratic activist who advocates for progressive causes, didn't see any problems with the mailers his N.C. Futures Action Fund bankrolled for Common Sense Matters.

Common Sense Matters tells voters in this campaign mailer that "the Tea Party doesn't want you to vote in Tuesday's (Wake County school board) runoff election."

"The Tea Party is on the brink of controlling Wake County public schools; now it all comes down to Tuesday's runoff election," says the mailer. "If Tea Party activist Heather Losurdo wins, so does the Tea Party — because then they will continue their partisan, slash-and-burn agenda that's hurting our public schools. So it's no wonder that Tea Party extremists have poured more than $14,000 into Losurdo's campaign."

The mailer includes a screen capture of Losurdo being interviewed by WTVD, where she said "Yes, I support the Tea Party."

The mailer is one in a series sent by Common Sense Matters, which is affiliated with local Democrats. One of the donors is the N.C. Futures Action Fund, a group led by Democratic activist Dean Debnam.

Common Sense Matters tells voters in this campaign mailer that "if you stop (Wake County school board candidate) Heather Losurdo, you stop the Tea Party."

"The Tea Party is counting on you to skip next Tuesday's runoff election, so they can take control of the Wake County School Board," says the mailer. "They're hoping you won't stop Heather Losurdo, who is backed by Tea Party radicals with a right-wing agenda that is hurting our public schools. So it's no wonder that Tea Party extremists have poured more than $14,000 into Losurdo's campaign."

The mailer includes a picture of Losurdo speaking at a Tea Party rally.

The mailer is one in a series sent by Common Sense Matters, which is affiliated with local Democrats. One of the donors is the N.C. Futures Action Fund, a group led by Democratic activist Dean Debnam.

Common Sense Matters accuses Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo of being a "Tea Party extremist" who "has a radical agenda for our schools" in this campaign mailer sent last week.

"Right now, the Wake County school board is just one vote away from being controlled by Tea Party candidates," says the mailer. "If Heather Losurdo wins in the November 8 runoff election, then the Tea Party wins too.

That's because Losurdo is running to continue the same radical agenda that has endangered our schools accreditation and threatened $80 million in school funding. If Heather Losurdo gives the Tea Party total control of Wake County's schools, the results will be devastating."

The mailer is one in a series sent by Common Sense Matters, which is affiliated with local Democrats. One of the donors is the N.C. Futures Action Fund, a group led by Democratic activist Dean Debnam.