The guy pictured above is AJ Ferate.
AJ’s a lawyer, policy wonk, and—when he’s not reminiscing about his time as a tabloid curiosity—he moonlights as a powerful Oklahoma GOP political operative and kingmaker, working both in front of and behind the scenes to make sure Oklahoma remains a bottom-tier conservative state for generations.
In fact, AJ served as chair of the Oklahoma GOP from 2022 to 2023. During this time, his biggest priority—outside of finding virgin blood to drink—was to raise money.
Well, at least that’s what he once told The Frontier:
Growing donations is now Ferate’s top priority…
Ferate said that he has already raised money to “more than double what’s already currently sitting in the account.”
“I think that’s only going to grow,” he said. “I think people are excited about having strong leadership in the state party that wants to respect all three legs of the stool.”
Unfortunately, AJ never got to raise a bunch of money for the State GOP. He was voted out of the chairman’s position after only one year—replaced by infamous two-legged stool Nathan Dahm.
Although he’s no longer in an official power position, AJ is still doing his best to line both his and the GOP’s pockets.
Last year, Governor Kevin Stitt put Ferate in charge of a special task force to address the “imbalance between candidate fundraising and unlimited independent expenditures.”
I guess special interests, PACs, and all their ilk can spend whatever they want to back a candidate, while the maximum a candidate can receive from an individual is $3,500 per person… or about 7% of the average Oklahoma teacher's salary.
Instead of coming up with unique and novel ways to regulate special interests and PACs—or attempting to restore balance and integrity to campaign finance—AJ’s group had a more lucrative idea: simply do away with campaign contribution limits on individuals!
He reintroduced the panel’s suggestions this week in an editorial in The Oklahoman.
In the piece, he made sure to criticize the Oklahoma Ethics Commission for showing some ethical balls and ignoring the panel's advice:
The Oklahoma Ethics Commission turned a blind eye to the task force recommendations to expand that freedom by allowing candidates and parties to raise and spend contributions without limits. Instead, Oklahoma remains frozen by antiquated paradigms. Allowing such contributions, when combined with the already robust transparency reporting requirements, will allow candidates and parties an equal right to speak to voters.
Listen, I know I’m not a powerful Oklahoma political attorney who would financially benefit from my clients having more money to throw at elections, but how does this solve the problem?
It’s like Dracula complaining that blood banks have too much control over the supply, then suggesting we solve the problem by letting donors just bleed directly into his mouth. The only thing this changes is whose fangs get sunk in first!
And that’s the best-case scenario.
More than likely, removing donation caps won’t curb special interest spending—it’ll just crank it up to Nosferatu levels, turning campaign finance into a bloodsucking free-for-all. It’s a campaign finance greenhouse effect that will fry our already fragile democracy.
Hehe. Just kidding. We’ve been baking in that greenhouse for a while. If AJ gets his way, he’s just speeding up the process.
Anyway, you can read AJ’s full editorial at The Oklahoman.
Once again, he’s a well-known politico who has Stitt’s ear—or his nose lodged firmly in Stitt’s ass—so I wouldn’t be surprised to see this idea gain traction at the Capitol this legislative session. Democrats, Republicans, and their media friends all love it when there’s more campaign cash to burn, so don’t be shocked if this somehow becomes law.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
