Buying Main Street: Billionaires swamp local races 

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/michael-bloomberg-koch-brothers-tom-steyer-110055.html 

"Frustrated by paralysis at the federal level, the nation’s wealthiest activists have set their sights with increasing frequency on state and local elections as a new route for effecting policy change. The influx of cash from outside billionaires — namely Bloomberg, the industrialist Koch brothers and environmentalist financier Tom Steyer — has upended what would otherwise be bite-size campaigns for obscure municipal and state offices."

Referencing former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

"In Louisiana, the business-information mogul put more than $100,000 into swinging the state board of education into the hands of supporters of the Common Core education standards."