Georgia legislative candidates Rahn Mayo and Keisha Waites got all they expected from a national group that promotes public school vouchers: relatively modest campaign contributions and, by implication, the group's endorsement.

Then they got more.

The voucher group, Michigan-based All Children Matter, spent $33,000 last week on mailings that urge voters to support Mayo and Waites in Tuesday's primary runoffs. So far this year, the organization has put $138,000 into Georgia legislative campaigns —- most of it through expenditures made without the candidates' knowledge or approval.

The group's spending, disclosed in campaign finance reports, highlights the ability of political committees to influence elections with far more money than they could donate directly to any candidate. It also suggests that Georgia, which already provides tuition vouchers in limited circumstances, may be the next stage for a broader debate over using public money in private schools.

Georgia law caps contributions to legislative candidates at $2,300, whether from individual donors or political action committees. But All Children Matter registered with the state as an "independent" political committee. As such, it can raise and spend any amount it wishes for the benefit of specific candidates —- but only if it operates autonomously from those candidates.

No other independent committee has spent as much as All Children Matter in this year's legislative races, records show. Just the money it spent last week on behalf of Mayo and Waites almost doubles the amount the two candidates together have raised on their own.

In its first significant foray into Georgia elections, the size of the group's contributions and its methods have both attracted attention, particularly from voucher opponents.

All Children Matter has spent about $100,000 to benefit seven candidates, records show. Five are Democrats and come from generally inner-city House districts, areas not necessarily associated with politicians who back vouchers. Waites is running for an open seat in House District 61 in south Atlanta. Mayo is running in House District 91, covering parts of south DeKalb and northern Henry counties.

The group makes no mention of vouchers in campaign material. For instance, a mailing for Waites praises her for "protecting seniors, affordable health care for families" and says she will "fight for regional funding for Grady Memorial Hospital."

By calling attention to issues other than school vouchers, the group is "trying to influence elections through the back door," state Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) said.

"They're pouring boatloads of money into campaigns and they're not talking about vouchers but about other issues," Fort said Wednesday. "It's very, very sneaky."

A wealthy couple from Grand Rapids, Mich., Dick and Betsy DeVos, founded All Children Matter in 2003. Dick DeVos, a former chief executive of the Amway Corp., ran for governor of Michigan as a Republican in 2006, and the couple are known as major GOP patrons. In 2000 they led an unsuccessful ballot initiative to allow school vouchers in Michigan.

All Children Matter has distributed millions of dollars in campaign contributions across the country, federal and state records show. The group generally has targeted one or two states in each election.

In 2006 in Ohio, for example, the group created a political action committee that made $870,000 in donations. But the Ohio Elections Commission ruled in April that All Children Matter had illegally transferred that money from its political committee in Virginia. The commission imposed a $5.2 million fine —- triple the amount of illicit contributions, then doubled to account for both the Ohio and Virginia committees. All Children Matter is contesting the fine in court, said Philip Richter, the commission's executive director.

All Children Matter's headquarters in Grand Rapids referred questions to David Morgan, the group's Georgia director. In a telephone interview Wednesday, Morgan described the Ohio case as a "convoluted controversy" that "doesn't have any merit to it."

"We pride ourselves in making sure we abide by the letter of the law," said Morgan, himself the Democratic nominee for a seat on the Cobb County Board of Education and the husband of state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell).

All Children Matter doesn't require candidates to publicly support vouchers or other school-choice ideas, Morgan said. Instead, he said, the group wants "elected officials who will be open to meaningful education reform rather than maintaining the status quo."

Neither Morgan nor the candidates his group supports would say whether broad voucher legislation might be introduced next year. But Morgan said: "If there is, the most ideal situation is to have a group of objective elected officials who can make judgments based on the issue at hand rather than on what I consider extraneous issues."

All Children Matter sent questionnaires to legislative contenders and then met with some of them, according to Morgan and several candidates. The group's political action committee —- which is funded mostly by the national organization —- contributed directly to 28 candidates, mostly $1,000 or $1,500. That committee also transferred $105,000 to its separate, independent committee, which is bound by no contribution limits.

"As long as the independent committee is operating on their own, they're free to make expenditures however they see fit —- as long as you're not correlating or coordinating with campaigns," said Rick Thompson, executive secretary of the State Ethics Commission, which enforces Georgia's campaign finance laws.

However, Thompson said, the commission has to use subjective judgment in deciding "what constitutes an independent expenditure and what's not independent."

Mayo said he met with All Children Matter several weeks ago. He said he was "open" to school choice ideas, but took no definite stand.

After the meeting, Mayo said, "all I was aware of was they were interviewing all the candidates and they gave me a direct donation."

It wasn't until a mailing arrived at his home, Mayo said, that he knew about the group's independent expenditure on his behalf.

Waites said she knew nothing about the mailing until Tuesday afternoon, when a reporter reached her by cellphone as she canvassed a neighborhood in her district.

Waites said she supports "parental choice" in schools, but not necessarily vouchers. But she was happy to get help from All Children Matter, and asked for the organization's address.

"I'd love to send them a thank-you note," she said.

SEVEN WHO BENEFIT

All Children Matter, a Michigan-based group that promotes school vouchers, has spent about $138,000 on Georgia legislative campaigns this year. Almost $100,000 of the total was in the form of independent expenditures, made without the candidates' knowledge or approval. These seven candidates were the beneficiaries of the expenditures:

Rahn Mayo: Democratic candidate in House District 91; finished first in primary; in runoff Tuesday.

Keisha Waites: Democratic candidate in House District 61; finished second in primary; in runoff Tuesday.

Joel Alvarado: Democratic candidate in House District 55; lost in primary.

Rep. Pedro Marin (D-Duluth): House District 96 incumbent; won primary; faces Republican in November.

Rep. Margaret Kaiser (D-Atlanta): House District 59 incumbent; won primary; no Republican opposition in November.

Rep. Jeff Lewis (R-White): House District 15 incumbent; lost in primary.

Sen. Dan Weber (R-Dunwoody): Senate District 40 incumbent; won primary, faces Democrat in November.

HOW THE SPENDING BREAKS DOWN

Date ......Candidates ........Purpose..........Amount

June 27....Kaiser, Mayo,......direct mail......$22,500

...........Alvarado

June 30....Lewis, Weber ......direct mail ......$8,651

June 30....Kaiser, Mayo,......direct mail......$19,680

..........Alvarado, Marin

July 11....Lewis, Weber ......direct mail ......$8,651

July 11....Lewis..............direct mail ......$2,885

July 11....Weber, Lewis,......data services ....$1,225

...........Marin, Kaiser,

...........Mayo, Alvarado

July 18....Lewis, Weber ......direct mail ........$138

July 21....Waites ............data services ......$200

July 22....Mayo, Waites ......direct mail......$33,717

TOTAL INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES:................$97,647

Source: Campaign finance reports filed with State Ethics Commission.