Hilliary political machine dumps major money into SD32, backs Curtis Erwin over conservative Sen. Dusty Deevers

Candidate Curtis Erwin flanked by major donors Dustin (l) and Michael Hilliary (r)

There's a new big-time player on the Oklahoma political scene. The Hilliary family of southwest Oklahoma, known best for their broadband company (Hilliary Communications) and a growing statewide media network (Hilliary Media Group), rose in recent years from relative obscurity to being among the biggest political donors in Oklahoma and garnering appointments to key governmental roles and boards. 

Now, they are setting their sights on Lawton area's State Senate District 32, backing political blank-slate newcomer Curtis Erwin against one of the most conservative Republicans in the Oklahoma State Senate, Dusty Deevers. This is the second election in a row that they have heavily backed a candidate in this Senate seat, having flushed tens of thousands of dollars into a candidate who lost to Deevers in the 2023 special election.

Voters in Senate District 32 need to recognize this for what it is: a brazen attempt by powerful special interests to oust a vocal conservative reformer.

Mazzei calls out dark-money attack ad for lying on tax record

MIKE MAZZEI CALLS OUT DARK MONEY PAC FOR LYING IN ATTACK AD

Tulsa, OK (April 19, 2026) - Mike Mazzei, Republican candidate for Oklahoma Governor, is responding to an attack ad launched by a dark-money Political Action Committee [PAC] this week. The commercial falsely accuses Mazzei of opposing income tax cuts in 2016.

“No one fought harder for the taxpayers than I have,” Mike Mazzei said. “The ad is silly and gets the facts completely wrong. Our opponents see us surging in the polls and this is a desperate attempt to deceive the voters of Oklahoma. I am the only candidate in this race with a solid plan to phase out the income tax and eliminate property taxes for seniors and veterans.”

OK Legislature passes resolution urging Congress to pass Constitutional Amendment on election spending, dark money

Oklahoma Legislature Passes Resolution Urging Congress to Advance Constitutional Amendment on Election Spending

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (March 3, 2026) –  Amid a surge in outside spending nationwide ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, the Oklahoma legislature has passed a resolution (House Concurrent Resolution 1006) urging Congress to propose a constitutional amendment restoring the authority of Congress and the states to regulate election spending. Oklahoma is the 24th state to take this step.

Earlier this month, the Oklahoma Senate approved the measure unanimously, following unanimous approval in the Oklahoma House of Representatives last year—sending a strong, bipartisan signal that lawmakers want election decisions returned to the states and their elected representatives.

Muskogee Votes: Mayor and City Council races on Tuesday

Tuesday, February 13th, is the municipal election in Muskogee, featuring races for mayor and five of eight city council seats. While it's been a little difficult to access, I've compiled a little bit of information on the candidates, which you will find in this post, along with a city ward map.

Ethics Commission director resigns in protest over perpetual lack of funding

When it comes to oversight and accountability, there are few two agencies that Oklahoma's elected officials have traditionally disliked more -- and funded less -- than the Oklahoma Ethics Commission and the State Auditor & Inspector. With the former, years of legislative neglect (or outright hostility) have led to the resignation-in-protest by the Ethics Commission's executive director.

State Auditor Byrd optimistic about Drummond prosecution of Epic Charter founders

CINDY BYRD OPTIMISTIC AS A.G. DRUMMOND TAKES ON PROSECUTION OF EPIC FOUNDERS

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (January 11, 2023) Oklahoma State Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd today announced her support of Oklahoma Attorney General, Gentner Drummond, as he moves forward in the prosecutions against the former management at Epic Charter Schools. Based on the results of the SAI’s 2020 audit, Epic founders Ben Harris and David Chaney, and their CFO Josh Brock, now face felony charges of embezzlement and racketeering.

Stitt ad: special interests bought Hofmeister because they can't control Stitt

After taking hits from pro-Hofmeister dark money groups for over a year, Governor Stitt's reelection campaign is going on the offensive:

NEW TV AD: SPECIAL INTERESTS CAN’T CONTROL KEVIN STITT

“Special interest bought Joy Hofmeister who fought to keep schools closed while test scores plummeted.”

October 26, 2022 (Oklahoma City, Okla.) – The Stitt for Governor 2022 campaign launched today a new statewide television ad highlighting how Democrat State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister is bought by special interests who have spent at least $25 million to date in the election cycle to cover up her record of closing classrooms, leading the nation in public schools with plummeting test scores, and advocating for a laundry list of tax hikes.

Dark money PACs have spent $12.5M+ against Stitt so far - with more to come

Oklahoma has seen a huge amount of dark (and gray-ish) money hit the mailboxes and airwaves this election cycle, but no race has had more spent - and more one-sided - than the race for Oklahoma Governor.

In some excellent reporting from The Frontier's Reese Gorman, we now know that dark money groups have spent in excess of $12.5 MILLION against Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) and for Joy Hofmeister (D).

Some excerpts from Gorman's article:

A lack of transparency surrounding spending from outside groups makes it difficult for voters to discern who is behind the political ads.

Thursday: Tulsa 9.12 Project speaker on how Dark Money is making it hard to elect conservatives in OK

From the Tulsa 9.12 Project:

The Corruption Belt: How Dark Money Is Making It Hard for Oklahomans to Elect Conservatives

Were you inundated with political campaign mailers leading up to the June and August primary elections? Did the plethora of push cards explode in your mailbox prior to the primary runoffs? Have you noticed trends and similarities in literature coming from supposedly different campaign organizations?

If you answered YES to any or ALL of these questions, then you need to be at Tulsa 9.12 Project on Thursday, September 8th when Jenni White will unveil and explain just how deep the corruption goes and how dark the money is that funds it. Like a detective following the clues with Scooby Doo, Jenni will reveal who is behind these dastardly and malicious campaign attacks.

Clay Staires exposes dark money PAC in HD66

Dark money has become a scourge in Oklahoma politics.

Clay Staires, candidate for State House District 66, is one of the conservatives being opposed by big-money, Chamber-style, establishment dark money groups. Watch this 2-minute video he put out talking about the DC-based dark money attacking him (and other conservative candidates):

The Frontier traces dark money in CD2 race

Journalist Reese Gorman at The Frontier has a great article out tracing some of the "dark money" that has flooded into the 2nd Congressional District race this year: Super PACs are spending big on GOP candidates in Oklahoma’s open U.S. House and Senate races.

Dark Money: something stinks in House District 21 runoff

There's some funny business going on in the House District 21 runoff down in Bryan and Marshall counties. A dark money group operated by the Choctaw Nation is funneling huge amounts of last-minute money -- all on behalf of an individual who is not on the ballot. It appears that this may be an attempt to circumvent ethics rules on behalf of one of the runoff candidates.

Red River TV examines claims made by Avery Frix, dismantles the facade with truth

In a just-released special episode of Point Blank on Red River TV, host Janelle Batts took a look at several claims made by 2nd Congressional District candidate Avery Frix. His carefully crafted campaign façade crumbles under the examination as the truth gets unearthed.

Muskogee GOP lunch today: Gary Jones on dark money and ethics reform

 

Former two-term Oklahoma State Auditor Gary Jones will be speaking at today's Muskogee Republican lunch on the topic of political dark money and the need for ethics reform in Oklahoma.

The weekly, informal lunch gathering takes place on Fridays at noon at Mahylon's Barbecue, located at 3301 Chandler Rd, Muskogee, OK 74403.

If you're in Muskogee today, you won't want to miss this!

Op-ed: Don't fall for the dark money lies about Brecheen

Don't fall for the dark money lies about Brecheen

by Kevin Batts

The lies of dark money have been hitting conservative candidates across the state. These attacks include accusations that truly conservative candidates have ties to groups like BLM and other left-wing movements. 

This leads us to the latest attacks against conservative 2nd District Congressional candidate Josh Brecheen, a man with one of the most conservative records during his two terms in the State Senate.

Brecheen hits back at false dark money attacks

Establishment Republicans on the Attack

DURANT (June 20th) –  A self-term limited former State Senator, Josh Brecheen is running for Oklahoma's 2nd District Congressional seat and says he's not surprised at the news of an extremely well-financed radio attack ad by out-of-state political interests.  Brecheen said, "This is proof that we are doing well in the polls.  The Establishment knows we are a threat to the status quo."  

State Auditor Cindy Byrd responds to $1M in dark-money attacks

State Auditor Cindy Byrd Targeted by $1 Million of Dark PAC Money in Race

(June 20th) Cindy Byrd‘s re-election bid as State Auditor & Inspector has been targeted by political action committees (PACs) where secret donors have earmarked around $1 million to use against her.

Byrd said that she knows why.

“I shut down the flow of taxpayer funds lining the pockets of corrupt people, so they’re coming after me,” she said.

State Auditor Cindy Byrd ad on dark-money attacks: "They probably failed an audit."

Here's State Auditor Cindy Byrd with an ad responding to "dark money" attacks against her:

Dark Money Swamp retaliates against State Auditor Cindy Byrd, props up unqualified straw candidate

There's some phenomenal reporting this morning from the Tulsa World's Randy Krehbiel on the State Auditor's race: Dark money campaign hits state auditor race. You simply have to read the whole thing.

Oklahoma has a political swamp, a deep state, that controls a lot of what goes on politically. There are interconnected fingers between dark money, consultants, campaigns, and elected officials. And now the knives are out for State Auditor Cindy Byrd, who must be removed before she does them more damage.

Sen. Jake Merrick: "Does Dark Money Rule in Oklahoma?"

Answer: unfortunately, yes. The power-hungry corporate and political establishment in this state thrives on the secrecy, ambiguity, and deniability of "dark money". It's how they win campaigns now, putting in squishy moderates and ousting staunchly conservative legislators.

Freshman GOP State Senator Jake Merrick (one of the most conservative members in the Legislature) poses this question in a recent column, after outlandishly false attacks on him triggered by his vote against the "school choice" bill, SB 1647, earlier this year. As I've posted previously, the homeschool community in particular had great concerns with the legislation, and some legislative conservatives concurred. 

Perhaps of note, Merrick is one of the few members of the legislature that is an abortion abolitionist, believing that abortion should totally and completely abolished in all forms, not merely regulated... extra reason for the political establishment to hate him.

Does Dark Money Rule in Oklahoma?

written by State Sen. Jake Merrick (R-Yukon)

What is "Dark Money"?