12 Jan After dark money flooded elections, Oklahoma GOP chair wants changes to help political parties

The state of Oklahoma has seen a significant influx of dark money in recent elections, and now the state’s Republican Party chairman, A.J. Ferate, is calling for campaign finance reforms to help level the playing field between political parties and dark money groups. In a letter to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, Ferate pointed to the more than $30 million in independent expenditures that dark money groups spent against Governor Kevin Stitt or in favor of his Democratic opponent last year. He also noted that State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd faced an intraparty challenger who raised just $2,350 but benefited from significant dark money spending.

Ferate suggests that the state can’t do anything about dark money groups that are deemed legal under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which allows corporations and other special interest groups to spend unlimited money on elections. However, he believes that political parties should be able to raise more money and provide additional assistance to state candidates in order to compete with these groups. Ferate makes four requests of the five-member commission that he said could better align state campaign finance rules with federal law.

Source: After dark money flooded elections, Oklahoma GOP chair wants changes to help political parties