Just weeks before the upcoming election, a well-funded campaign was launched asking Oklahoma voters to remove three of our state Supreme Court judges when they go to the polls on Nov. 5. The Oklahoma Constitution makes it easy to remove appellate judges by submitting them to a retention vote every six years. Just 50%, plus one, of those who vote on retention is enough to remove a judge. Yet, we have NEVER voted to remove one. Why are we being urged to do so now?
An organization called People for Opportunity is behind this campaign. Its board members are Oklahomans (Trent England, Kathy Kaaiohelo, Bonnie Latshaw and Jonathan Small), but the contributors to what’s been reported to be its $2 million removal campaign are secret. Curiously, tax filings disclose that People for Opportunity gave $60,000 to a Washington, D.C., outfit that’s been alleged to have played a role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2001, but where they get their money is not revealed. It’s “dark money.”