The Great Schools in Wake Coalition is officially stepping into the Wake County school board elections with this campaign mailer that was sent this week urging people to vote in the runoff contest.

The mailer says "Do this one thing for all our children...vote in the runoff election for the District 3 school board seat!" In addition to GSIW, the mailer's other sponsors include a pair of liberal groups in Common Cause NC and the N.C. A Philip Randolph Institute, which is an arm of the AFL-CIO.

The mailer doesn't tell you who to vote for because GSIW isn't officially allowed to give endorsements. But a number of GSIW members have individually worked for and donated money to the campaigns for the Democratic school board candidates.

Additionally, the mailer points voters to WakeElections.com. As previously reported by the Civitas Review, the weblog of the conservative Civitas Institute, that website was set up by a number of liberal/left-leaning advocacy groups.

Organized labor is backing "labor-friendly" Wake County school board member Kevin Hill in the District 3 runoff election against Heather Losurdo.

The Triangle Labor Council AFL-CIO announced Friday that it was endorsing Hill, just like it had in the general election. Three of the group's five Democratic endorsed candidates won outright on Oct. 11 with Hill and George Morgan, whom the group supported over Christine Kushner, being the lone exceptions.

"Our endorsed candidates did very well in Wake County, but control of the Wake County School Board is still up for grabs," says this handout from the Triangle Labor Council AFL-CIO. "However, one of our candidates, Kevin Hill, in Wake County Schools District 3, fell 51 votes short of getting the 50% needed to avoid a run-off. Kevin Hill will be on the ballot in a special run-off election on Tuesday, Nov. 8. This labor-friendly candidate needs your support!"

Is Planned Parenthood working behind the scenes to help elect the Democratic candidates for Wake County school board?

That's the implication of this post published last week by the Civitas Review, the weblog of the conservative Civitas Institute. The blog was looking into wakeelections.com, a website listed on mailers sent to voters in District 3 and 8 by Common Cause and an arm of the AFL-CIO.

After not finding any information on the website about who's involved in the group, Civitas clicked on the Take Action button. Civitas says the contacts for an automatic message when you sign up to volunteer include WakeUP Wake County, Blueprint NC and Planned Parenthood Health Systems.

Efforts by liberal groups to impact the District 3 and District 8 races on the Wake County school board are continuing with yet another different organization urging people to vote on Election Day.

In this new campaign mailer targeted at voters in both districts, it says "there are lots of little reasons to vote on the school board...and one big one: because you care about Wake County's future!"

The flier also reads "having good schools for all Wake County schools makes our economy stronger, our communities healthier, and keeps the whole county a great place to live and work."

The Triangle Labor Council AFL-CIO announced Friday its endorsements for Wake County school board with at least one potentially unexpected name.

The labor organization endorsed Kevin Hill in District 3, Keith Sutton in District 4, Jim Martin in District 5 and Susan Evans in District 8. The group endorsed George Morgan (despite putting the wrong last name on the site) in District 6. Christine Kushner hss been getting most of the District 6 endorsemetns from liberal groups.

All five endorsed candidates are Democrats. But the AFL-CIO does cross party lines. For instance, the group endorsed Debra Goldman in 2009.

The Triangle Labor Council and North Carolina AFL-CIO have endorsed Mayor Bill Bell and City Councilwoman for re-election in this fall's municipal elections.

Bell is running for a sixth consecutive term, Catotti for a third.

Both were informed of the endorsements by letter. Labor Council President Michael Gravinese wrote that his group's policy is to leave announcement of its endorsements up to candidates.

Bell faces four challengers in a primary election Oct. 11. Besides Catotti, seven candidates are running for three at-large seats on the City Council.