Lankford significantly out-raised opponent Lahmeyer, quarterly report shows

Jul. 16—Incumbent Sen. James Lankford raised more than three times the funds his primary challenger Jackson Lahmeyer did this quarter, though all of Lahmeyer's donations came from individuals.

According to his latest FEC report, Lankford raised $785,109 from all 77 counties in Oklahoma this quarter, while Lahmeyer raised $211,706 this quarter.

Another stark difference between the two is the amount of cash each campaign has on hand — Lankford's campaign has $1,628,207 on hand, compared to Lahmeyer's $136,773 cash on hand.

Lahmeyer spent $108,548, more than half of what he raised this last quarter leaving him with significantly less money than Lankford.

"My daily service to Oklahomans is not possible without the strong support from Oklahomans in every part of the state," Lankford said in a statement. "Cindy and I are grateful to everyone who has already supported the campaign financially, as a volunteer or through our prayer team. As our families stand together, we can ensure that our Oklahoma values will be clearly represented in Washington, D.C."

Lahmeyer did not respond to The Transcript's request for comment.

Although Lankford raised significantly more money this quarter, Lahmeyer is touting the fact that he received no money from PACs, while Lankford accepted PAC contributions.

Lankford received $403,657 from individuals and $381,242 from PACs and other authorized committees. All of Lahmeyer's contributions came from individuals, the majority of which listed their addresses in Oklahoma.

"If you get a lot of money from individuals in small amounts or big amounts, those people are likely to vote for you if they can," said Michael Crespin, director of the Carl Albert Center at the University of Oklahoma. "Political Action Committees by definition can't vote because they're not people, so getting a lot of money from individuals is a good sign, but all else equal, I'd rather have Lankford's money than Lahmeyer's money. I'd rather have more money than less."

That said, the candidate with the most money doesn't always win, and not taking money from PACS can also be a good campaign strategy that allows a grassroots candidate to point at their opponent and say "look at this candidate, they are bought by so-and-so industry," Crespin said.

That strategy is showing up in Oklahoma's Senate race; Lahmeyer is accusing Lankford of being bought by "big pharma" because of money Pfizer has donated to Lankford in the past. Pfizer did not give any money to Lankford this quarter, according to his FEC report.

"Lankford is an incumbent senator, so every vote really matters," Crespin said. "PACs usually give to the candidate they think is going to win. You might get a single-issue PAC that's really concerned with a particular issue, then they'll give to a candidate. But corporate PACs usually just give to the person who they think can help them."

Crespin said if an incumbent like Lankford is spending a lot of money during the campaign, it's a sign of how competitive a race is.

In comparison, Lankford isn't spending nearly as much as Lahmeyer is. Lahmeyer spent several thousands on items outside a normal campaign. He spent over $5,000 on flights, $2,500 on fireworks and over $1,000 on wristbands.

Reese Gorman covers COVID-19, local politics and elections for The Transcript; reach him at rgorman@normantranscript.com or @reeseg_3.