TULSA, Okla. (Oct. 11, 2018) — The Oklahoman this week published an article that exposes the hypocrisy in Drew Edmondson’s latest TV ads attacking Kevin Stitt on a public policy proposal that Edmondson himself also endorses.
“Desperate Drew once again broke his word to run a clean campaign. His latest negative attack ads are not only deceptive, but they are flat out hypocritical,” said Donelle Harder, spokesperson.
The Kevin Stitt for Governor campaign released the following fact check today on the Drew Edmondson campaign’s latest attack ad:
Fact Check #1: Edmondson claims Stitt will “raise property taxes” pointing to Stitt’s support of HB 1373 and failing to indicate Edmondson’s support for the same policy measure, which would give municipalities flexibility to send to the ballot for a vote of the people funding proposals to support local police officers and firefighters.
- Oklahoman, Sept. 14, 2018: “I think that sounds like an excellent idea and I would support that,” said Edmondson on HB 1373.
- Oklahoman, Sept 13. 2018: “We’ve got to have some kind of ag protection, which I’m absolutely for,” said Stitt about his support of HB 1373.
- Oklahoman, Oct. 9, 2018: “Stitt announced his support for the proposal at the Oklahoma Municipal League conference last month. But Edmondson, who spoke at the same conference one day later, said he would also support the proposal.”
Fact Check #2: In Edmondson’s TV ad, Edmondson claims to not be in support of raising the income tax, when in fact he has advocated for an income tax increase multiple times on the campaign trail:
- Guthrie News Leader, December 10, 2017: “I would also restore the income tax to its previous levels and raise the cigarette tax,” said Edmondson.
- Red Dirt Politics, November 3, 2017: “Fourth, I would give the voters the opportunity to uptick the personal income tax back to 6 percent. That’s going to have to be on the ballot because the legislature won’t do it,” said Edmondson.
- Miami Herald, Oct. 24, 2017: “In funding these endeavors, Edmonson advocates returning the gross production tax to a rate of 7 percent and following that up by giving voters the option of putting their personal income taxes back where they were. ‘I’m not talking about raising them over any historic level,’ said Edmondson. ‘We did a series of tax cuts and the voters should have the opportunity to decide whether we ought to be rolling those back.’”
“Edmondson is selling a false image to distract from the fact that he is a tax and spend liberal like Hilary Clinton, his candidate for president,” said Harder. “Edmondson says he would expand sales tax on hardworking Oklahomans, just like Mary Fallin’s failed plan last year. Edmondson says he wants income tax at 6 percent and would increase taxes on farmers and ranchers by rolling back the capital gains tax deduction. Oklahomans have faced tax increases two years in a row. Enough is enough. Kevin Stitt is a political outsider who is focused on expanding Oklahoma’s economy and delivering accountability and transparency to a broken state government.”