Most state legislative candidates opposed to school vouchers have survived primary campaigns fueled by black money.

The groups, which have spent more than $1.5 million on the Oklahoma races, also claim victory. They said they were undeterred and that the victories of the candidates they opposed were not a referendum on what most Oklahomans think about vouchers and expanding school choice.

But a Republican House lawmaker, who has been targeted by the groups, said he believes the attacks backfired and actually increased opposition from his state House colleagues. the groups’ goals of implementing a broader school voucher program that would shift millions of dollars in public taxpayer funds. in the financing of private schools.

State campaign ethics reports show that three groups — the School Freedom Fund, Oklahoma Federation for Children Action Fund and People for Opportunity — pumped $1.52 million into various primary races in the state. Oklahoma.

Some of these groups have faced allegations that their funders are out-of-state interests that stand to gain millions if the state further privatizes K-12 education. All three groups are not legally required to disclose donors and told CNHI Oklahoma they have no plans to do so.

Jonathan Small, president and CEO of People for Opportunity, also works for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank. He pointed out that his involvement, Dave Bond and Trent England in People for Opportunity had nothing to do with their OCPA duties.

He said OCPA empowers its employees to engage in public policy on their own, in a personal and distinct capacity. Small, Bond and England do not serve on the OCPA Supervisory Board, but serve on the board of People for Opportunity.

People for Opportunity said it spent more than $560,000 during the primary election cycle, according to disclosures from the state Ethics Commission. Small said the bulk of the donations came from Oklahomans. He also said the group has educated Oklahomans on public policy positions and the votes of lawmakers in more than 30 districts.

“I’m puzzled that someone would say People for Opportunity didn’t make it,” Small said. “But to the extent that an incumbent is able to win re-election in a very short time, both the filing cycle and the primary date, I don’t think that’s in any way a necessarily determinant of where where you can securely tell people are. ”

State Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, a member of the House leadership team, said the negative campaign tactics didn’t work as expected.

“It sets back what these people wanted years because the House, we won’t hear any of their stuff, so the OCPA and their groups (legislation), they’re dead,” he said.

McBride, who was targeted by People for Opportunity and the School Freedom Fund, won re-election but said OCPA leadership had ties to the attacks on him and recruited candidates to challenge incumbent lawmakers. He said the outcome of the races showed Oklahomans aren’t “interested in what special interest groups and black money want.”

And, he said there’s a broader consensus that House lawmakers don’t plan to touch legislation that “even smells or sounds” like the OCPA.

“They are a poison pill, and until they go back to what they originally were – a conservative political think tank instead of an advocacy group…the OCPA days are gone. Until they change direction, they won’t be heard on Capitol Hill,” McBride said.

Small, who is president of the OCPA, said that for nearly 30 years the group has heard “those kinds of threats” from politicians.

“OCPA is about principles and policies, not personalities,” Small said. “We will continue to push for reforms that will make Oklahoma a freer and more prosperous state. We know many lawmakers share these same goals, and we look forward to working with anyone who wants to advance good public policy for the benefit of all Oklahomans.

He said the OCPA is advocating for a wide range of “transformational reforms,” which also include improving public school outcomes and performance through things like vouchers, college savings accounts, schools chartered and tax credit scholarships.

“These reforms that have a big impact on people’s lives are rarely the ones that are passed or advanced in a single year,” Small said. “Transformational reforms tend to take time.”

Erika Wright, founder of the local Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition, said her group had compiled a list of candidate positions on the vouchers ahead of the June primary. Candidates who opposed it won an overwhelming majority, and other candidates, who had no clear position before the primary, now plan to take a stand before the August runoff election.

Wright said the June primary result should be a good indication that Oklahoma voters don’t want their taxpayers’ money used to fund vouchers, and she hopes the message sent by voters will result in significant legislative opposition to vouchers. She said it was going to be a long fight, though.

Wright admitted that the election results were complicated by many other factors, including all the black money that poured into local races. She doesn’t think the strategy of pouring millions into the Oklahoma election worked as intended.

“It’s going to be very interesting to see how sitting lawmakers handle their relationships with groups like the OCPA in the future,” Wright said.

“I guess the powers that be in the Legislative Assembly are really, really not happy about this,” Wright said. “I think it will be interesting to see how their bullying tactics (worked). I think it might actually backfire on them. I think there will be a lot of people up there in the Legislative Assembly who will have just finished dealing with these people.

Jennifer Carter, senior Oklahoma adviser for the Oklahoma Federation for Children Action Fund, a group that has spent about $225,000 on Oklahoma’s political races, said the primary election sent “a strong message that Republicans support freedom of education for all families.”

In an email, Carter said that in statewide races, Gov. Kevin Stitt easily prevailed after he defended the school’s choice, while his education secretary, Ryan Walters , had received the most votes in the race for superintendent of public instruction. Walters, however, is heading to a runoff in August against fellow Republican April Grace.

Carter also said in the legislative races that two “school choice supporters” beat out “anti-school choice incumbents” while state Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, who is president of the House education, “scarcely survived its challenge”.

“In the open seats, school-choice supporters prevailed in many races,” Carter said. “Anyone who thinks freedom of education isn’t popular with Oklahoma Republicans is whistling past the political graveyard.”

Baker, whose re-election effort has been targeted by all three groups, did not respond to a message left seeking comment.

A spokesperson for the Club for Growth, which answered questions about the School Freedom Fund, said in an email that the group was focused on “electing supporters of school choice and defeating opponents.” at the question”.

The group, which reported more than $726,000 in expenses, said it did not discuss its donors.

State Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, who survived a bruising campaign, said the result shows people in western Oklahoma, especially in rural areas, are unresponsive well to negative campaigns.

“I think they saw through the lies being told by the outside groups and really focused on what they cared about here,” Moore said.

Moore said he thought he was targeted by the groups because he opposed the good guys, but he said he expected his victory would do little to change the conversation on the question in the future.

“I think it’s always going to be a topic moving forward,” Moore said. “But I think it’s not something that’s too popular in western Oklahoma right now.”