Lawmakers press for campaign finance reform
The midterm election season officially began this week with primaries in Texas, Arkansas and North Carolina. Oklahoma candidate filing is in less than a month (April 1-3), and our primary is June 16.
Before President Trump’s announcement Thursday that he wanted Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace Kristi Noem at the Department of Homeland Security, we were looking at a pretty set field of statewide and federal candidates in Oklahoma. Now, it’s anybody’s guess who might jump into the mix for a now-open U.S. Senate race. Rumors also abound about whom Gov. Kevin Stitt might pick as a placeholder to fill Mullin’s seat until the general election.
Regardless of what happens, Oklahoma lawmakers have taken a stand on the sheer amounts of money in political races. They’ve approved a resolution asking Congress to put forth a constitutional amendment to give campaign finance regulation back to the states.
Oklahoma is now the 24th state to pass the resolution, which doesn’t need the approval of the governor. The bipartisan effort comes 16 years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. That ruling opened the floodgates, with campaign spending reaching a record $11 billion in the 2024 cycle. Oklahoma hasn’t been immune, either, with independent expenditures hitting a record in the 2022 statewide election cycle.
House Concurrent Resolution 1006 passed the Oklahoma House last year. The Senate approved it in February. The resolution also includes a section backing term limits for members of Congress, which has a shaky legal history in Oklahoma. House Majority Floor Leader Josh West, R-Grove, and Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus, authored HCR 1006. Senate Democratic Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, signed on as a co-author this year.
The campaign spending constitutional amendment is organized by a nonpartisan political nonprofit called American Promise.
Meanwhile, campaign spending data firm AdImpact estimates the 2026 midterm elections will again break spending records. It expects campaign expenditures to exceed $10.8 billion, up from $8.9 billion in the 2022 midterms.
Oklahoma Watch (OklahomaWatch.org) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
