Oklahoma Watch (https://oklahomawatch.org/tag/oklahoma-elections/)
The fight over Oklahoma’s recently changed liquor distribution laws shows how donors get around a partial fundraising blackout during the legislative session. One donor in the fight, and his wife, have given at least $95,000 since Feb. 6.
State election officials removed nearly 90,000 inactive voters from Oklahoma’s voter rolls earlier this month during its biennial purging of the list.
Election officials are gearing up to remove tens of thousands of Oklahomans who haven’t voted in years from the state’s voter rolls – a controversial practice voting-rights advocates say can lead to disenfranchised voters.
A strategic plan laying out one-year and four-year goals for Gov. Kevin Stitt’s administration, obtained by Oklahoma Watch, includes securing gubernatorial control of all state agencies and boards, changing the educational system and launching an initiative aimed at social issues.
Three former legislators who left office in November are now lobbyists, embodying a practice that state ethics officials have unsuccessfully tried to ban in the face of opposition from the Legislature.
The founders of Epic Virtual Charter School donated at least $145,000 total to dozens of candidates in this year’s elections. The donations outpaced those from the Oklahoma Education Association PAC and have come amid continuing dramatic growth in enrollment at the online school.
A blast email to the state’s teachers praising gubernatorial candidate Kevin Stitt’s education plan has made some of them furious. The sender, who said she was a public school teacher, sent the message to teachers’ work emails, which some of them said was inappropriate.
The Kevin Stitt-Drew Edmondson race will be a study in contrasts, with Stitt positioning himself as a Donald Trump-like outsider with business acumen, and Edmondson positioning himself as a serious-minded, experienced public servant wanting more support for education and social services.
In the last 20 years, the gubernatorial candidate who raised the most money has won. That could give Republican nominee Kevin Stitt an advantage over Democratic nominee Drew Edmondson.
Only four of 28 candidates for statewide elected office in Oklahoma have voluntarily released details about their personal finances similar to what is typically disclosed by federal candidates and candidates in other states. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Drew Edmondson released his tax returns and detailed finances. Republicans Mick Cornett and Kevin Stitt declined to release theirs, as did most of the non-gubernatorial candidates.