Enid News & Eagle
Sep
02
2018
Gubernatorial race most
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expensive in state history
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By Trevor Brown
Oklahoma Watch
After months of jock-
eying, the field is set.
With runoff wins last
week, Republican Kevin
Stitt and Libertarian Chris
Powell joined Democrat
Drew Edmondson on
November’s general elec-
tion ballot.
More than $12 million has been
spent on the race and millions more
are expected to flow to the final can-
didates in the remaining weeks of
the contest, making this race easily
the most expensive in state history.
Here is a look at what campaign
donations can tell us about what
to expect during the race’s final
months.
Money matters
Dating back to at least 1998, the
gubernatorial candidate who raised
the most total money has been vic-
Proprietàdi OPS News Tracker e membri di Oklahoma Press Association.
torious on Election Day.
Donations from If that trend continues
political action this year, Edmondson
committees will need to do some
have made up catching up in the weeks
just a fraction of to come.
the money put The latest Ethics
into the cam- Commission filings,
paigns. which cover donations
up to Aug. 13, show
Edmondson has raised
slightly more than $2 million this
election cycle.
Stitt, meanwhile, has raised
about $3.2 million during the last
two weeks. The Gateway Mortgage
CEO additionally has nearly
matched the amount he has taken in
from individuals and political action
committees by contributing $3.15
million of his own money into his
campaign through loans or in-kind
contributions.
The fact that Stitt had to bat-
tle in a runoff while Edmondson
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advanced straight to the general election ballot after his June
primary win carries advantages and pitfalls.
Stitt ultimately will be able to raise more from individuals
than Edmondson since state election laws limit individuals to
giving $2,700 to a candidate for each race (primary, runoff,
general election). That means Stitt could raise a total of $8,100
from an individual while Edmondson faces a $5,200 cap.
But Stitt was forced to sink a sizable portion of his campaign
war chest on the runoff against former Oklahoma City Mayor
Mick Cornett.
Stitt’s latest campaign contribution report showed he has
spent about $6 million of his campaign funds and had just
$368,557 cash on hand as of Aug. 13. And it is likely Stitt
tapped into a significant portion of that amount to pay for
last-minute media buys and other campaign costs during the
days leading up to Tuesday’s runoff.
Meanwhile, Edmondson has been able to hold onto much
of his campaign war chest and reported about double what Stitt
had available to spend as of Aug. 13. That means Edmondson’s
$703,000 cash on hand will give him a head start when he goes
against the GOP nominee in the general election.
Powell, who sealed the Libertarian gubernatorial nomina-
tion last week, has raised only a fraction of what the two major
party candidates have taken in so far.
Powell has raised slightly more than $10,000 this election
cycle and reported $3,017 cash on hand as of Aug. 13.
Small vs. large donors
Even though Stitt has handily outraised Edmondson at this
point in the campaign, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee
has the highest number of individuals giving to his campaign.
Proprietàdi OPS News Tracker e membri di Oklahoma Press Association.
As of Aug. 13, 2,935 individuals have given to Edmondson, cent of his total fundraising.
with the average donor giving about $653. But don’t expect this trend to continue as the candidates
During the same time, 2,033 individuals have given to Stitt’s move into the general election.
campaign, with the average donor contributing $1,408. PACs, especially those that represent companies, special-in-
Campaign finance figures also show Stitt’s campaign has terest groups or industry organizations, tend to spend more
attracted far more big donors than Edmondson. freely once a party’s nomination has been locked up and they
While only 34 individuals have contributed the maximum know who their preferred candidate will face.
$5,400 to Edmondson’s campaign, 191 donors have given that And if this year’s election follows the trend of past races,
amount to Stitt. such as Gov. Mary Fallin’s re-election run in which she
But Edmondson has been more successful in targeting received more than $600,000 from PACs or businesses, the
smaller donors. He has received contributions of less than $500 candidates should expect to see plenty more PAC and industry
from 1,859 people. In comparison, Stitt has only 658 donor donations in the weeks to come.
who have given at that level.
This appears to indicate Edmondson is following the trend
Oklahoma Watch is nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that produces in-depth
of Democrats on the national stage, such as Barack Obama or
Bernie Sanders, in targeting a large number of smaller donors and investigative content on a range of public-policy issues facing the state. For more
to offset a limited number of top-dollar donors. Oklahoma Watch content, go to www.oklahomawatch.org.After months of jockeying,
But it also could show the GOP’s nominee will be the favor- the field is set.
ite to capture the donations of influential industrial leaders,
executives and other high earners.
PAC money
Although this year’s gubernatorial race is on pace to break
spending records, one group has yet to make a big impact.
Donations from political action committees have made up
just a fraction of the money put into the campaigns.
The $24,200 that Stitt’s campaign has received from nine
political action committees represents less than 1 percent of his
total fundraising haul so far.
Similarly, Edmondson has received just $36,800 from 13
political action committees, which represents just under 2 per-