More than $75 million poured into state political races during the 2022 midterm election cycle, with independent expenditures making up nearly half of those contributions. Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission has operated on a budget just short of $688,000 in fiscal year 2023, less than it received amid a state budget shortfall in FY 2018.
In this week’s Long Story Short, Oklahoma Watch’s Keaton Ross reports that the commission tasked with monitoring and prosecuting those who violate state election laws say they lack the money to properly do so.
