Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt faces three primary opponents next Tuesday. He has been assailed on-air for prison commutations he’s made and for a rocky relationship, Stitt — who is an enrolled member of Cherokee Nation — has with the Big Tribes in the state.
Stitt’s main challenger in the four-candidate field is former Oklahoma Veterans Affairs Director Joel Kintsel, who’s getting a boost from several outside groups despite raising less than $33,000 as of June 13 for the race.
One dark money 501(c)(4) group, Sooner State Leadership, has spent more than $4.3 million on TV ads attacking Stitt as weak on crime because of prison commutations the governor made and claiming his administration is ethically challenged. Another group, Oklahoma Conservative Patriots Alliance, has popped up late and is on track to spend half a million dollars attacking Stitt and boosting Kintsel. The RGA has gone in to help boost Stitt too, spending over $550,000 on air through State Solutions.
But any late spending trying to assail Stitt or boost an alternative is coming too little too late.
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