Stitt appoints Charlie Prater as new head of OK Tax Commission

I must admit, this one caught me a bit by surprise. Charlie Prater, the financially-troubled losing candidate in the GOP primary/runoff for State Auditor, is the recipient of Gov. Stitt's latest appointment:

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT ANNOUNCES NEW COMMISSIONER TO THE OKLAHOMA TAX COMMISSION

Oklahoma City, Okla. (February 14, 2019) – Governor Kevin Stitt announced today the appointment of Charles Prater as the next commissioner to the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

“Charles Prater has built a successful career in accounting and finance, and his knowledge and expertise will serve Oklahoma well as we work toward greater transparency and accountability in state government,” said Stitt.

“It is an absolute honor to be nominated as a Commissioner to the Oklahoma Tax Commission by Governor Stitt,” said Prater. “It will be my privilege and duty to serve the citizens of Oklahoma, the governor and his staff, and our Legislators in this capacity. I will work hard every day alongside the governor to help make Oklahoma a top ten state.”

Charles Prater currently serves as the President and CEO at Assurance Resource Company (ARC). A Certified Public Accountant, Prater has over 35 years of private sector experience in public accounting and as an executive officer and board member in a publicly-held regulated financial services company, receiverships, insurance arbitration, tax and strategic planning and audits. In addition to working at ARC, Prater has served as the Chief Financial Officer for Neuroscience Specialists and Compone Services, LTD, and the Vice President of UICI and CEO of their Insurance Subsidiaries.   Prater is a member of the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants, American Institute of Certified Public Accounts, and Leadership Exchange Academy Alumni. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Accounting from Oklahoma State University.

Each of the three members of the Oklahoma Tax Commission is appointed to a six-year term by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. Currently, the Commission is comprised of Chairman Steve Burrage, Vice Chairman Clark Jolley and outgoing Secretary-Member Thomas E. Kemp, Jr. The commissioners are responsible for the supervision of the administration and enforcement of state tax laws and the collection of a majority of all state-levied taxes and fees.

Election Results Maps: State Auditor runoff

For the latest installment of my Election Results Maps series, here we take a look at the recent GOP runoff for State Auditor and Inspector.

This map shows the lead by each candidate. Cindy Byrd dominated in her native southeastern region (getting 83.93% of the vote in her home of Coal County), but was only able to overcome Prater's statewide strength on her 10.18% win in Tulsa County.

This map compares the primary leader to the runoff victor in each county. In the runoff, Byrd flipped 4 counties that Prater led in from the primary, while Prater flipped 28 counties that Byrd had won in the primary.

I hope to look at the rest of the races in the coming days.

State Auditor Jones responds to candidate Prater's lies and attacks

State Auditor: It’s Time To Set The Record Straight

It’s tough sitting on the sidelines while someone demeans your record, office, and leadership.

Charlie Prater, who is running to be state auditor, has built his entire campaign on false accusations and baseless lies.

Prater accused Deputy State Auditor Cindy Byrd of campaigning on state time and bilking taxpayers out of tens of thousands of dollars in travel expenses. The TRUTH is Cindy Byrd has not spent a single dime of taxpayer’s money. She travels at her own expense and takes personal leave time to campaign.

Now Prater has reverted to making accusations of corruption at the State Auditor’s Office.

It’s okay to disagree with our audits or the job we’ve done safeguarding taxpayer dollars. But, no one has questioned the integrity of the State Auditor’s Office since I took office 7½ years ago.

The State Auditor should not be about misleading the public and Charlie’s done it again and again.

He surrounds himself with corrupt officials who were ousted due to Cindy’s audits. He chose a disgraced former state representative as his campaign manager for whom this is partly personal. If this is how he campaigns, how will he audit?

It’s a shame that Prater has sunk so low that he’s now attacking the State Auditor’s Office and the hard-working public servants who work here, including Cindy Byrd – all because he knows he can’t compete with the better qualified, more experienced public servant that Cindy Byrd, CPA, has been for Oklahomans throughout her career.

The only corruption I see is in his lack of scruples and win-at-all-costs, scorched-earth operation. I guarantee you corruption does not exist in this agency.

Gary A. Jones, CPA, CFE
Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector

Pre-Runoff Finance Reports: other Statewide races

Continuing through the pre-primary campaign finance reports, we'll now look at some of the remaining down-ballot statewide races. As in previous posts on this topic, the totals are campaign-to-date.

STATE AUDITOR and INSPECTOR

REPUBLICANS

Charlie Prater (R)
Total raised: $440,400.00 (includes $306,000.00 loan)
Total spent: $383,820.19
Total cash-on-hand: $56,579.80
Burn rate: 87.15%

Cindy Byrd (R)
Total raised: $119,198.79
Total spent: $83,289.30
Total cash-on-hand: $28,434.52
Burn rate: 74.55%

John Uzzo (R)
Total raised: $350.00
Total spent: $230.00
Total cash-on-hand: $120.00

LIBERTARIAN

John Yeutter (L)

Total raised: $4,243.96
Total spent: $3,362.52
Total cash-on-hand: $881.44
Burn rate: 65.71%

ATTORNEY GENERAL

REPUBLICANS

Mike Hunter (R)
Total raised: $2,147,986.11 (includes $700,000 personal loan)
Total spent: $1,921,131.01
Total cash-on-hand: $215,810.91
Burn rate: 89.9%

Gentner Drummond (R)
Total raised: $2,166,641.60 (includes $1,280,000 personal loan)
Total spent: $1,902,393.15
Total cash-on-hand: $234,251.85
Burn rate: 89.04%

Angela Bonilla (R)
Total raised: $1,506.44
Total spent: $2,622.48
Total cash-on-hand: $-1,297.48

DEMOCRAT

Mark Myles (D)
Total raised: $36,549.18
Total spent: $23,131.50
Total cash-on-hand: $5,128.50
Burn rate: 81.85%

STATE TREASURER 

Randy McDaniel (R)
Total raised: $292,933.37
Total spent: $42,878.59
Total cash-on-hand: $248,624.23
Burn rate: 14.71%

Charles De Coune (I)
Total raised: $17,797.00 (includes $5,000 loan)
Total spent: $1,944.87
Total cash-on-hand: $15,852.13
Burn rate: 10.93%

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

REPUBLICANS

Joy Hofmeister (R)
Total raised: $438,635.42
Total spent: $333,510.01
Total cash-on-hand: $102,780.52
Burn rate: 76.44%

Linda Murphy (R)
Total raised: $21,913.93
Total spent: $17,490.29
Total cash-on-hand: $3,589.71
Burn rate: 82.97%

Will Farrell (R)
Total raised: $3,168.00 ($2,268 in personal loans)
Total spent: $3,053.45
Total cash-on-hand: $114.55

DEMOCRAT

John Cox (D)
Total raised: $22,386.74
Total spent: $15,401.18
Total cash-on-hand: $6,653.82
Burn rate: 69.83%

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

Glen Mulready (R)
Total raised: $698,499.93
Total spent: $571,340.26
Total cash-on-hand: $120,761.43
Burn rate: 82.55%

Donald Chasteen (R)
Total raised: $12,650.00
Total spent: $11,229.25
Total cash-on-hand: $1,420.75

DEMOCRAT

Kimberly Fobbs (D)
Total raised: $18,060.00
Total spent: $13,646.10
Total cash-on-hand: $1,707.90
Burn rate: 88.88%

CORPORATION COMMISSIONER

Bob Anthony (R)
Total raised: $666,759.37 (includes $435,000.00 loan)
Total spent: $588,269.14
Total cash-on-hand: $78,490.23
Burn rate: 88.23%

Brian Bingman (R)
Total raised: $497,405.22 (includes $110,000.00 loan)
Total spent: $483,390.14
Total cash-on-hand: $14,015.08
Burn rate: 97.18%

Harold Spradling (R)
Total raised: $5,000 (all a personal loan)
Total spent: $0
Total cash-on-hand: $5,000

DEMOCRATS

Ashley McCray (D)
Total raised: $12,128.46
Total spent: $2,088.29
Total cash-on-hand: $7,320.71
Burn rate: 22.19%

Blake Cummings (D)
Total raised: $14,673.73 (includes $10,610 loan)
Total spent: $14,191.68
Total cash-on-hand: $-1,888.51
Burn rate: 115.35%

Beau Williams (D)
Total raised: $71,633.74 (includes $21,500.00 loan)
Total spent: $67,656.00
Total cash-on-hand: $0

Poll: Stitt leads by 10%; other primary leaders ahead in their races

The Remington Research Group has released an extensive new poll on all of the GOP runoff races.

Remington Research Group GOP Runoff Poll (link)  1,757 likely Republican runoff voters, conducted August 1st and 2nd.
Overall MoE +/- 2.3%. 

Governor:

• Kevin Stitt- 47%
• Mick Cornett - 37% 
• Undecided - 16%

Stitt leads Cornett in the 1st District (56%-28%), 2nd District (52%-28%), among conservatives (50%-35%), self-identified Christian voters (53%-32%), among Trump voters (54%-33%), and among Tea Party supporters (54%-25%).

Cornett leads in the 5th District (47%-41%), among moderates (43%-39%), liberals (43%-21%), traditional Republicans (57%-28%), and libertarians (41%-34%).

The 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts are tied up, with Stitt at 42% and Cornett at 41% in both.

Lieutenant Governor:

• Dana Murphy - 40% 
• Matt Pinnell - 32% 
• Undecided - 28%

Murphy leads in the 1st District (36%-32%), 3rd District (46%-28%), 4th District (40%-33%), 5th District (46%-30%), among moderates (48%-22%), liberals (31%-20%), traditional GOP (50%-25%), Trump voters (40%-32%), libertarians (49%-27%) and Tea Party supporters (46%-19%).

Pinnell leads in the 2nd District (35%-31%). Conservatives narrowly lean to Murphy (38%-35%) while Christian voters are tied at 37%.

State Auditor:

• Cindy Byrd - 35% 
• Charlie Prater - 33% 
• Undecided - 32%

Most demographics are either a narrow Byrd lead or a statistical tie.

Attorney General:

• Mike Hunter - 46% 
• Gentner Drummond - 37% 
• Undecided - 17%

Hunter leads in the 3rd District (48%-33%), 4th District (50%-32%), 5th District (51%-32%), among every ideological breakdown, and among traditional GOP, Christian, and Trump voters.

Drummond leads in the 1st District (46%-39%), 2nd District (44%-40%), among libertarian (42%-39%) and Tea Party voters (44%-30%).

State Superintendent:

• Joy Hofmeister - 50% 
• Linda Murphy - 33% 
• Undecided - 17%

Hofmeister leads in every demographic/ideological category.

Labor Commissioner:

• Cathy Costello - 40% 
• Leslie Osborn - 32% 
• Undecided - 28%

Costello leads in the 1st District (41%-28%), 2nd District (38%-27%), 3rd District (38%-35%), and 5th District (47%-35%). She also leads among conservatives (43%-31%), traditional GOP (39%-35%), Christian (43%-33%), Trump supporters (39%-32%), and Tea Party supporters (51%-20%).

Osborn leads among liberals (34%-24%), moderates (36%-35%), and libertarians (40%-39%). The 4th District is a 37%-37% tie.

Corporation Commissioner:

• Bob Anthony - 50% 
• Brian Bingman - 30% 
• Undecided - 20%

Anthony leads every category except libertarian GOP, where Bingman leads 40% to 36%.

Crosstabs for the poll can be viewed here.

Election Results Map: GOP State Auditor Primary

For the latest installment in my Election Results Maps series, we now take a look at the GOP primary for State Auditor & Inspector. As is my custom, I try to match primary results map colors to campaign logos when possible.

In a hotly-contested three-way primary, Cindy Byrd nearly pulled off a majority vote, falling 0.55% shy of avoiding a runoff. Despite a 3-to-1 spending advantage, Charlie Prater only won majorities in 9 rural counties (mostly in western Oklahoma), and pluralities in another 19.

Byrd scored outright majorities in the Tulsa metro and her native southeast (including over 77% in Coal County), with a few elsewhere, for a total of 21 counties. She took pluralities in the remaining 28 counties.

Several counties were decided by less than 10 votes. Third-place candidate John Uzzo reached 20% in his home of Cherokee County, but was well below 10% in most other counties.

Gary Jones responds to Prater's invite of convicted embezzler to Auditor debate

Screenshot of video

CHARLIE PRATER CAMPAIGN INVITES CONVICTED EMBEZZLER TO DEBATE — BOTH CONFRONT AUDITOR GARY JONES

    Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector, Gary Jones, is firing back at Auditor candidate, Charlie Prater, after Wednesday night’s debate.  Not only did Charlie Prater repeatedly besmirch Jones and his staff, Prater‘s campaign manager physically confronted Jones after the debate.  The confrontation was captured on video.

    “Charlie Prater's oafish campaign manager was clearly trying to physically intimidate me after the debate.  It didn’t work,” Gary Jones says.  “I assume he was so frustrated by his candidate being repeatedly humiliated by Cindy Byrd’s superior knowledge of the office, he decided to take it out on me.  But what surprised me most was when I realized he was joined by Mike Helm — one of the Rogers County Commissioners who left office in disgrace after we audited his books.”

    At the end of the video, Mike Helm is seen joining the confrontation, declaring his own innocence while revealing he was an invited guest of Charlie Prater.

    “What kind of Auditor candidate invites a former public official, one convicted on embezzlement charges, to join his campaign?” asks Cindy Byrd.  “My team and I performed the audit that led a multi-county grand jury to recommend Mike Helm’s removal from office. There’s a reason why Helm was indicted on felony charges of Embezzlement and Conspiracy to Defraud Rogers County.  Mike Helm misappropriated $5 Million worth of taxpayer money and ultimately pled guilty. Now he’s a member of Charlie Prater's campaign team?  It’s not just an insult to every employee in the Auditor’s office who worked tirelessly to bring Mike Helm to justice — it’s an insult to every taxpayer in Oklahoma.”

    Cindy Byrd currently conducts performance and financial audits of government operations across Oklahoma.  In that time, she has exposed more than $10 million in fraud and waste, leading to the indictment or resignation of six elected officials.

    Cindy Byrd is the current Oklahoma Deputy State Auditor for Local Government Services.  She is a CPA, member of the Oklahoma Society of CPAs, American Institute of CPAs, and of the American Board of Forensic Accountants.  In the last fiscal year, Cindy Byrd oversaw 304 of the 411 audit performed by the agency.

    The Republican primary election takes place on June 26, and the general election on November 6, 2018.  For more information on Cindy Byrd, please visit www.CindyByrd.com or at Facebook.com/ByrdforAuditor.

UPDATE: here's a cell phone video showing a brief snippet of the confrontation:

DA Prater refutes claims by Auditor candidate Charlie Prater

Cindy Byrd, conservative candidate for State Auditor

PRATER VS. PRATER:  DISTRICT ATTORNEY DAVID PRATER REFUTES FALSE CLAIMS FROM STATE AUDITOR CANDIDATE, CHARLIE PRATER 

    Oklahoma County District Attorney, David Prater, is publicly denying any relation or connection to State Auditor candidate, Charlie Prater.  David Prater set the record straight after Charlie Prater repeatedly claimed to voters that he and David Prater are cousins.

    “I’ve never met him. I don’t know him. As far as I know we are not related. I don’t know the man,” David Prater told KOKC Radio host, Tod Tucker, during a Tuesday morning broadcast.

    David Prater continued the conversation by praising the work of Deputy State Auditor Cindy Byrd, Charlie Prater‘s Republican opponent in the Auditor’s race.

    “I have worked with Cindy Byrd at the State Auditor’s office and I really had good experiences with her. She has done a really good job with the DA’s audits. But I don’t know Mr. Prater,” David Prater said.

    David Prater‘s comments showcase just one of several lies told by his non-cousin and total stranger, Charlie Prater.  During a debate between the Auditor candidates Wednesday evening, Charlie Prater repeatedly denied his guilt in a pending lawsuit in which 15 of his former business partners are suing him for breach of contract.

    “Charlie Prater is being sued because he failed to keep the contractual promises he made to his fellow investors,” Cindy Byrd says.  “His legal defense is that he was duped by his own accountants.  So he is either trying to weasel out of his financial responsibility or he is confessing that he was outwitted by shady bookkeepers.  Oklahoma’s State Auditor is the watchdog of our tax dollars so, whichever version is accurate, voters should consider either characteristic an immediate disqualifier.  Honesty and accuracy must be the hallmarks of our next State Auditor. Charlie Prater clearly lacks one or the other — or both.”

    Cindy Byrd is the current Oklahoma Deputy State Auditor for Local Government Services.  She is a CPA, member of the Oklahoma Society of CPAs, American Institute of CPAs, and of the American Board of Forensic Accountants.  In the last fiscal year, Cindy Byrd oversaw 304 of the 411 audit performed by the agency.

    The Republican primary election takes place on June 26, and the general election on November 6, 2018. For more information on Cindy Byrd, please visit www.CindyByrd.com or Facebook.com/ByrdforAuditor.

Pre-Primary Finance Reports: other Statewide races

Continuing through the pre-primary campaign finance reports, we'll now look at some of the remaining down-ballot statewide races. As in previous posts on this topic, the totals are campaign-to-date.

STATE AUDITOR and INSPECTOR

REPUBLICANS

Charlie Prater (R)
Total raised: $196,750.00 (includes $73,000.00 loan)
Total spent: $173,746.15
Total cash-on-hand: $23,003.85
Burn rate: 88.31%

Cindy Byrd (R)
Total raised: $83,022.00
Total spent: $51,003.32
Total cash-on-hand: $24,682.71
Burn rate: 67.39%

John Uzzo - $1,050 in in-kind expenditures, nothing else raised or spent

LIBERTARIAN

John Yeutter (L)

Total raised: $3,301.56
Total spent: $3,120.12
Total cash-on-hand: $181.44
Burn rate: 94.50%

ATTORNEY GENERAL

REPUBLICANS

Mike Hunter (R)
Total raised: $1,291,093.11 (includes $300,000 personal loan)
Total spent: $1,028,171.31
Total cash-on-hand: $253,177.61
Burn rate: 80.24%

Gentner Drummond (R)
Total raised: $1,282,924.05 (includes $875,000 personal loan)
Total spent: $1,199,049.19
Total cash-on-hand: $68,425.81
Burn rate: 94.60%

Angela Bonilla (R)
Total raised: $1,431.44
Total spent: $1,152.50
Total cash-on-hand: $97.50
Burn rate: 92.20%

DEMOCRAT

Mark Myles (D)
Total raised: $16,638.39
Total spent: $6,305.54
Total cash-on-hand: $1,014.46
Burn rate: 86.14%

STATE TREASURER 

Randy McDaniel (R)
Total raised: $289,783.37
Total spent: $35,333.75
Total cash-on-hand: $253,019.07
Burn rate: 12.25%

Charles De Coune (I)
Total raised: $6,050
Total spent: $396.51
Total cash-on-hand: $5,653.49
Burn rate: 6.55%

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

REPUBLICANS

Joy Hofmeister (R)
Total raised: $279,845.42
Total spent: $168,447.86
Total cash-on-hand: $109,552.67
Burn rate: 60.59%

Linda Murphy (R)
Total raised: $14,338.93
Total spent: $5,735.21
Total cash-on-hand: $7,769.79
Burn rate: 42.47%

Will Farrell (R)
Total raised: $2,768.00 ($2,268 in personal loans)
Total spent: $2,743.60
Total cash-on-hand: $24.40
Burn rate: 99.12%

DEMOCRAT

John Cox (D)
Total raised: $15,300.00
Total spent: $2,867.46
Total cash-on-hand: $12,432.54
Burn rate: 18.74%

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

Glen Mulready (R)
Total raised: $591,098.40
Total spent: $489,694.20
Total cash-on-hand: $95,555.96
Burn rate: 83.67%

Donald Chasteen (R)
Total raised: $7,900.00
Total spent: $3,214.68
Total cash-on-hand: $4,685.32
Burn rate: 40.69%

DEMOCRAT

Kimberly Fobbs (D)
Total raised: $9,024.00
Total spent: $5,865.30
Total cash-on-hand: $2,908.70
Burn rate: 66.85%

CORPORATION COMMISSIONER

Bob Anthony (R)
Total raised: $510,375.00 (includes $360,000.00 loan)
Total spent: $374,743.55
Total cash-on-hand: $135,631.45
Burn rate: 73.43%

Brian Bingman (R)
Total raised: $418,029.22 (includes $100,000.00 loan)
Total spent: $268,620.71
Total cash-on-hand: $149,408.51
Burn rate: 64.26%

Harold Spradling (R)
Total raised: $5,000 (all a personal loan)
Total spent: $0
Total cash-on-hand: $5,000
Burn rate: 0%

DEMOCRATS

Beau Williams (D)
Total raised: $37,573.74 (includes $1,500.00 loan)
Total spent: $14,721.81
Total cash-on-hand: $18,874.19
Burn rate: 43.82%

Blake Cummings (D)
Total raised: $11,845.56 (includes $10,000 loan)
Total spent: $2,812.41
Total cash-on-hand: $7,662.59
Burn rate: 26.85%

Ashley McCray (D)
Total raised: $1,868.00
Total spent: $557.65
Total cash-on-hand: $1,310.35
Burn rate: 29.85%

McGuigan analyzes Auditor race, candidate Prater's lawsuit troubles

Longtime analyst and writer Patrick McGuigan has a great write-up on the Auditor's race, posted below:

Analysis: In “sleeper” race, one candidate for state Auditor and Inspector sued for default on business loan

by Patrick B. McGuigan, published on June 4th

The “sleeper” statewide race for Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector has begun to garner some attention, as detailed information comes to light concerning two of the three Republican candidates in the field.

As the primary election on June 26 nears, one Republican candidate is currently embroiled in a lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court. A second GOP hopeful appeared in 2016, as a Democrat in a state Senate race.

The legal entanglement of the first referenced Republican, Charlie Prater, concerns a debt that he accrued in a failed business venture. In court filings, he claims his original debt agreement was "induced and obtained by the fraud, misrepresentation, and breach of fiduciary duties of the lender and the managers of the borrower." (That is quoted from Defendant Charles Prater's Answer to Amended Petition and Third-Party Petition Point 15 on November 20, 2017). The barrage of claims and the lawsuit activity in court, along with Prater's responses, is leading close observers of the race to question Prater's ability to perform the state Auditor and Inspector’s duties. The job includes ferreting out fraud and identifying government waste.

Charlie Prater is no relation to District Attorney David Prater, chief prosecutor in the same Oklahoma County where Charlie Prater's lawsuit is being adjudicated. To be clear on this point (where fuzzy answers and campaign chit-chat have fed scattered beliefs there are familial ties among the two men), CapitolBeatOK asked D.A. David about it.

The D.A. replied with restraint, and old-school wit: “"For the record. I've never met him. I couldn't ID him in a one person lineup."

As for the legal imbroglio, that case centers in part around allegations that Republican Charlie Prater of Edmond defaulted on his portion of a loan, in excess of $1.3 million, that had financed a now-failed business venture.

The lawsuit names Prater (Charlie) as a defendant for defaulting on about $124,000 (his share at time of lawsuit filing), initially owed to Liberty Bank. He had given his personal guarantee to repay that loan.

To sum up the details, Prater was part of a medical practice venture that included doctors and other investors who had originally borrowed over $2 million. The venture failed, leaving ABC Consolidated, who bought the loan from Liberty Bank, holding a note of $1.25 million. Of the 15 or so investors in the venture, only Prater and one other person have since failed to repay their part of the loan.

Adding to the troubles in recent days: In a May 24 hearing, Prater’s attorney was disqualified from the case because of conflict of interest issues.

Meanwhile, Prater has counter-sued 19 defendants in the case claiming he was defrauded by the other partners and by Liberty Bank – even though he admits in a court filing that he signed the promissory note to repay the debt.

Prater has also added to his campaign committee at least $70,000 of his own money, even while failing to make good on his loan agreement for the failed business.

Revelation of the ongoing legal battle over mismanagement and loan default comes hot on the heels of a negative “push poll” accusing the front-runner in the race – Cindy Byrd of Coalgate (presently the Deputy State Auditor) of only recently obtaining her Certified Public Accounting license (actually, she’s been a CPA for almost 15 years), pocketing “tens of thousands of dollars” by driving a personal vehicle instead of a state car (it was a requirement of the agency), and working for more Democratic state Auditors than Republicans (the shift to Republican majorities in statewide offices has only occurred in the last decade).

Prater’s legal and financial troubles will drag on beyond the June 26 primary, which may be part of the plan by someone, somewhere -- as he has sought several delays in the case proceedings.

The position of State Auditor is often tagged as a “secondary” race in comparison to the contest for race for Governor or the current brawl unfolding in the Republican Primary for Attorney General.
This status may result in issues among contending candidates passing unnoticed. Yet, the race will fill an important slot in governance of the Sooner State.

It is the one statewide elective office entrusted with explicit (not implied) responsibilities as a watchdog over expenditures of taxpayer dollars. The auditor’s office can -- and in recent years often does -- expose those who would personally benefit from public office.

The final candidate in the race, John Uzzo, ran in 2016 on the Democratic ticket for a state Senate seat in Tahlequah. He failed to raise enough in that race to file an ethics report, and subsequently lost in the primary.

Now, Uzzo is running as a Republican, but some question his fitness or qualification to serve. He has only been a registered voter since 2013, and not the requisite 10 years required as an elector to hold the office.

The third candidate in the June 26 primary, Byrd, is a long-time CPA, a member of the American Board of Forensic Accountants (OSCPA), and of AICPA.

Her audits have led to the indictment and or required resignations of six public officials who were engaged in waste and/or corruption. Byrd oversaw a team that completed 304 of the 411 recent audits performed by the State Auditor’s Office. Both former Governor Frank Keating and current State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones have endorsed her.

Readers wishing to study all the details of that lawsuit involving Charlie Prater can do so by accessing this online link: http://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=oklahoma&number=CJ-2017-5441&cmid=3583147

1Q Campaign Finance Reports for other Statewide races

Continuing through the 1st Quarter campaign finance reports, we'll now look at some of the remaining down-ballot statewide races. As in previous posts on this topic, the totals are campaign-to-date. Some candidates filed for these offices, but did not announce their candidacy in time to collect 1st Quarter contributions.

STATE AUDITOR & INSPECTOR

Charlie Prater (R)
Total raised: $106,150.00 (includes $73,000.00 loan)
Total spent: $32,165.22
Total cash-on-hand: $73,984.78
Burn rate: 30.3%

Cindy Byrd (R)
Total raised: $32,248.97
Total spent: $12,712.38
Total cash-on-hand: $14,762.62
Burn rate: 46.27%

John Yeutter (L)

Total raised: $1,806.56
Total spent: $584.80
Total cash-on-hand: $1,221.76
Burn rate: 32.37%

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Mike Hunter (R)
Total raised: $690,698.39
Total spent: $272,477.06
Total cash-on-hand: $408,902.94
Burn rate: 39.99%

STATE TREASURER 

Randy McDaniel (R)
Total raised: $280,904.92
Total spent: $28,017.71
Total cash-on-hand: $251,456.66
Burn rate: 10.03%

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Joy Hofmeister (R)
Total raised: $185,725.33
Total spent: $57,913.86
Total cash-on-hand: $126,969.67
Burn rate: 31.32%

John Cox (D)
Total raised: $8,250.00
Total spent: $0
Total cash-on-hand: $8,250.00
Burn rate: 0%

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

Glen Mulready (R)
Total raised: $571,863.64
Total spent: $175,512.47
Total cash-on-hand: $386,757.69
Burn rate: 31.21%

CORPORATION COMMISSIONER

Bob Anthony (R)
Total raised: $454,200.00 (includes $360,000.00 loan)
Total spent: $1,040.86
Total cash-on-hand: $453,159.14
Burn rate: 0.23%

Brian Bingman (R)
Total raised: $388,179.22 (includes $100,000.00 loan)
Total spent: $26,398.51
Total cash-on-hand: $361,780.71
Burn rate: 6.8%