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An interview with Art Pope shows up in this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek magazine with some interesting new details about the governor’s new budget director.

The wealthy and influential conservative financier tells the magazine he turned the job down at first because his wife didn’t like it that he had become a favorite target of liberal groups, and had even received a death threat on an anonymous blog post.

The North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity on Wednesday called for a constitutional amendment to protect the state’s “right to work” law, which says workers can’t be forced to join unions and bans collective bargaining for public employees.

Chapter president Dallas Woodhouse made the announcement following the Michigan legislature’s approval of right-to-work legislation.

Woodhouse says AFP doesn’t doubt that the GOP-run legislature and North Carolina’s newly elected governor will uphold the law. But, he says, “fringe elements opposed to worker freedom continue to press for changes towards more forced unionization.”

The Koch Brothers-funded AFP has become an increasingly influential force in the state’s politics, with the ascent of the Republican-dominated General Assembly over the past two years.

Update: Thanks to Jonathan Kappler of the N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation, Dome is reminded that House Speaker Thom Tillis was talking publicly about doing this last fall. Add that to the to-do list for the 2012-13 session?

Americans for Prosperity is meeting with Sen. Kay Hagan's office in Raleigh as part of a statwide effort to "put pressure on lawmakers to vote against tax hikes and for fiscal responsibility."

Dallas Woodhouse, state director of the conservative group, said he will use the opportunity to let North Carolinians speak for themselves.

"Hagan will soon vote on tax and spending policies that will impact our economy and the people she represents," Woodhouse said, referring to ongoing negotiations over fiscal policies with impending deadlines.

In a release, the group said lame duck sessions are popular because legislators think no one is paying attention to how they vote, and that the goal is to mobilize supporters to stay focused on

UPDATED (again): Brad Woodhouse made his original goal and now has increased it.

UPDATED: Dome was right about Dallas Woodhouse (read on to find out how).

Here at Dome, we've been wondering about the Woodhouse family holiday gathering. What is it like when Brad Woodhouse, communications director for the Democratic National Committee, gathers to carve the turkey with his brother Dallas Woodhouse, the North Carolina state director for the conservative Americans for Prosperity?

Does one accidentally spill the gravy on the other? Who wins the wishbone contest? Is there elbow jostling as they pull it?

We remember a few years ago their mother Joyce telling an N&O reporter that she tries to get them to not talk politics at the holiday table. But she also told The N&O that "they still love each other."

And apparently, they can still be proud of each other. The evidence came today in a message that Dallas Woodhouse forwarded to various media saying: "Here is a note from my brother … watch ABC News this week." 

Americans for Prosperity is spending $130,000 to send a half million mailers touting Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory just days before the election.

The two fliers (see pdf links below) hit two issues that aren't being discussed much on the campaign trail: medical malpractice and public financing of campaigns.

A nonprofit conservative political group is buttressing efforts by Mitt Romney and a Republican super PAC to label President Barack Obama as "out of touch."

Americans for Prosperity debuted a new TV ad in political swing states Wednesday -- including North Carolina -- that repeats Obama's comment that the "private sector is doing fine." (In fact, the ad puts the line on remix and repeats it three times.)

Dallas Woodhouse, state director for AFP, said the group spent $1 million to air the ad in all North Carolina TV markets. The ad is the 19th in the presidential election, including two new ones from Obama Wednesday.

A number of Americans for Prosperity staffers from North Carolina are working in Wisconsin ahead of today's recall vote, effectively using the much-watched election as a test run for November's campaign back at home.

Dallas Woodhouse, the state director for the conservative advocacy group, said his team recently added six staff members (for a total of nine) and sent seven to Wisconsin to work on the election in which Republican Gov. Scott Walker is working to keep his job against Democratic Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett.

Americans for Prosperity isn't the only group touring the state this week talking about the Republican-drawn budget, as the educating funding battle hits the streets.

A "Truth Squad" car sponsored by Progress NC, a liberal advocacy group, is following AFP's billboard truck around the state shouting "Real Solutions or Real Distortions?" along with numbers about the cuts to education. (The video above was shot Tuesday in downtown Winston-Salem).

Bob Hall at Democracy North Carolina is asking the N.C. State Board of Elections for a legal clarification about the Americans for Prosperity Foundation TV and radio advertisements on the state budget.

Hall's liberal group is no fan of the conservative AFP. But he raises an interesting question about who constitutes a candidate under state election laws. If a candidate is mentioned, the ads would qualify as electioneering communications and the sponsor would have to meet disclosure requirements for expenditures and donors. AFP hasn't filed disclosure forms because its 501c3 nonprofit affiliate, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, paid for the "educational" advertisement.

The question revolves around whether Gov. Bev Perdue -- who is mentioned and in the advertisement -- still qualifies as a candidate even though she is not seeking re-election.

Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group, is trolling for good state legislative candidates.

The group sent a robocall to targeted North Carolina homes Monday looking for people who would "promote the principles of limited government and free markets" and sign a no-tax pledge. "Have you ever considered running for office. The filing period for running for the state legislature begins today," the call starts. (See audio below.)

Are conservatives having trouble finding candidates? No, says Dallas Woodhouse, the group's executive director. "We have done this before and have been successful is getting people to file for office and sign the no-tax-increase pledge," he said. "Last year we had many candidates signed the pledge and some were recruited this way."