DC group blasting Bice has had mixed success
Club f or Growth Action, a Washington, D. C., group spending heavily to influence the Republican congressional race in the Oklahoma City area, has gotten involved in previous races in the state, with mixed results.
The anti-tax group helped the late Tom Coburn in his successful Senate campaign in 2004, but its money didn't prevent James Lankford from capturing a congressional seat or Rep. Frank Lucas from easily winning re-election.
Club f or Growth Action, the political arm of Club for Growth, i s trying to defeat state Sen. Stephanie Bice in the Republican runoff in the 5th Congressional District. Bice is facing Terry Neese. The election is Aug. 25, and the winner will face Rep. Kendra Horn, D-Oklahoma City, in the Nov. 3 general election.
The group has committed to spending $500,000 against Bice in the runoff, which could be as much as either candidate will spend during the runoff campaign; the group spent about $350,000 against Bice in the crowded June primary.
Ads financed by the group have criticized Bice for supporting tax credits for entertainment production in Oklahoma and a tax package to finance teacher pay hikes; also, for backing a budget that included a pay raise for state legislators that had been authorized by an outside commission.
On its website, Club for Growth calls itself the "leading free-enterprise advocacy group in the nation."
Bice refers to the group as never-Trumpers, a term coined in 2016 to describe Republicans who wouldn't support Donald Trump for president.
Former Indiana Congressman David McIntosh, the president of Club for Growth, penned a column in 2016 calling Trump “a liberal wannabe strongman who will use and abuse the power of the federal government to impose his ideas on the country.”
Now, the group says it supports the president.
Club for Growth Action uses a political action committee (PAC) to raise and spend money in elections. Filings with the Federal Election Commission show it has raised $32 million in the 2019-2020 election cycle, with $ 1,250 of that coming from Oklahoma.
The three biggest donors are: Richard Uihlein, a businessman who lives in the Chicago area, who has given $16.5 million to the PAC since last year; Jeff Yass, a trader who lives in Pennsylvania, who has given $7.5 million; and Virginia James, an investor who lives in New Jersey, who has given $2 million.
This is the second time in recent history the group has gotten involved in the GOP primary for the 5th District congressional seat. The district includes most of Oklahoma County and Pottawatomie and Seminole counties.
In 2010, the group tried to secure the nomination for Kevin Calvey, spending nearly $150,000 in the last few days of Calvey's runoff campaign against Lank ford, to little effect since Lankford got 65% of the vote.
Calvey is supporting Neese in the runoff against B ice but told The Oklahoman he had not encouraged Club for Growth to get involved in the race this year. A spokesman for the group, asked about Calvey, said, "I don't know of any contact but the interview and evaluation process for Club for Growth PAC endorsements is typically confidential and we don't comment on discussions with candidates or others."
In 2013, the club went after Republican members of Congress, hoping to attract primary opposition for ones it didn' t consider conservative enough. Lucas, who represents much of western Oklahoma, was among them. Two Republicans ran against him in 2014, and he got 83% of the vote in the primary; he got 79% in the general election.
“On their website, the Club for Growth is trying to affect Republican primaries, and I believe that is their right of free speech,” Lucas said when targeted. “However, any time I have to choose between the influence so fD. C. po li tical groups and my fellow Oklahomans, I will always side with my fellow Oklahomans.”
In 2004, the Club and its members spent about $700,000 helping Coburn win the Republican nomination for the open U.S. Senate seat, with some of that money donated directly to Coburn and some spent on advertising. Coburn, who already had a loyal following among Oklahoma Republicans, won the GOP primary that year without a runoff.