Oklahoma Lawmakers Want More Scrutiny of Campaign Loans 

Oklahoma lawmakers from both parties want to tighten up state campaign finance rules over personal loans to campaigns. 

Rep. Jared Deck, D-Norman, and Rep. Jonathan Wilk, R-Goldsby, want the state Ethics Commission to review gaps in state law on how much information candidates must provide when they loan money to their campaign committees. 

The lawmakers separately contacted the Ethics Commission about the issue. Deck held a press conference on Thursday to outline his concerns about Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei’s $11 million in loans to his campaign. Wilk wants the Ethics Commission to review loans to campaign committees above a $100,000 threshold. His proposal is supported by the commission’s House and Senate working groups for new rules. 

Deck said he sent letters Thursday to federal and state banking regulators and the Ethics Commission, asking them to confidentially review a loan Mazzei took out in January. Mazzei pledged shares of his financial advisory firm, Trinity Wealth Advisors Inc., to secure the loan from Regent Bank, according to a financing statement filed in Oklahoma County. 

Mazzei loaned his gubernatorial campaign $3 million in 2025 and another $8 million through August, according to state campaign filings. Mazzei and his wife, Noel, provided those loans interest-free. The loans make up almost 90% of the money Mazzei’s campaign has raised. He faces Democrat Cyndi Munson and three independent candidates in the Nov. 3 general election. 

Candidates in Oklahoma can repay personal loans to their campaigns without limit, although they can’t use later contributions to retire any interest accrued on the loans. Ten states, including Texas and California, limit how much candidates can repay personal loans from campaign donations. 

Deck said he has no evidence the same money Regent Bank loaned Mazzei in January ended up as loans to the Mazzei campaign. But he said constituents have called him with their concerns about large candidate loans. 

“I have no problem with someone betting on themselves, risking their own money to take a chance and run for office,” Deck said. “However, whenever you’re underwriting that money personally, that’s a risk for yourself. Whenever you don’t have to risk that money yourself and a bank’s underwriting it for you, then that money should be reported as such.” 

Deck said Mazzei’s Regent Bank loan raises questions about repayment terms and how the bank valued Mazzei’s shares in the firm he put up as collateral. Those concerns were relayed in letters Deck sent to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Oklahoma State Banking Department and the Ethics Commission. 

Deck said he’s willing to introduce legislation in the next session to address gaps in campaign finance reporting.  

“We’ve got our wires crossed between banking regulations and campaign ethics regulations, and they don’t align,” Deck said. “That’s something that we need to address as a legislature, and the Ethics Commission does as well.” 

In a written statement, Mazzei’s campaign spokesman Jahan Wilcox said Democrats were pulling false fire alarms in the weeks before the general election. 

“The truth is: there is no legislative investigation, no FDIC review and no Ethics Commission probe,” Wilcox said Thursday.

Sean Kouplen, Regent Bank’s chairman and CEO, served in Gov. Kevin Stitt’s cabinet alongside Mazzei during Stitt’s first term. Kouplen served as secretary of commerce and workforce development, while Mazzei served as budget secretary. 

Kouplen could not be reached for comment Thursday. 

Wilk presented his rules proposal before an Ethics Commission meeting in May. He wants the commission to review candidate loans or gifts to their campaign committee over $100,000. Commissioners voted to add it to their rulemaking agenda. 

“Representative Wilk advised that the concern arises when candidates contribute very large sums – such as $400,000 – to campaigns for offices with comparatively low salaries, prompting scrutiny about whether the funds are genuinely personal,” according to the commission’s May 14 meeting minutes. 

Wilk could not be reached for comment Thursday. 

Wilk’s proposed rule could be on track for public comment and Ethics Commission adoption this year. Any adopted rules would then go before the Legislature and the governor for final approval.

Paul Monies has been a reporter with Oklahoma Watch since 2017 and covers state agencies and public health. Contact him at (571) 319-3289 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @pmonies. 

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