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!

Costello weighs in on OCPAC's agitation against State Auditor Cindy Byrd

From the folks over at IgniteLiberty, here is another post in the saga of OCPAC President Bob Linn's obsession with attacking State Auditor Cindy Byrd:

Letters to the Editor: Cathy Costello Letter to OCPAC Following Romero Attack 

Rumors have been swirling recently that Bob Linn and OCPAC's crusade against Cindy Byrd was going to culminate in the organization endorsing Mike Romero to run against Cindy in the upcoming statewide primaries. Many conservatives believe that this is one of, if not the main, reason why OCPAC invited Romero to give a presentation about the OSDH scandal a few years back which involved the "missing" $30M (it was never actually missing).  

Curiously enough, and in a manner that would be fitting with an attempt to attack a future political opponent, Romero's presentation made a point of attempting to tie Cindy Byrd to the audit of the OSDH scandal, even though Gary Jones was the State Auditor and Inspector at the time that was responsible for the audit. 

Following Romero's presentation, Andrew Speno and Cathy Costello went to talk to him about the inclusion of Byrd in the presentation. What follows is a letter from Mrs. Costello sent to Bob Linn, president of OCPAC, that details that account:

Bob, I wanted to give a little time and space from the incident last week before responding. When you invited me to sing for OCPAC, I was unaware who Mike Romero was. You told me he would be talking about corruption at the health dept. I did remember hearing something about 30 million missing from the health dept., but that it was eventually found.

It is always good to hear all sides of a story, even if it's 4-5 years old. I saw several people in line speaking to Mr. Romero after his presentation. I decided to go over and simply introduce myself. I shook his hand and told him I was the widow of Labor Commissioner Mark Costello.

While I was standing there, I heard Andrew Speno ask Mr. Romero, in a CALM tone, why he kept showing Cindy Byrd's picture next to Gary Jones, frequently referring to "they," and mentioning her name. He asked what Cindy Byrd had to do with this situation at the health dept. Mr. Romera became agitated and denied he had done this during the presentation. But...he had in fact said, "Gary Jones and Cindy Byrd would not talk to me" and he did in fact show Cindy Byrd's photo multiple times, saying "they" and giving the impression that she was involved. He then began blaming Cindy and holding her responsible.

Mr. Romero's response to Andrew Speno's question was so adolescent. Raising his voice, he yelled, "I'm the son of immigrants!! Those people on the screen made fun of my last name because it ends in an O!!!" I immediately thought to myself, this man is so thinned skinned and immature, he has no business in government. I also thought, my name ends in an O and so does Andrew's.   

Click here to read the rest of Costello's letter.

"He should resign": Bennett faces criticism among CD2 GOP officials

Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman John Bennett has broken with traditional practices of the party office, endorsing multiple candidates for office (most prominently Jackson Lahmeyer against U.S. Sen. James Lankford), and is now running for Congress. Indications from his OKGOP staff, some of whom appear to be doing double duty on his congressional campaign, are that he has no intention to step down as chairman until at least after candidate filing.

For comparison, in 2006 and 2010, then-OKGOP chairman Gary Jones resigned within days of announcing his candidacy for State Auditor to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest (in 2010, he filed on Wednesday and resigned on Monday).

State Party rules are silent on the issue of party officials endorsing in primaries or running for public office while holding party positions. Bennett's decision to do both has broken no rules. However, there are many party activists who find both actions to be inappropriate for a state chairman to do. I've heard from some of those individuals, and decided to reach out to party officials within the 2nd Congressional District to see how widespread that sentiment was.

Based off some of the input I had already received, I asked the following questions of the county central committee (chair, vice chair, two state committee members) of each county Republican Party in the 2nd District:

1. Do you think John Bennett should stay on as state chair while running for Congress, or should he resign? 
2. Should state party rules be amended to require a state chair or vice chair to resign if running for state or federal elected office?

I received responses from up and down the now-28 county district. I am keeping respondents anonymous in order for them to feel free to speak their mind on this issue. The results were interesting and a learning opportunity. 

OKGOP Chair and Vice Chair dispute financial woes, call for each other to resign

Oh boy. The OKGOP chairmanships since the 'golden age' of Gary Jones and Matt Pinnell have pretty much been Dysfunction Junction, but none have resulted in something quite like this.

To set the background, the Oklahoma Republican Party is having some major financial problems. This is a pretty well established fact. Fundraising has been lackluster to nonexistent, while spending has apparently taken the budget well into the red. Some of this is the result of longterm issues, while some of this is new.

Yesterday, Vice Chairman Mike Turner was featured in a News 9 interview where he slammed Chairman David McLain for the OKGOP's severe ongoing financial woes and called for his resignation. Specifically, Turner said:

"The chairman should step aside for the good of the party."

The News 9 story touts documents leaked to them by party insiders that show the OKGOP with more than $18,000 in outstanding bills and less than $75 in the daily operations account.

Then, Chairman McLain issued the following press release calling for the resignation of Vice Chairman Turner:

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OKLAHOMA REPUBLICAN PARTY 10/16/2019 

Regarding the news story released earlier today: I have in front of me, a complete spreadsheet of payables which clearly document the fact that at no time has our utility services been threatened.

As of today, I have documentation showing we have in excess of $20,000 in our account. Point being, Mr. Turner either deliberately provided false information OR did so out of ignorance of the facts. Either way, I am obliged to protect the integrity of the Oklahoma Republican Party and set the record straight.

Also, at my election on April 6th of this year, I received 70% of the party’s confidence from ALL segments of the Republican Party. Not just one segment. ALL.

The Central Committee has called for the immediate resignation of Mike Turner as the Vice Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party and will be giving an official call to order of the State Committee this week.

Respectfully,

David McLain, Chairman
Oklahoma Republican Party

Some sources are indicating that the RNC has bailed the OKGOP out with a $20,000 infusion of cash to help float through the current set of financial problems, although Chairman McLain has not made any comment to that point except in the above press release.

Transparency and openness on the OKGOP's financial situation would go a long way toward shedding light on its true state and charting a path forward. Hopefully we will see that happen quickly.

I sat on both the state and executive committees during the chairmanships of Jones and Pinnell. We had very clear budget reports and financial statements during their tenures, detailing exactly where every penny the state party had was going. Although I've not been on either committee for some years, I have seen financial statements from two of the last four chairs, and none had the transparency or detail given under Jones and Pinnell, and none of the chairman since have had the kind of fundraising success they had.

Some of that is a result of a massive shift in how politics and campaigns work today. The political parties are less important than they used to be, and outside groups play a much bigger role in elections. Social media has also made it easier to access volunteers without having to route through existing party infrastructure.

That said, it certainly seems to me, from my outside perspective, that the state GOP has suffered from poor leadership for some time, and the effect has been devastating to the party's finances. I'm appalled that the party of fiscal responsibility would find itself operating in debt to such a degree as it has during much of the past decade.

The OKGOP has some major hurdles ahead of it if it wants to successfully retake the 5th Congressional District, stave off legislative losses in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties, and continue making progress on taking more county offices across the state. Those goals may have to happen independently of the state party.

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

Election Results Map: GOP Gubernatorial Primary

For the latest installment in my Election Results Maps series, we now take a look at the GOP primary for Governor. As is my custom, I try to match primary results map colors to campaign logos when possible, although sometimes I have to differentiate for contrast.

As with every other Republican statewide race with three or more candidates, this one is going to the August runoff. I have maps further detailing the top-3 finishes for the top five vote-getting candidates, which we'll get into right now.

Mick Cornett took the top spot with 29.34%, on the strength of his 45.28% percentage in Oklahoma County; the second highest percentage in the primary (the top went to Todd Lamb in Marshall County at 45.49%). Cornett was over 40% in Cleveland and Payne counties as well. He took "gold" in 24 counties, grabbed "silver" in 14 counties, got "bronze" in 21 counties, and finished fourth or worse in 18 counties (unique among the top three candidates).

Cornett's worst showing was in Choctaw County, where he finished in sixth-place, one vote ahead of Blake "Cowboy" Stephens.

Kevin Stitt edged into the runoff with 24.41% of the vote, a mere 2,494 votes ahead of Todd Lamb. Stitt's top percentage came in Okmulgee, where he won with 34.34%. Tulsa County was his second-highest, with 32.6%. He took gold in 13 counties, silver in 34 counties, and bronze in the remaining 30 counties.

Stitt's worst showing was in Jefferson County, where he was a very distant second with 13.14%.

Todd Lamb came in third with 23.86% of the vote, just 1.3 votes per precinct from getting into the runoff. His top percentage was in Marshall County at 45.49% (top in the race), and Lamb was over 40% in Love, Jefferson, Harper and Dewey counties as well. Lamb won gold in a majority (39) of Oklahoma's 77 counties, garnering silver in 24 counties, and bronze in the remaining 14 counties.

Lamb's worst showing was third-place in Payne County at 18.5%, with three counties (Oklahoma, Logan and Cleveland) at 19%.

Two other candidates won "medals" in the gubernatorial primary: Dan Fisher and Gary Jones.

Fisher won McCurtain County with 26.99% of the vote, took silver in 4 counties, and bronze in 7 more counties. Other than Cimarron County in the Panhandle, all of Fisher's top counties were in southern or southeastern Oklahoma. He had over 10% of the vote in 23 counties. Fisher's worst showing was 3.74% in Harmon County.

Jones got 23.17% and silver in Comanche County, and took bronze in 5 more counties. Jones had over 10% of the vote in eight counties. His worst showing was 1.63% in Harper County.

Of note, Gary Richardson failed to crack the top three in any county, breaking the 10% line in just four counties (Muskogee, Sequoyah, Ottawa, and Cherokee). His top county was Muskogee at 11.73% (fourth-place), while his worst was 1.09% in Major County (seventh-place). Richardson finished behind Blake Stephens in 19 counties.

Blake "Cowboy" Stephens reached 11.84% and fourth-place in Mayes County. Stephens finished ahead of Jones in about eight counties, and ahead of Richardson (as mentioned above) in 19. Other than Mayes County, he had a fifth-place showing in Harper County, but elsewhere was sixth or seventh.

None of the remaining three candidates broke out of the bottom three.

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:

My pick and take on the GOP gubernatorial primary

I have struggled with who to vote for in the 2018 GOP gubernatorial primary more than with any other top-level race since registering to vote when I turned eighteen. Of the top six candidates, Mick Cornett is the only one that I absolutely could not put up with. He is the clear liberal in the race, even supported by a Super PAC funded by a Hilary Clinton bundler. Richard Engle penned a great column on the evidence of Cornett's liberal leanings. I would never vote for Mick Cornett under any circumstance.

There are aspects to each of the remaining five candidates that I find appealing, and certain issues that I have disagreements with.

I started off the primary season leaning between State Auditor Gary Jones and Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, the individuals I am most closely acquainted with and have interacted with, although I was open to hearing from Richardson, Fisher and Stitt.

I consider Gary Jones to have been by far the best statewide elected official in Oklahoma for the past eight years. His work at the Auditor's office has been stellar, and if it weren't for a Governor and legislative leadership that was unreasonably hostile to him, he would have been able to uncover even more fraud and waste than he did. The way that Fallin, Doerflinger and legislative leadership tried to hamstring and cripple Jones and his office is a serious travesty. If we could make Gary Jones Auditor-for-Life, I'd be all in favor of it, and Oklahoma would benefit greatly.

I appreciated how Todd Lamb surrounded himself with serious conservatives, particularly with OCPA policies and former OCPA employees. That was an important sign that his direction could be greatly different than Mary Fallin's. I also appreciated how Lamb would go out of his way to assist local candidates and county parties on events and fundraising, while other elected officials (Scott Pruitt in particular) would take advantage of candidates and county parties, even to the point of using them for their own fundraising and depriving those monies of being used locally. Lamb was genuine in his support for the party, while others were more mercenary.

Dan Fisher garnished a solid reputation as a diehard conservative in the Legislature, gaining a lifetime Conservative Index score of 94. Across the board, ideologically, I might match up better with him than with the rest of the candidates. As for Stitt, some people I know and respect are supportive of him and have good things to say about him personally.

The events of the last few months in particular changed my view of the race and the candidates.

My biggest disappointment was when Gary Jones began advocating for tax increases. It seemed so out of character when compared to the great work he has done in the Auditor's office. I feel that Gary fell into the trap of trying to appease the leftist unions that dominate the education field in Oklahoma, who only really seek to advance the Democratic agenda and candidates. While I am disappointed with his choice there, I feel very strongly that the next Governor should utilize Gary Jones in a high position on the budget and fiscal matters. He'd be infinitely better than his longtime adversaries Preston Doerflinger and Denise Northrup.

While flat-out refusing to answer the question when I directly asked him, Dan Fisher has indicated that when it comes to landmark pro-life legislation (such as the new "heartbeat" bill in Iowa), he would be no different than Brad Henry or Mary Fallin and would veto such measures. As such, I cannot in good conscience vote for him. While I agree with him on practically everything, and have the same desire to see abortion abolished, I just don't have a peace about supporting someone who would veto pro-life measures.

While he rightfully and very publicly stood against Mary Fallin's disastrous proposal to hike the state sales tax by $2.6B, Todd Lamb frustrated me by not being very vocal in supporting conservatives who fought against the massive tax hikes during the special sessions and 2018 legislative session. In his survey, Lamb said that he adamantly and publicly opposed tax increases that were passed this past session, but it must not have been public enough for me to catch, because I don't recall him being vocal on it. In some cases, his support has been almost after-the-fact, too-little-too-late.

Kevin Stitt is a blank slate, touting his political outsider credentials as a positive. It may well be, but I am hesitant to place novices into such great positions of power when they have no track record to base their trajectory off of. His apathetic voting record and lame excuse for it also leads me to question his dedication to the conservative cause, as the only time he has ever voted in a primary -- when conservative candidates can best be chosen -- was in the 2004 primary.

I am most disappointed with Lamb and Stitt's attempt to have it both ways by saying they would have voted against or vetoed the tax increases this last session, but would not vote to repeal the taxes in the Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite! petition made it to the statewide ballot. That hypocritical stance has made me remove them from consideration in the primary.

I am looking for someone who will be a bold conservative, who won't cower under political pressure, and who will fight for conservative principles even if it will hurt them politically.

I don't always vote for the candidate who wins the primary, but the primary is when I can best vote on principle and make a statement on the direction I'd like the Republican Party to go in.

If Tom Coburn had run for Governor, I would have been all in from day one. He did not, however, and the above issues left me with one candidate remaining.

I will be casting my vote for Gary Richardson.

I have had some problems with Richardson. I disagreed with some of the attacks he has made on Todd Lamb, particularly as it relates to the power and abilities of the lieutenant governor. At times I question his judgment on particular issues. He has an unsatisfactory answer on why he ran as an Independent in the 2002 gubernatorial race, and I believe is a primary reason why Brad Henry won.

However, more so than any other gubernatorial candidate, Gary Richardson has stood up and fought against the tax increases passed by the legislature in the last eighteen months.

Gary Richardson would upend the political status quo in Oklahoma City, and I would consider that to be a very good thing. On the major issues, he is a solid conservative. He would lead the charge in chasing down wasteful spending and could be counted on to protect the interest of taxpayers.

When few would stand up alongside the conservatives in the legislature, Gary Richardson backed them up in spite of the potential for blowback on his campaign. When the Legislature passed unconstitutional tax increases in 2017, Gary Richardson filed a lawsuit to stop them. At every point during the 2017 and 2018 sessions, Gary Richardson supported conservatives who fought to protect the forgotten Oklahoma taxpayer against massive tax hikes.

He's not a perfect candidate. He's not who I envisioned I'd end up voting for. I know that he'll annoy me at times and that he is a longshot candidate. I anticipate this race to go to a runoff between Lamb and either Stitt or Cornett (and Lamb would get my vote under that scenario).

But on Tuesday, in light of my problems with the other candidates, and his consistent and firm opposition to tax increases, I'll be voting for Gary Richardson.

Fisher touts online poll showing him in second

Dan Fisher's campaign is out with the following press release, touting his second-place showing in an online poll conducted by WesternJournal.com.

WesternJournal is a conservative news site that, to be honest, borders on "clickbait" sometimes. I saw and took this poll after seeing it advertised on Facebook, which is more along the lines of a large straw poll than a traditional scientific survey. Anyway, here's the release and figures:

Fisher Groundswell Grows

New survey shows Dan Fisher in 2nd place

(El Reno, Ok.) - A new survey of 1,101 in the Oklahoma Governor's race shows former state Rep. Dan Fisher moving into second place. The survey was released June 19th by The Western Journal ,a news and political website based in Phoenix, Arizona,

The results were as follows:

Kevin Stitt 23.5 %
Dan Fisher 14.5%
Mick Cornett 13.9%
Todd Lamb 10.7%
Gary Richardson 8.8%
Gary Jones 6%
Undecided 20.7%

With such a large number of undecided the race is very much up for grabs. If no candidate receives 50% of the vote the top two vote getters will advance to a run-off in August. However, Fisher saw the most upward movement of any candidate in the race. Fisher surpassed Todd Lamb and Mick Cornett, previously considered the front runners in the race. The details and questions of the survey can be found here: https://www.westernjournal.com/oklahoma-republican-gubernatorial-primary-election-2018/

Fisher also enjoyed a victory in the straw poll of the Tulsa Area Republican Assembly. Among the organization members  52% preferred Fisher in the Governor’s race.  No formal endorsement was issued because the organization by-laws require a two-thirds majority to endorse. The results were as follows:

Dan Fisher 52%
Gary Richardson 29%
Kevin Stitt 14%
Todd Lamb 4%

Once described by the Tulsa World as “the darkest of dark horses“ in the governor’s race, Fisher has shown strong support at the grassroots level in several recent straw polls. Fisher appears to be peaking at the right time, with the election next Tuesday

Gary Jones answers MuskogeePolitico Survey

Late last week, I sent out a survey to the top six Republican candidates for Governor. Each of them were asked ten questions, nine of which were identical and one which was uniquely tailored to each of them. I will be posting them in the order of the candidates' responses.

I tried to make the questionnaire interesting, wide-ranging, and tough for all, but I believe the questions are still fair to each. I am personally uncommitted still, and have attempted to use this survey for people like me who are still trying to decide how to vote on June 26th.

Gary Jones was the first to fill out the survey and return it to me, so he gets the first post.

2018 MuskogeePolitico.com GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Questionnaire

Jamison Faught: How has your experience prepared you to serve as Governor?
Gary Jones: Being the state auditor and auditing virtually every aspect of state government gives me a unique perspective and prepares me better than any other candidate to fix our state’s budget problems.

JF: What needs to be done to fix Oklahoma’s budget process?
GJ: We need a single budget office staffed with professionals instead of three offices, the House, the Senate and the Governor, to create the state’s budget. That would save the state a million-and-a-half dollars and give them accurate information in order to craft one budget.

JF: Tax revenue has increased dramatically over the past few months to nearly-record setting levels. There may be a surplus of over one billion dollars available for budgeting next year. What would you propose be done with any budget surplus during the next legislative session?
GJ: Approximately $500 million of those surplus funds will be used to fill the whole in last year’s budget and that is not reflected here. The increase is largely due to removing the 6% rebate on oil and gas. By the time you take into account the teacher pay raises, there will be little to any surplus left. However, any dollars that are left, should go into our rainy day fund, which is virtually depleted.

JF: Education has been a hot topic over the past few years. What is your plan to address the issues facing common and higher education in Oklahoma?
GJ: My plan is that the governor’s office has a partnership with the education community and we work together to create a responsible education budget and standards. And then hold the education community accountable.

JF: Under Civil Asset Forfeiture, law enforcement can seize and keep property suspected of involvement in criminal activity, even if the property owner is not found guilty of or even charged with a crime. This has resulted in high-profile cases of innocent citizens having property or funds essentially stolen from them with no justification. What is your position on Civil Asset Forfeiture?
GJ: I don’t believe assets should be confiscated until they have had their day in court.

JF: How do you plan to hold state government accountable for spending, in light of the scandals we’ve seen over the past year?
GJ: We need to continue to do what we’ve done. 1. Increase funding to the State Auditor’s office so they can properly do their job. The State Auditor’s office is actually a combination of two constitutional offices, the State Auditor’s Office and the Inspector General. If we fund each of these offices appropriately, the departments would be able uncover more fraud and waste within our state.

JF: The current Tribal-State Gaming Compact expires on January 1st, 2020. The next Governor will negotiate for the State of Oklahoma for the next 15-year tribal gaming agreement. What would you hope to achieve in your role?
GJ: To obtain a compact that is fair to both parties, with the understanding that I represent the citizens of Oklahoma to ensure that we get the best deal possible for the state.

JF: Republicans are often characterized as being for “big business”, “crony capitalism” or “corporate welfare”, sometimes deservedly and shamefully so. Oklahoma has a history of handing out sweetheart deals to large corporations in order to entice them to move to Oklahoma. Meanwhile, small businesses, the backbone of our economy who operate without high-paid lobbyists, often get overlooked. How do you intend to promote and incentivize entrepreneurship and small business growth in Oklahoma?
GJ: I believe we ought to take care of our in-state businesses first. We need to support our Oklahoma businesses and offer programs to encourage them to grow, as opposed to offering money to other companies to come to this state. Any programs that are offered to out-of-state companies, we need to ensure that the state gets a fair return on that investment. If not, we will end the program.

JF: During the last session and special sessions, you were perhaps the only gubernatorial candidate to openly suggest and advocate for raising taxes. You even spoke at a press conference with the House Democratic caucus to push for a budget plan that raised nearly $500M in taxes. This is despite being a former chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, whose platform generally opposes tax increases. What do you say to those who may be concerned that you will abandon the GOP platform once in office, like Mary Fallin has?
GJ: First, resetting the GPT from 2% to 5% is a reset to a reasonable rate. Finding solutions to problems during a crisis, isn’t violating the GOP platform, it’s responsible government. All three elements of my plan have been endorsed by OCPA and Dr. Tom Coburn at one time or another.

JF: As the primary approaches, what one thing do you want voters to remember about you as they go into the voting booth?
GJ: That no one worked any harder to build the Republican party in Oklahoma than I have over the last 20 years. I have a history of identifying problems and solving them like no other candidate, and I always step up to the challenge. I’ve contributed more to Republican causes than any other candidate.

          *          *          *          *          *

I'd like to thank Gary for his time and for filling out this survey. I hope you find the questions and answers informative and helpful as you make your decision for the upcoming primary election. Stay tuned for further posts with responses from the rest of the candidates.

You can learn more about Gary Jones and his campaign for Governor by visiting JonesOK2018.com.


ADDITIONAL SURVEY POSTS:

Gary Jones 

Dan Fisher (coming at 4pm Thursday)

Gary Richardson (coming at 8pm Thursday)

Kevin Stitt (coming at 7am Friday)

Todd Lamb (coming at 11am Friday) 

Mick Cornett (coming at 4pm Friday)

Pre-Primary Finance Reports: Governor's race

The final campaign finance reports (pre-primary) before the June 26th primary have been submitted and posted on the Oklahoma Ethics Commission website. We'll look at the gubernatorial race in this post. All figures below are campaign-to-date, and may include in-kind contributions or expenditures. A new addition for this post will be their campaign "burn rate".

REPUBLICANS

Total Raised: $11,483,354.76

Total Spent: $9,860,467.90

Total Cash-on-Hand: $1,396,825.53
Burn rate: 87.59%

Kevin Stitt

Total raised: $4,199,443.76 (includes $2,175,000 loan)

Total spent: $3,784,958.59

Total cash-on-hand: $291,158.26
Burn rate: 92.86%
* Stitt has loaned himself another $606,000 since the filing of the report, bringing his loan total up to $2,781,000

Todd Lamb
Total raised: $3,674,855.45
Total spent: $2,871,609.81
Total cash-on-hand: $771,172.10
Burn rate: 78.83%

Mick Cornett
Total raised: $1,921,719.71
Total spent: $1,619,645.47
Total cash-on-hand: $247,553.76
Burn rate: 86.74%

Gary Richardson
Total raised: $1,250,548.55 (includes $1,000,000 loan)
Total spent: $1,227,229.10
Total cash-on-hand: $17,570.67
Burn rate: 98.59%

Dan Fisher
Total raised: $331,518.81 (includes $20,000 loan)
Total spent: $276,984.18
Total cash-on-hand: $46,710.54
Burn rate: 85.57%

Gary Jones

Total raised: $88,680.48

Total spent: $67,831.91

Total cash-on-hand: $19,555.04

Burn rate: 77.62%

DEMOCRATS

Total Raised: $1,587,948.76

Total Spent: $1,156,481.92

Total Cash-on-Hand: $420,070.17
Burn rate: 85.09%

Drew Edmondson
Total raised: $1,519,555.52 (includes $60,000 loan)
Total spent: $1,093,546.04
Total cash-on-hand: $414,929.31
Burn rate: 72.49%

Connie Johnson

Total raised: $68,393.24

Total spent: $62,935.88

Total cash-on-hand: $5,140.86
Burn rate: 92.45%

LIBERTARIANS

Total Raised: $31,965.44 (~$13,100 in-kind)

Total Spent: $16,042.65

Total Cash-on-Hand: $2,810.01
Burn rate: 85.09

Chris Powell

Total raised: $6,332.88 (including $1,200 loan)

Total spent: $5,920.88

Total cash-on-hand: $277.65
Burn rate: 95.52%

Rex Lawhorn
Total raised: $7,814.54 (half in-kind)
Total spent: $3,799.87
Total cash-on-hand: $520.13
Burn rate: 87.96%

Joseph Maldonado

Total raised: $17,818.02 (~$9,500 in-kind)

Total spent: $6,321.90

Total cash-on-hand: $2,012.23
Burn rate: 75.86%

Money-wise, Chris Powell is far and away the leader in the Libertarian primary, having raised more cash than Rex Lawhorn and Joseph Maldonado (aka Joe Exotic) combined.

Coming this week: Gubernatorial Candidate Survey responses

Coming later this week, I will be posting the responses or non-responses of the top six GOP gubernatorial candidates. Each of them have been sent a questionnaire, which I will post below.

Questions 1-8 and 10 were the same for all candidates, and cover important issues that I believe voters will be interested in reading their response to, including some topics that I have not seen previously addressed by many of the candidates.

Question 9 was be different for everyone, with the question being tailored for each candidate specifically. I tried to make the questionnaire interesting, wide-ranging, and tough for all, but I believe the questions are still fair to each.

I am personally uncommitted still, and have attempted to use this survey for people like me who are still trying to decide how to vote on June 26th.

Here is what each of the candidates have been asked to answer:

2018 MuskogeePolitico.com GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Questionnaire

1. How has your experience prepared you to serve as Governor?

2. What needs to be done to fix Oklahoma’s budget process?

3. Tax revenue has increased dramatically over the past few months to nearly-record setting levels. There may be a surplus of over one billion dollars available for budgeting next year. What would you propose be done with any budget surplus during the next legislative session?

4. Education has been a hot topic over the past few years. What is your plan to address the issues facing common and higher education in Oklahoma?

5. Under Civil Asset Forfeiture, law enforcement can seize and keep property suspected of involvement in criminal activity, even if the property owner is not found guilty of or even charged with a crime. This has resulted in high-profile cases of innocent citizens having property or funds essentially stolen from them with no justification. What is your position on Civil Asset Forfeiture?

6. How do you plan to hold state government accountable for spending, in light of the scandals we’ve seen over the past year?

7. The current Tribal-State Gaming Compact expires on January 1st, 2020. The next Governor will negotiate for the State of Oklahoma for the next 15-year tribal gaming agreement. What would you hope to achieve in your role?

8. Republicans are often characterized as being for “big business”, “crony capitalism” or “corporate welfare”, sometimes deservedly and shamefully so. Oklahoma has a history of handing out sweetheart deals to large corporations in order to entice them to move to Oklahoma. Meanwhile, small businesses, the backbone of our economy who operate without high-paid lobbyists, often get overlooked. How do you intend to promote and incentivize entrepreneurship and small business growth in Oklahoma?

9.
CORNETT: You call yourself a conservative, yet as Mayor, you pushed for large tax increases and signed a letter to Congress that opposed repealing the Affordable Care Act (aka “ObamaCare”). How are those positions conservative, and how do you defend them to conservatives, who view ObamaCare as the most damaging measure to come out of Washington in decades and who believe in lower taxes?
FISHER: Your most prominent - and unique - platform during this campaign has been Abortion Abolitionism (or, “Immediatism”). You have publicly renounced the term “pro-life”, and your campaign has attacked being “pro-life” as insufficient. In the past few months, the Governors of Mississippi and Louisiana have signed into law bills that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and Iowa’s Governor signed a measure that would ban abortions after a heartbeat is detected (as early as 6 weeks). If the Oklahoma legislature sent either of those two measures to your desk, would you sign it, or would you veto it?
JONES: During the last session and special sessions, you were perhaps the only gubernatorial candidate to openly suggest and advocate for raising taxes. You even spoke at a press conference with the House Democratic caucus to push for a budget plan that raised nearly $500M in taxes. This is despite being a former chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, whose platform generally opposes tax increases. What do you say to those who may be concerned that you will abandon the GOP platform once in office, like Mary Fallin has?
LAMB: One common concern I hear from people is a perception that you are timid and unwilling to take difficult stances on issues, or that you wait until it is “safe” before voicing your opinions on controversial measures. Specific examples are the pro-life and open-carry bills that Gov. Fallin vetoed, and the tax-hike fight of 2018 where legislative conservatives were virtually unassisted in their efforts to stand up for taxpayers. What do you say to those who have doubts about your political courage?
RICHARDSON: One of your main campaign platforms both now and during your Independent gubernatorial campaign of 2002 is to audit and dismantle the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. If you are successful in accomplishing that, how do you plan to pay for the dismantling and the additional maintenance ODOT will incur by absorbing the current turnpike system without negatively impacting ODOT’s other obligations?
STITT: In your position as a corporate CEO you made decisions and policy that affected your entire company, however, the governor does not have that same unilateral power. As an outsider, how will you be effective as governor not having navigated those waters previously, and given your previous lack of involvement in even voting regularly as a private citizen?

10. As the primary approaches, what one thing do you want voters to remember about you as they go into the voting booth?

Gary Jones endorses Cindy Byrd for State Auditor

GARY JONES ENDORSES CINDY BYRD FOR STATE AUDITOR

    Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector, Gary Jones, is encouraging Republicans to vote for Cindy Byrd in the upcoming GOP primary.  Byrd has served as Deputy State Auditor since Jones took office in 2011.

    “Cindy Byrd has been an integral part of the success of this office over the last eight years,” Gary Jones says.  “Cindy is a leader who is respected by her staff and the public officials she audits. She is a staunch believer in transparency and accountability. Cindy is, without a doubt, the most experienced, most qualified, and the best candidate to be our next State Auditor and Inspector.”

       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.

    “Gary Jones gave me the opportunity to create a plan that cleared up a five-year audit backlog,” Cindy Byrd says.  “He supported my plan to hold regional training sessions for county officials and, when I went after corruption, he always stood right with me.  Gary has always hired the best accountants possible and gives everyone the tools they need to monitor how our leaders spend the taxpayers’ money.  The hard-working citizens of Oklahoma deserve an Auditor who will build upon the foundation Gary Jones has established.”

    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 on Facebook.com/ByrdforAuditor.

Richardson touts new poll, tied with Cornett in 3rd

GARY RICHARDSON LEAPS FORWARD IN LATEST POLL 

May 25, 2018 --  A new poll released today shows conservative GOP Candidate for Governor, Gary Richardson, is well-positioned to make the primary runoff.  The poll shows Richardson tied for third place and within the margin of error for second place.

    “The methodology for this poll is much more reliable and scientific than some others that have come out recently,” Gary Richardson says. “We have been campaigning nonstop across Oklahoma and voters are clearly responding to my position on implementing mandatory statewide audits and cracking down on illegal immigrants who drain state resources.

     The poll (attached below) was conducted on May 22 & 23 among 500 likely Republican primary voters.  The margin of error is +/- 4.4%.

- Todd Lamb 20%
- Kevin Stitt 17%
- Gary Richardson 13%
- Mick Cornett 13%
- Dan Fisher 4%
- Gary Jones 3% 
- Undecided 30%

    “With so many candidates in this primary race, the dynamics are constantly changing,” says Richardson.  “The runoff is still anybody’s game and I have no doubts that I will be on the ballot for Governor in August and November.  Momentum wins elections and we are making significant strides every day.“

SoonerPoll: Lamb 23.3%, Cornett 20.4%, Stitt 13.5%

Last night, numbers were released from a SoonerPoll survey conducted for KWTV (OKC's News9) and KOTV (Tulsa's News on 6) on the statewide primaries. Here are the GOP gubernatorial race numbers:

SoonerPoll/News9/News on 6 Oklahoma GOP Gubernatorial Poll (PDF link) 

622 likely Oklahoma voters (321 Republicans), conducted in May [date not availavle]. Overall MoE +/- 3.93%. Numbers in parentheses are from April, brackets January, braces are from September.

Todd Lamb - 23.3% (21.2%) [17.6%] {32%}
Mick Cornett - 20.4% (22%) [23.9%] {29%}
Kevin Stitt - 13.5% (7.8%) [3.4%] {not polled}
Gary Jones - 4.1% (2.6%) [3.4%] {"under 10%"}
Dan Fisher - 3.2%(3.7%) [4.0%] {"under 10%"}
Gary Richardson - 2.9% (7.2%) [9.0%] {"under 10%"}
Other candidate - 1.2%
Undecided - 31.3 (35.5%) [38.7%] {23%}

You can view the full crosstabs here.

On the Democratic side of things, Drew Edmondson got 43.5%, Connie Johnson 13.6%, and 42.9% were undecided.

Follow these links for the Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General numbers.

AG Hunter Releases Multicounty Grand Jury Report, Auditor’s Special Investigative Audit into Department of Health

Attorney General Mike Hunter gives remarks during a news conference releasing the multicounty grand jury report after the investigation into the Oklahoma Department of Health.

Attorney General Hunter Releases Multicounty Grand Jury Report, Auditor’s Special Investigative Audit into Department of Health 

Reports: No money missing, no indictments, comprehensive mismanagement to blame

OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General Mike Hunter today released the multicounty grand jury report and the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s investigative performance audit, closing the state’s investigation into the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH).

The overarching conclusions of both the grand jury report and the audit are widespread mismanagement, archaic practices and fiscal irresponsibility led to the issues facing the agency.

The seven month long review included dozens of interviews and testimony from current and former OSDH employees and a thorough review of agency records and accounting practices spanning the course of several years.

Both grand jurors, as well as auditors with State Auditor Gary Jones’ office determined the agency was never insolvent, there was ample cash to pay expenses, the $30 million emergency supplemental appropriation wasn’t needed and the reduction in force that eliminated the jobs of 198 individuals was unnecessary.

Although the grand jurors found the inept practices and processes at the department ‘reprehensible’, no state or federal money was embezzled or stolen and no evidence of anyone in management positions personally benefitted from the activities.

“While financial mismanagement, fictitious fiscal reporting and reckless overspending abounded at the department, no criminally prosecutable conduct provable by proof beyond a reasonable doubt was identified,” the report reads.

Attorney General Hunter said adopting the auditor’s and grand jurors’ recommendations are necessary for the department moving forward.

“The report from the multicounty grand jury and the audit from Auditor Jones’ office reveal a system of deceit, abuse, mismanagement and utter incompetence that are so egregious it is hard, if not impossible, to comprehend the rationale behind some of the decisions that were made,” Attorney General Hunter said. “The consequences were unnecessary layoffs and a disruption of essential services in communities across the state. Quite simply, this can never happen again.

“The recommendations by the grand jurors and Auditor Jones’ office should be acted upon immediately by the department of health, to avoid the same kind of abuse in the future and to ensure the public we are serious about earning their trust back.

“I am optimistic that the new leadership team at the Department of Health will be successful in affecting a complete systematic change that addresses the recommendations.

“I appreciate the work and diligence of Auditor Jones, his audit team, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, investigators, prosecutors and agents in the Attorney General’s Office and members of the multicounty grand jury for dedicating many hours to this investigation.”

Read the report form the multicounty grand jury and the special investigative audit, here: https://bit.ly/2rPu8Tz.

1Q Gubernatorial Campaign Finance Reports

The 1st Quarter campaign finance reports have been submitted and posted on the Oklahoma Ethics Commission website. We'll look at the gubernatorial race in this post. All figures below are campaign-to-date, and may include in-kind contributions or expenditures. A new addition for this post will be their campaign "burn rate".

REPUBLICANS

Total Raised: $9,631,483.38

Total Spent: $4,196,573.75

Total Cash-on-Hand: $5,268,120.77
Burn rate: 44.34%

Todd Lamb
Total raised: $3,454,637.80
Total spent: $1,033,421.28
Total cash-on-hand: $2,392,784.26
Burn rate: 30.16%

Kevin Stitt

Total raised: $3,091,136.66 (includes $1,500,000 loan)

Total spent: $1,421,321.59

Total cash-on-hand: $1,595,276.76
Burn rate: 47.12%

Mick Cornett
Total raised: $1,574,727.65
Total spent: $727,719.21
Total cash-on-hand: $797,787.96
Burn rate: 47.65%

Gary Richardson
Total raised: $1,208,593.55 (includes $1,000,000 loan)
Total spent: $811,186.98
Total cash-on-hand: $392,557.79
Burn rate: 67.39%

Dan Fisher
Total raised: $230,697.24 (includes $20,000 loan)
Total spent: $177,802.47
Total cash-on-hand: $46,083.21
Burn rate: 79.42%

Gary Jones

Total raised: $71,690.48

Total spent: $26,766.16

Total cash-on-hand: $43,630.79

Burn rate: 38.02%

Of the GOP candidates, Todd Lamb has the lowest burn rate at just a hair over 30%. Stitt and Cornett are right under 48%, while Richardson is at 67%. Stitt and Richardson have combined to write $2.5M in personal loans to their campaigns, so in one respect the burn rate may not mean much for them. Dan Fisher has the highest burn rate at almost 80%, leaving his campaign mostly out of money for the final weeks. Gary Jones has the second lowest burn rate, but by far the lowest fundraising at less than $75K.

DEMOCRATS

Total Raised: $1,206,329.11

Total Spent: $862,406.88

Total Cash-on-Hand: $333,272.81
Burn rate: 72.13%

Drew Edmondson
Total raised: $1,146,024.47 (includes $50,000 loan)
Total spent: $809,668.38
Total cash-on-hand: $326,023.17
Burn rate: 71.29%

Connie Johnson

Total raised: $60,304.64

Total spent: $52,738.50

Total cash-on-hand: $7,249.64
Burn rate: 87.91%

Both Democratic candidates have very high burn rates. Edmondson is the heavy favorite in this primary, but will likely head into the general election having exhausted most of his campaign money.

LIBERTARIANS

Total Raised: $18,387.56 ($10,400 in-kind)

Total Spent: $4,469.53

Total Cash-on-Hand: $3,658.24
Burn rate: 56.24%

Chris Powell

Total raised: $4,467.88

Total spent: $1,312.94

Total cash-on-hand: $3,020.59
Burn rate: 30.3%

Rex Lawhorn
Total raised: $2,189.54
Total spent: $910.34
Total cash-on-hand: $464.66
Burn rate: 76.18%

Joseph Maldonado

Total raised: $11,730.14 (~$9,300 in-kind)

Total spent: $2,246.25

Total cash-on-hand: $172.99
Burn rate: 92.85%

Money-wise, Chris Powell is far and away the leader in the Libertarian primary, having raised more cash than Rex Lawhorn and Joseph Maldonado (aka Joe Exotic) combined.

Poll: Lamb and Stitt at 19%, Cornett 17%, Richardson 12%

Magellan Strategies released a brand new poll today on the gubernatorial race, showing the biggest shake-up yet:

Oklahoma 2018 Governor Republican Primary Election Survey Release

(link)

Today Magellan Strategies released the findings of an automated voice recorded survey of 644 likely Republican primary voters in Oklahoma. The interviews were conducted on April 18th, 19th and 22nd, 2018. This survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.86% at the 95 percent confidence interval. The results were weighted to reflect the voter turnout demographics of past Republican primary elections in Oklahoma.

Survey Findings

Our first survey looking at the Republican primary election for Oklahoma Governor finds a three-way tie. Among all respondents, 19% support Lt. Governor Todd Lamb, 19% support businessman Kevin Stitt and 17% support former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. Among the second tier of candidates, U.S. Attorney Gary Richardson has 12% support, former State Representative Dan Fisher has 5% support, State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones has 5% support. Twenty-three percent of respondents are undecided.

In reviewing the ballot test by voter subgroup, we can see each candidate’s current strength and opportunities to build support. Among the all-important senior voter subgroup, (which constitutes 45% of likely voter turnout) we find Mick Cornett and Kevin Stitt in a tight battle with Todd Lamb close behind and 24% undecided. Among self-identified Trump Republicans and Evangelical Republicans, Kevin Stitt leads his opponents by 7 points and 5 points respectively. However, among self-identified traditional Republicans Mick Cornett leads Todd Lamb by 5 points and Kevin Stitt by 23 points. Looking at the ballot test by Congressional District, it is no surprise to see former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett’s support is coming mostly from CD-5 (which contains Oklahoma City). In contrast, both Todd Lamb and Kevin Stitt have broader geographic support across the state.

(click to view larger)

Oklahoma Governor Republican Primary Candidate Image Ratings

Among the three front-runners, Todd Lamb is the most well-known candidate at this time with 94% of respondents having heard of him and 60% having an opinion of him. The Lt. Governor also has a net-positive image rating with 35% of respondents having a favorable opinion of him and 25% having an unfavorable opinion. About 80% of Republican primary voters have heard of Kevin Stitt and Mick Cornett. Sixty-two percent of respondents have an opinion of Mick Cornett and 47% have an opinion of Kevin Stitt. Kevin Stitt’s image rating (28% favorable/19% unfavorable) is slightly more positive than Mick Cornett’s (33% favorable/29% unfavorable).

For more from the Magellan Strategies poll, including approval ratings and survey questions on teacher pay, go to this link.

Attorney General Hunter Releases Tar Creek Audits

Attorney General Hunter Releases Tar Creek Audits

OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General Mike Hunter today requested and received approval from Judge Thomas Prince, who presides over the state’s Multicounty Grand Jury (MCGJ), to release the Lead Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust (LICRAT) audits that were requested by the state’s previous attorney general in 2011.

With the audit, Attorney General Hunter released associated investigative files.

Attorney General Hunter said the release of the audits come at his discretion, as is the case with all investigatory audits presented to the multicounty grand jury unit.

“The politicization of this matter by an out of state special interest group is unnecessary and unwarranted,” Attorney General Hunter said. “The facts are clear:  The investigative audits looked into the bidding process for the removal of structures and to facilitate the removal of toxic debris, not the buyout and relocation of residents by the federal government. The matter which was the subject of the audits was reviewed by prosecutors in the Attorney General’s Office, the EPA under President Barack Obama and reexamined and scrutinized by newly hired, experienced criminal prosecutors in my office.  No one in the review chain described above found prosecutable evidence of criminal activity.

“My office continues to support transparency and remains committed to sharing information with Oklahomans in a manner consistent with the obligation to protect the rights of informants and individuals who are not charged with a crime. We will continue to defend the integrity of the multicounty grand jury process and those who appear before it.”

Since taking over as attorney general last February, Attorney General Hunter’s office has complied with 185 open records requests containing more than 95,000 pages.

Investigative Audits

The LICRAT audits are considered an 18f, or investigatory audit, which is requested by the attorney general to the state auditor when necessary to assist in investigations. Unlike other audits, an 18f is part of litigation and investigatory files of the Attorney General’s Office.

These files are kept confidential to preserve the integrity of the investigation. However, it is not uncommon to provide information within the investigative audit to the audited party after its completion to allow them to respond to or clarify information.

These files only become public at the discretion of the attorney general, or if criminal charges are filed and the documents become part of the court files.

No criminal charges were filed after the LICRAT audits were complete, therefore never making them an open document.

Additional Investigations

In 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General, under then – President Barack Obama’s EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, launched an investigation after receiving complaints similar to what led to the state’s audits.

The EPA investigation revealed no evidence to support any of the allegations. No further action was taken by the federal government.

Read the Tulsa World’s article on the 2013 EPA investigation, here: https://bit.ly/2qjpL1r.

In 2017, after the lawsuit filed by the Washington, D.C. based special interest Campaign for Accountability, Attorney General Hunter tasked MCGJ Chief Joy Thorpe and Senior Deputy Attorney General Tom Gruber, both experienced prosecutors, with reassessing whether charges should have been or needed to be filed in the case.

Thorpe and Gruber both determined no larger investigation was necessary and that no criminal charges were warranted after review of the audits and MCGJ investigative files.

Responsive information was provided to the audits by the attorney for LICRAT Andy Lester.

Read Lester’s response to the audit, here: https://bit.ly/2EyBmPc.

Two Audits

The original audit was conducted before civil litigation caused the project to be re-bid. The original audit regarding the initial bidding process can be found, here: https://bit.ly/2GKlIlP.

Supporting documents can be found, here: https://bit.ly/2ICeOzK.

The second audit is the subject of the current litigation and what was investigated by multiple agencies. Read the second audit, here: https://bit.ly/2H8O2BY.

Supporting documents can be found, here: https://bit.ly/2qigQyf.

Supporting Material

Read Attorney General Hunter’s application to Judge Prince for the release of the audits, here: https://bit.ly/2JzxbXm.

Read Judge Prince’s response, here: https://bit.ly/2GQQ724.

Poll: Cornett 22%, Lamb 21.2%, Stitt 7.8%

SoonerPoll conducted a survey recently for KWTV (OKC's News9) and KOTV (Tulsa's News on 6) on the teacher strike, and included questions about the gubernatorial race, state employee pay raises, arming teachers, and various education funding measures (including the CLO measure). Here are the GOP gubernatorial race numbers:

SoonerPoll/News9/News on 6 Oklahoma GOP Gubernatorial Poll (PDF link) 

557 likely Oklahoma voters (294 Republicans), conducted March 14-22. Overall MoE +/- 4.15%. Numbers in parentheses are from January, brackets are from September.

Mick Cornett - 22% (23.9%) [29%]
Todd Lamb - 21.2% (17.6%) (32%]
Kevin Stitt - 7.8% (3.4%) [not polled]
Gary Richardson - 7.2% (9.0%) ["under 10%"]
Dan Fisher - 3.7% (4.0%) ["under 10%"]
Gary Jones - 2.6% (3.4%) ["under 10%"]
Undecided - 35.5% (38.7%) [23%]


You can view the full crosstabs here.