TULSA, Okla.— Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt endorsed Bixby Mayor Brian Guthrie over a long-time Republican member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Thursday, adding intensity to what is becoming one of the most contentious races in this year's Republican legislative primary.
In an audio message sent to Guthrie's campaign and given to FOX23, Stitt said he was endorsing Guthrie over three-term State Representative Jeff Boatman as his choice in the southern Tulsa County State Senate District 25 race because he was concerned about a large influx of what he called "dark money" and political action committee funding lifting up Boatman while simultaneously flooding south Tulsa, Bixby and Glenpool mailboxes with ads attacking Guthrie he said were full of falsehoods.
"Brian Guthrie is a true conservative and a businessman," Stitt said in the endorsem*nt message. "Don't believe the dark money special interest attacking Brian. They came after me, and they lost. Now they're attacking my friend Brian."
Stitt equated the negative ads against Guthrie, which have at times tried to tie him to President Joe Biden and has accused him of raising taxes and "putting potholes over people," as the same tricks he saw during his 2022 campaign for a second term.
The negative ads have not been launched by Boatman himself or Boatman's campaign, but they are from political action committees based in Edmond and Oklahoma City. At the same time, Boatman has received positive ads on television and on social media also from a political action committee based out of a home in the Oklahoma City suburb of Nichols Hills called Senate Majority Fund Oklahoma.
When the term "dark money" is used in campaigns, it refers to funds raised by a nonprofit group who collects money to influence elections and legislation, but because of their nonprofit status, they are not required to disclose the identities of their donors. This is opposed to traditional donations given to a campaign or candidate where things are done transparently and "out in the daylight" in which a donor's name, the amount given, and even their personal information must be reported in their public campaign filings that become public record.
In his endorsem*nt message, Stitt addressed some of the attacks that had been mailed out to Republican primary voters attacking his record as the mayor of Bixby, and then concluded by saying, "Guthrie understands that a strong economy supports strong families. Join me in supporting Brian Guthrie for State Senate on Tuesday, June 18."
While Boatman is not an incumbent in the Senate seat, currently occupied by outgoing-State Senator Joe Newhouse (R), he has served in the Oklahoma House the entire time Stitt has been governor. In a response to FOX23 about the endorsem*nt, Boatman released a statement saying he was shocked because he voted with Stitt "99 percent of the time," and he believed the endorsem*nt was punishment for overriding Stitt's vetoes at times, including recently on a bill to increase the state's pension benefit for law enforcement officers Stitt said was not financially sustainable.
"Last week, I stood alongside the Fraternal Order of Police and voted to override Governor Stitt’s veto of a police pension increase. We gave the police an increase in their pension multiplier to three percent. Police who risk their lives for our safety should receive more than politicians. I am now told Governor Stitt has endorsed my opponent Brian Guthrie. I am shocked, because over the past six years I have supported 99 percent of Governor Stitt’s agenda. Sorry, Governor, in this case I had to stand up for our brave women and men in law enforcement and back the blue," Boatman told FOX23 in a statement.
FOX23 caught up with Guthrie while he was out door-knocking with his family Thursday. He said he was humbled to get the endorsem*nt of Stitt, and he said he was happy to get some help fighting off what he called "dark money attacks."
"I expected [the attacks] to come maybe within the last two weeks, but I didn't expect them to come this early," Guthrie said. "They started about six weeks out."
FOX23 has already projected the Republican Party will maintain control of the Oklahoma House and State Senate, but it's a matter of who will hold what Republican seats is what voters will help decide this summer and in November.
If the state's finances do not drastically change between now and next legislative session, it is believed Stitt will seek an income tax cut again. He didn't get anything other than the elimination of the state's portion of the sales tax on groceries this year because the Senate refused to cut anymore taxes, saying the state could not afford it and agencies needed help with inflation. With current Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R) being term limited, this will be the first time in Stitt's tenure that he will have a different or refreshed Senate to help craft the budget with, and he is looking for allies who are open to passing a tax cut.
Guthrie said there was no quid pro quo, and he did not promise the governor anything in return for his endorsem*nt, including not overriding gubernatorial vetoes on multiple bills which has also happened in the Senate over the last two years. However, he has since he launched his campaign in February openly supported the governor's belief that the state's surplus shows Oklahomans are being overtaxed.
"I supported an income tax cut this session," he said. "I would've like to have seen one passed, and I still believe we can get one passed next session."
Guthrie said the endorsem*nt further highlighted the biggest difference between him and Boatman.
"I am funded by grassroots individual donations from friends and neighbors," Guthrie said. "All of his donations are from PACs, lobbyists and special interests."
Guthrie told FOX23 with Stitt's endorsem*nt, he expects the attack ads to ramp up, not tone down.
The Republican primary elections are Tuesday, June 18. Check with your county election board for specific times on when early voting is being offered.
