PAC with ties to Stitt behind newest dark-money-fueled ad attacking supreme court justices
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Another TV ad is urging Oklahoma voters to remove three Oklahoma Supreme Court justices appearing on a non-partisan retention ballot next month. This time, News 4 has found a group behind it that is closely linked to Governor Kevin Stitt.
The new ad began airing on TVs in Oklahoma this week.
It claims Oklahoma Supreme Court Justices Noma Gurich, Yvonne Kauger and James Edmonson, who are all up for retention on ballots in the November 5 election, are “liberals.”
“Oklahoma Supreme Court Justices Guich, Kauger and Edmonson, all appointed by democrat governors, undeniably liberal themselves,” a narrator says at the beginning of the ad. “Supported by liberal trial lawyers, they used COVID to change Oklahoma’s election law. And if retained, the oldest will be 93.”
The ad goes on to urge voters to vote to not retain them.
“But you have the power to remove all three,” the narrator says. “On November 5th, vote Gurich, no. Kauger, no. Edmonson, no. Let’s remove these liberals from our state supreme court.”
If the verbiage used in that ad gives you a feeling of déjà vu, that's because it’s very similar to a different attack ad that has been airing for about a month.
“Oklahoma Supreme Court Justices Gurich, Kauger and Edmonson, all three nominated by the unelected, liberal Judicial Nominating Commission and appointed by Democrat governors. Is it any surprise all three are activist liberal judges,” a narrator says in the other, similar ad. "You have the power to remove all three. It’s simple, vote no to remove liberals Gurich, Kauger and Edmonson from our Oklahoma Supreme Court.”
News 4 previously reported the similar attack ad is being pushed by a dark money group called ‘People for Opportunity.’
News 4 reported ‘People for Opportunity’ has close ties to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), an influential conservative think tank and advisory sponsor of the Heritage Foundation’s ‘Project 2025.’
News 4 previously found People for Opportunity has its own political agenda, not mentioned in its attack ad.
On its website, People for Opportunity advocates for things like spending public dollars on private schools, and eliminating Oklahoma’s nonpartisan judicial nominating commission.
In fact, People for Opportunity supports giving the governor sole power to choose Supreme Court justices, with senate approval, according to its site.
As for the newest ad attacking the judges, despite its close resemblance to People for Opportunity’s ad, a different group is actually behind it.
According to the fine print on the newest ad, a Political Action Committee (PAC) called ’46 Action’ is responsible for it.
According to public records News 4 obtained from the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, 46 Action has some very close ties to Governor Kevin Stitt.
The records show a group of former Stitt campaign staffers and donors founded 46 Action.
Those records also show 46 Action spent tens of thousands of dollars to run ads supporting several candidates Stitt publicly supported in Republican Senate primary races earlier this year. Many of those candidates won their races, even unseating some republican incumbents.
Since 16 action is a registered PAC, It shares its list of donors and expenses with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
According to Ethics Commission Records, 46 Action only has one donor funding it: a non-profit called ’46 Forward.’
Unlike 46 Action, 46 Forward is not a PAC. It’s private LLC, thus is not required to share its lists of donors, making it a “dark money” group.
News 4 reached out to Governor Stitt’s office Thursday to give Stitt a chance to talk about his close connections to the PAC running the newest attack ad.
News 4 also sent Stitt’s office a list of questions for Stitt to answer, in the event Stitt did not have time to give an interview.
Stitt’s spokesperson responded, writing:
“I have no way of knowing what political initiatives the governor may or may not be involved in, as our office is completely separate from his campaign team!”
News 4 followed up, asking the spokesperson if Stitt was still planning to answer any of the questions sent. No one responded.
We also reached out to 46 Action through an email address listed on its website. No one responded.
As for 46 Action’s ad’s claims that the justices are “liberals,” Oklahoma’s incoming Senate Democratic leader, Sen. Julia Kirt (D-Oklahoma City), told News 4 her party doesn’t claim them.
“No, I don't see judges as partisan," Kirt said. “And I actually read that one was a Republican when nominated. One was an independent, one was a Democrat. And I love that a Democratic governor appointed a Republican judge.”
But Kirt said she does worry the ad could set a bad precedent.
“I'm worried that it’s going to be that people are going to want to put more money into judicial races, that people are going to want to buy judge positions,” Kirt said.
Oklahoma attorney and former state Attorney General, Tim Gilpin, told News 4 he, and other lawyers, are concerned too.
“We need to understand that we want our judges to be as neutral as possible and not to be political,” Gilpin said. “Because if they’re political, all of us are going to be wondering every time we or someone we know is in front of them that maybe that decision is flavored to certain way.”
Gilpin said, while the governor and his allies have the legal right to politicize a traditionally non-partisan judicial race with attack ads, it’s certainly un-precedented.
“I think it's more of a question of judgment and politics, whether or not the governor should be attacking Supreme Court justices just based upon their rulings,” Gilpin said. “You can disagree with the judge's ruling. You can question it. But if you're going to attack them politically, I think we're crossing a line.”
Earlier this week, News 4 also dug in to another ad running urging voters to keep the justices on the court.
Like the ads attacking the justices, News 4 found the ad supporting them was also being pushed by a dark-money group with no public list of donors.
When News 4 reached out to the dark money group behind that ad, former Republican Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter reached out to News 4, offering to speak on behalf of the effort to retain the justices.
However, Hunter claimed he had no official ties to the dark money group behind that ad.