There's no question this election cycle about conservative businessman Art Pope's direct financial involvement in the Wake County school board elections.

Campaign finance reports filed last week by school board candidate Donna Williams showed she had raised $22,456.33. That includes $4,000 from Pope, $4,000 from his wife and $4,000 from conservative businessman Bob Luddy.

Pope's role in the 2009 school board elections has been hotly debated. Pope has repeatedly pointed to how he only gave money to the Wake County Republican Party in 2009 and not to any individual school board candidates.

Conservative businessman Art Pope gave more details today about his school board campaign strategy meeting with Wake County Republican Party officials.

In a meeting today with N&O editors and reporters, Pope said that like other large donors he was given a courtesy meeting with party officials last year to discuss fundraising and campaign strategy. But he said that he only gave his advice about the GOP plan.

Critics of the new school board majority have trumpeted an October e-mail message in which Wake GOP finance chair Marc Scruggs said they had implemented "Art Pope's plan." Pope repeated today his statement that Scruggs gave him too much credit.

With the blessing of the state NAACP, around 20 people protested tonight at N.C. State University about what they called conservative businessman Art Pope's "privatization of public schools."

The protesters painted Pope as an enemy of public education. They bashed the Pope and his Pope Family Foundation as having put the new school board majority in power and for criticizing university programs such as multicultural studies.

"Pope, hands off our public education," chanted the protesters, consisting of N.C. State students, high school students and others who've joined the efforts to back Wake's diversity policy. "We don't want his resegregation."

Art Pope is denying being the architect of the new Wake County school board majority and Thomas Farr is saying he advised against sending out controversial postcards in the 1990 U.S. Senate campaign.

As noted in today's article, Pope said "to say I was the architect was overstated.” He's referring to an Oct. 7 e-mail message from Wake GOP finance chair Marc Scruggs in which he tells school board member Ron Margiotta that they followed Pope's plan in the election.

Pope says he raised money for the school board candidates and gave advice to Wake GOP Chairman Claude Pope, his distant cousin. But he says that was all he did during the campaign.

Did conservative businessman and former state legislator Art Pope play a bigger role in electing the new Wake County school board majority than has been previously known?

As noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, Pope gets a lot of credit for the election results in an Oct. 7 e-mail message sent from Wake County GOP fundraising chairman Marc Scruggs to school board member Ron Margiotta.

“I am fairly pleased with the elections yesterday — especially with the school board,” Scruggs writes in an e-mail message obtained following a public records request. “Art Pope’s plan (that) the GOP implemented worked very well — and THANK YOU for your help and service.”

UPDATE: LINK FOR SCRUGGS' EMAIL AT END OF POST