Outside Groups Have Spent $5.5 Million on Oklahoma’s Midterm Races. Almost Half Has No Traceable Donor.

Outside groups have poured more than $5.5 million into Oklahoma midterm races as state regulators consider stricter disclosure requirements. 

Oklahoma Values, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that opposes Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cyndi Munson, accounts for more than half of spending leading up to the Nov. 3 election. The political action committee has organizational ties to the Republican Governor’s Association, which has vowed to spend at least $3 million to support GOP nominee Mike Mazzei. 

​PACs have also reported spending nearly $1.3 million on state legislative races since Sept. 1, including $127,000 toward a state House race in northwest Oklahoma County. Several of the candidates are facing negative opposition mailers and digital ads.

Candidates have reported spending a comparable $5.6 million from Sept. 1 to Oct. 19, according to Oklahoma Ethics Commission filings. The totals are just for state races and do not include federal elections. 

The outside spending surge comes as the Ethics Commission weighs enhanced scrutiny of PACs and politically involved nonprofits, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts independent of candidates. Statewide and legislative candidates aren’t limited in spending, but can accept no more than $3,500 from individual donors each election cycle. 

While the outside groups must file quarterly reports showing their donors, funders often conceal their true identity through a chain of nonprofits. Critics say the so-called dark money ads can make it harder for voters to evaluate candidates and perpetuate false or misleading claims.

At an Oct. 8 meeting, Ethics Commission Executive Director Lee Ann Bruce Boone said Oklahoma could model action taken in other states. In 2020, Arizona voters approved a ballot measure requiring groups that spend $50,000 or more to report donors who give more than $5,000. Montana requires all political spenders, regardless of their tax status, to disclose their donors if they spend $250 or more within two months of an election.

Bruce Boone said more sweeping changes would have a higher risk of litigation, though a federal appeals court upheld Arizona’s Voters’ Right to Know Act on Oct. 1. The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Montana’s law.

​During the meeting, Chair Justin Meek said the board should prioritize action on the issue. The Ethics Commission typically submits proposed rule changes and legislative requests to lawmakers and the Governor by early February.  

​“We need to chip away at Citizens United and do what we can under the law to provide more disclosure,” Meek said, referencing the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for unlimited outside political spending.

​Munson and Mazzei, who faced millions in opposition spending before the June primary and August runoff, have both said they support greater scrutiny of outside groups.

​In a June statement, Mazzei said total transparency would help clean up campaigns and ensure accountability for deceptive attacks. Munson criticized the tactics of some outside groups in an Oct. 21 Facebook video.

​“I think what we’re all tired of is big money coming in and flooding our TV screens and streaming services,” Munson said. “Dark money especially, where we can’t trace back where the money is coming from.”

​Among state legislative races, the House District 82 race between incumbent Republican Rep. Nicole Miller and Democrat Travis Headd has attracted the most spending. The district covers portions of suburban northwest Oklahoma City and west Edmond.

​The Sooner Growth Alliance, which had not formally registered with the Ethics Commission as of Oct. 29, reported spending $83,000 on opposition mailers and digital advertisements against Headd. He has raised just $250 and spent nothing since mid-August, according to his pre-election campaign finance report. 

One mailer used artificial intelligence to depict Headd as an action figure alongside prominent progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Another, from a group called the Oklahoma Victory Committee, baselessly claimed Headd wants men in girls’ locker rooms. The Oklahoma Victory Committee has received funding from a network of out-of-state dark money groups, The Frontier reported in July. 

​Headd said voters he’s spoken with assume the attacks are frivolous.

​“It backfired on them,” he said. “They’ve helped promote me.”​

If elected, Headd said he would support legislation or ethics rule changes to require outside groups to disclose their true donors.

“All that stuff they’re talking about is just propaganda and foolishness,” Headd said. “That should not be allowed.”

Keaton Ross covers democracy and criminal justice for Oklahoma Watch. Contact him at (405) 831-9753 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @_KeatonRoss.

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