Dueling Groups Oppose, Support Glenn Coffee

ActionPlanOK has begun airing television spots in Oklahoma City suggesting trial lawyers are behind an advertising campaign launched by Citizens For Transparency that questions Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee’s finances.

“It’s no surprise now that courageous leaders who stand up for lawsuit reform, like Sen. Glenn Coffee, are being personally attacked,” the spots say.

Patrick Lively, executive director of Citizens for Transparency, the group that paid for the anti-Coffee ads, said they have nothing to do with lawsuit reform.

“I have no comment on tort reform,” Lively said. “That’s not my issue.”

The Citizens for Transparency ads, which appeared in the Tulsa World and on Oklahoma City television, called for Coffee to disclose details of his campaign expenditures and a loan he used to pay back taxes. Citizens for Transparency has not revealed its financial supporters.

ActionPlanOK was formed about five years ago. Its directors include former Rep. Robert Worthen, R-Oklahoma City, Tulsa County Director of Development and Governmental Affairs Terry Simonson and Tulsa businessman Mike Arrington. Worthen’s son Trebor Worthen, also a former state representative, works for AH Strategies, which is a campaign consultant for many Republican legislators.

Coffee, however, is not an AH Strategies client, Worthen said.

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