Republican Corporation Commissioner and Lieutenant Governor candidate Dana Murphy had a fundraiser yesterday evening with an interesting figure. The host? None other than Jim Roth, the Democrat Corporation Commissioner that Murphy defeated in 2008.
Roth is now a lawyer in the energy sector, and is a licensed lobbyist to the Governor, Legislature, and Corporation Commission. A former Corporation Commissioner who regulated (among other things) the energy sector now works for the energy sector lobbying a former colleague and his successor, and now has held a fundraiser for someone who regulates the industry he works in.
I have great misgivings about a regulator (Corporation Commissioner) soliciting donations from those they regulate (i.e. the energy sector, people that Roth represents, the OIPA, etc). At the beginning of January, Murphy was sitting on a campaign war-chest of almost $700,000, the bulk of which appears to have been raised during her tenure as Corporation Commission by donations from PACs affiliated with or individuals employed in industries that she regulates. It may not technically be pay-to-play, but it well-nigh borders on it.
Jim Roth had somewhat of a controversial past as a public official. He was the first openly-homosexual elected official in Oklahoma (Oklahoma County Commissioner), and was the recipient of campaign contributions by prominent out-of-state homosexual activists like Tim Gill. There were incidents where campaign donors received favorable treatment by Roth, from roads being paved to property owned by a large campaign donor during Roth's County Commission stint to voting against a power plant opposed by that same donor while Roth was a Corporation Commissioner.
Since the beginning of 2016, Roth has donated $6500 to Democratic candidates and $800 to Republicans (not including a maximum contribution of $2700 to Murphy).
Grassroots Republican activists who worked hard in 2008 to elect Murphy might be interested to find out that the self-proclaimed conservative is partnering with a progressive like Roth in her campaign for lieutenant governor.
I attended a Rogers County Republican meeting last November. Dana Murphy was the guest speaker. She told us she had spent the day with Frank Robson who owns the RCB Bank and is the brother-in-law of the late Sam Walton of Wal-Mart. Mr. Robson introducted her to all of his friends in Claremore. She added that all of his friends approved of Senator Marty Quinn and Rep. Mark LePak's votes in favor of tax increases during the special session. And while Dana Murphy did not say she approved of those tax increase votes, she worded it in such a way as to say she concurred with the friends of Frank Robson.
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