Attorney general’s campaign fund growing

Staff Writer ccasteel@oklahoman.com

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter tapped Republicans, Democrats, special interest groups and Indian tribes for campaign donations in the last three months of 2017, and he ended the year with nearly $369,000 in his account.

Hunter, a Republican, who was appointed attorney general about a year ago when Scott Pruitt took over the Environmental Protection Agency, raised nearly $171,000 in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to his most recent filing with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.

In the lieutenant governor’s race, Tulsa Republican Matt Pinnell outraised Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy in the fourth quarter. However, Murphy still had a significant cash advantage because of the money she shifted from her Corporation Commission campaign account.

In other secondary state races, current members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives have moved hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash to races for treasurer, labor commissioner and insurance commissioner.

Recently filed campaign finance reports show no Democrats actively running for some of the offices coming open because of term limits — offices that, in most cases, Democrats controlled for more than 80 years.

Hunter, of Edmond, is among those statewide candidates without a Democratic opponent. But he does have Democratic donors, including former Gov. Brad Henry, who gave him $500 in the last quarter; former Congressman Dan Boren, who donated $1,000; and former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Turpen, who donated $500 to Hunter in the last quarter.

Hunter also received donations from political action committees representing Exxon Mobil, Google, Oklahoma independent oil and gas producers, Oklahoma doctors and Oklahoma dentists.

He received $5,000 from the PAC for WalMart, which stands to benefit if Oklahomans ultimately approve a ballot question allowing optometrists and eyeglass retailers to operate in large retail stores. Supporters are still gathering signatures on petitions. The attorney general’s office would have to write the question if the petition effort succeeds.

Hunter got $2,700 from the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Indian Tribe, of California.

In a brief interview on Wednesday, Hunter said a consultant for the tribe called his campaign and offered the contribution because Hunter opposed federal action taken against the tribe’s payday lenders.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last year sued the tribe’s four payday lenders claiming they were deceiving consumers about the interest rates charged on loans. According to the Bloomberg news wire, the suit was dropped this year when President Donald Trump named a new director of the bureau.

Hunter said he had joined a legal brief with some colleagues arguing that the federal bureau had no jurisdiction over the payday lending companies. Hunter, who spent four years at the American Bankers Association in Washington, D.C., said he had previously written columns challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s authority.

“I’m not a fan,” he said.

Other races

The lieutenant governor’s race is among the many open seat races this year because of term limits. Pinnell, the former chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party and a leader in the national GOP, raised about $113,000 in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to $44,000 for Murphy.

Murphy, an Edmond Republican, last year shifted nearly $639,000 from her Corporation Commission campaign account to the one for the lieutenant governor’s race. When the year ended she had $690,000, while Pinnell, of Tulsa, had $450,000.

Eddie Fields, a Republican from Wynona, had $65,274 for the race at the end of 2017; Dominique Black, an Oklahoma City Republican, had nothing in his account; and Anna Dearmore, a Democrat from Okmulgee, had $1,088.

State Rep. Randy McDaniel, an Edmond Republican, who is running for treasurer, had nearly $238,000 in his campaign account at the end of 2017, owing mainly to the $192,000 he shifted from his legislative campaign account. No other candidates have filed a finance report.

In the race for labor commissioner, state Rep. Leslie Osborn, a Mustang Republican, ended the year with $311,000; she has moved about $144,000 from her legislative account. Cathy Costello — an Edmond Republican who is the widow of slain Labor Commissioner Mark Costello — ended the fourth quarter with nearly $272,000. Oklahoma City Republican Leo Kingston had $850,000, all from personal loans.

State Rep. Glen Mulready, a Tulsa Republican running for insurance commissioner, finished the year with more than $399,000 in his campaign account. He moved about $115,000 from his House campaign. No other candidates have filed a finance report.

State schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, a Tulsa Republican running for re-election, had about $44,000 in her account at the end of the year. John Cox, a Democrat from Peggs, announced for the race this month but won’t have to file a finance report until April.

In the race to succeed state Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones, Cindy Byrd, a Republican from Coalgate, had $3,374 in her account at the end of 2017.