Just 18 days before today’s election, a group called Stand With Oklahoma PAC was formed to influence Republican primary voters.
Public information on the group, which registered as a political action committee with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission on May 29, is scarce. Stand With Oklahoma PAC lists its address at a packing and shipment store in Nichols Hills. Its phone number and email address are tied to the Tabularius Group, a Washington, D.C.-based political consulting and campaign finance firm.
Stand With Oklahoma PAC is not lacking in financial resources. Over the past two weeks, the group has spent at least $380,000 on advertisements and direct mailers opposing a variety of legislative candidates.
The group’s top target has been incumbent Sen. Dusty Deevers, who has faced more than $200,000 of negative ads. That averages out to about $11 per registered Republican voter in Senate District 32. The group did not respond to phone calls inquiring about its spending activity.
The high rate of outside spending from groups such as Stand With Oklahoma PAC reflects a broader trend in Oklahoma legislative races.
From April 1 to June 15, outside groups spent nearly $3 million on Oklahoma House and Senate primaries. About 16% of the spending went to negative opposition ads.
Most of the independent expenditures have come from political action committees, which are allowed to raise and spend an unlimited amount of money to support or oppose a political candidate or issue, so long as there is no coordination with the candidate. Their funding often comes from 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, which are not required under federal law to disclose their donors.
Transparency advocates argue that the unchecked spending and high level of anonymity can perpetuate misinformation and give an unfair advantage to wealthy special interests. Defenders of the practice say it’s constitutionally protected political speech that could be threatened by overregulation.
“I think our constituents are tired of being bombarded by anonymous ads, text messages and direct mail pieces trying to influence them to vote a certain way in public elections,” state Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa, said after an October interim study on dark money spending. “Not only are they tired of it, but we all should be concerned about why these entities are trying so hard to hide who they are, and the nature of their financial interest.”
Three outside groups, the AFC Victory Fund, Stand With Oklahoma PAC and Representative Government Defense Fund, have spent a combined $75,000 opposing state Senate candidate Brady Butler. Their tactics include showing the staunch conservative Republican from Weatherford sandwiched between progressives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, smiling ear to ear. Other ads have made similar claims that Butler is liberal or would push back against the Trump administration if elected.
Butler, who lost a runoff for Senate District 26 by less than 400 votes in 2022, said he is sure the ads will have at least some influence on voters.
“The trouble is, while they don't like the way the dark money often puts the story out, they assume there's a measure of truth behind it,” Butler said.
Butler said he would support legislation requiring a statement at the end of every advertisement, forcing outside groups to list at least one donor. Stripping political action committees of the ability to hide behind an organizational name would encourage kindness and truth, he said.
“When you're just representing a fake entity or some unknown group, it's much, much easier to be inflammatory in your statements,” Butler said.
A political action committee called Americans for Growth and Opportunity has spent more than $20,000 against political newcomer Malana Bracht, a Republican candidate in Senate District 42. Mailers from the group claim Bracht supported the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 and did not vote for President Trump in the 2020 general and 2024 primary election. She denies those claims.
While not convinced that the ad blitz will sway voters, Bracht said she thinks the negative campaign constitutes defamation.
“I don't like it,” she said. “It feels rigged and wrong even within my own party that's doing it.”
At the request of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, the Legislature could consider restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence in political advertising next year. While stalled in previous years, laws to make outside spending more transparent could also garner support, as several candidates for governor told Oklahoma Watch they would support such a change.
Editor’s Note: This is part two of a story series on dark money in Oklahoma elections. To read part one on outside money in statewide elections, click here.
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
