Loveless, Russell Take To TV Airwaves; Loveless Files Last-Minute Campaign Finance Report

Kyle Loveless and Steve Russell have taken to the airwaves in their quest to win the Republican nomination in Oklahoma City's Senate District 45, the two of them spending an estimated $30,000 this week on television buys.

UPDATE: "I just got off the the phone with Marilyn (Hughes), and a last minute contribution (report) will be filed today within the 24 hour window," Loveless said at mid-afternoon. "Ms. Hughes is going to talk to the staff about the conflicting and opposite instructions that were given to me." One report shows Loveless gave his campaign $23,000 yesterday, another shows an additional $15,000, for a total of $38.000.

Loveless confirms he's spent about $20,000 on his buy, made earlier this week. Russell's campaign says thus far, he's spent about $10,000 on his buy.

Russell has out-raised Loveless about 2-to-1. The latest finance reports show Russell has raised more than $120,000. His report shows he's raised $40,935 since July 15th and had $25,110 on hand as of August 11th.

Russell has filed four late-contribution reports showing he's raised an additional $9,500 since his August 11th report.

Loveless reported he's raised $63,148, about $14,000 of that since July 15th. About half of that sum is in in-kind donations. He showed a cash-on-hand balance of $2,363. Asked about the source of the money for the tv buy, he wrote in an email response to the question, "In kind contributions are treated as expenditures, have talked with the ethics commission before the election and they have confirmed, as long as it is disclosed in the next report that is due as an expenditure, which it will be. In the primary I paid for personally $5,000 worth of cable TV and you can see that as an in kind contribution, but it is counted as an expenditure. I am in 100 percent compliance with the ethics requirements."

A Loveless supporter said, "He confirmed with the Ethics Commission that in-kind contributions and expenses must go on the next quarterly report. Because he did not loan the money to the campaign, but instead spent his own money, it doesn't have to go on the pre-primary report as a late receipt. He is not going to make any effort to recover that money from the campaign, so it isn't a loan."

The winner of Tuesday's primary wins the election since no Democrat or Independent filed. The seat is now held by the term-limited Republican Kathleen Wilcoxson

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Steve Russell Makes It Official

Retired Army Lt. Colonel Steve Russell today officially announced he will seek the Republican nomination for the State Senate in District 45, the seat being vacated by term-limited Senator Kathleen Wilcoxson.

Former Oklahoma City Councilman Jerry Foshee and consultant Kyle Loveless also are candidates in the GOP race.

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Wilcoxson: Adair Nomination Violated Law

Senate Education Co-Chair Kathleen Wilcoxson said she did not support the nomination of former House Speaker Larry Adair to the State Board of Education because that nomination was in violation of state law.

The nomination failed on a tie vote of 7-7 to win the full support of the Senate Education Committee.

Wilcoxson said the committee’s decision not to confirm the nomination was not about personality or politics, but was about public policy and the rule of law.

“I have tremendous respect for Speaker Adair and his contributions to our state,” said Wilcoxson, R-Oklahoma City. “However the law is very clear and it was affirmed in a 1998 Attorney General’s opinion. If the Governor withdraws a nomination, he cannot turn around and re-nominate that individual for the same post. That is exactly what happened in this case, and I am bound by my oath of office to uphold the law."

Wilcoxson said her vote was also based on public policy and the need for additional reforms in public education, adding Adair had failed to support important reforms in the past.

“I believe strongly that we need greater accountability, more transparency and significant reform in order to lower our drop-out rates and improve student achievement levels,” Wilcoxson said. “I would have serious concerns about any nominee with strong ties to the status quo in public education. It comes down to whether we want to stand still, or move our state forward.”

Wilcoxson said she believes Adair is only the second person nominated by Governor Henry since his 2002 election to be defeated in any committee. She also stated that for more than a year she has encouraged the governor to work with the Senate to find a consensus nominee capable of winning the bipartisan support of the majority of members of the Senate Education Committee.

Meanwhile, Senator Kenneth Corn blasted the failure of the committee to approve Adair's nomination: “This is a slap in the face to a man who has devoted his entire life to helping Oklahoma. He’s a former educator who dedicated himself to building a better future for our young people, and he brought that dedication with him to the State Legislature,” said Corn, D-Poteau. “Instead of taking advantage of his experience and life-long desire to help Oklahoma’s children, Republicans serving on that committee decided to play partisan politics.”

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