OKLAHOMA CITY - A campaign seeking to toss three Oklahoma Supreme Court justices out of office has drawn opposition from several quarters just days ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Hands Off Our Courts and Protect Our Freedoms are running ads asking voters to retain Justices Noma Gurich, Yvonne Kauger and James Edmondson on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Meanwhile, some of the state's tribes are also encouraging their members to vote yes on retention.
Some well known Oklahomans have penned editorials criticizing the ouster effort and supporting retention.
The actions come in response to ads by People for Opportunity, which has board representation from members of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. OCPA is a conservative activist group that regularly works the Capitol hallways.
People for Opportunity's ads label the justices as "liberal activist judges" who "added millions to the cost of doing business" and accuse them of "padding the pockets of trial lawyers." They also list the ages of the three as being older than 71.
If the three justices are not retained, Gov. Kevin Stitt would have three more appointments to the court, in addition to the three he already has appointed to the nine-member panel.
"We have started a digital campaign," said Pat Hall, a campaign consultant for Hands Off Our Courts. "Because we got started so late, we are going to have to use a lot more digital and a lot more other media platforms than network television or mail."
Other groups, such as Protect Our Freedoms, will be doing strategic mailings urging retention, said Hall, who noted the two groups aren't related or coordinating.
A spokesperson for Protect Our Freedoms could not be reached for comment. A Federal Communications Commission filing listed the campaign's chair as Mark Becker.
Mailers sent out by Becker's group say "Ryan Walters schemed to illegally send your tax payer dollars to private religious schools. Thankfully the Supreme Court stopped him."
The mailer seemingly refers to the state superintendent's support of using taxpayer dollars to fund a Catholic charter school.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court blocked the school from existing and prohibited state funds from being used.
Hall said the People for Opportunity's ads are discriminatory, implying the justices can't do their job due to age.
He said prominent Oklahomans are supporting his group's retention effort, including former University of Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys football coach Barry Switzer, former Gov. Brad Henry and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt.
Meanwhile, former Oklahoma Attorneys General Mike Hunter and Drew Edmondson have written columns supporting retention. Edmondson's brother is one of the targeted justices.
Hunter said the justices are being criticized for following the law and holding people and businesses accountable by a group that wants to politicize the process.
In recent years, the state's high court has tossed out laws on workers compensation, lawsuit reform and abortion. It required lawmakers to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Capitol grounds. The monument now rests on the grounds of the OCPA.
The Five Tribes recently adopted a resolution supporting retention, but are not part of the two organized campaigns, said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.
"Cherokee Nation is proud to join with the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole nations in supporting the justices to continue their service to Oklahoma," Hoskin said.
Choctaw Nation members received a mailer encouraging retention.
"If these justices are removed from office, Gov. Stitt will appoint their successors, giving him six hand-picked justices out of nine," the mailer said. "He will likely choose justices who share his disdain for tribal sovereignty."
Stitt and the tribes have been at odds over a number of issues, including gaming and compacting.