Calvey tops 5th District funds race

The Edmond Sun
James Coburn
February 9, 2010

EDMOND - TO LEARN MORE about campaign finance disclosure for the U.S. Congress, 5th District of Oklahoma, go to the Federal Election Commission Web site at www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/srssea.shtml.

Former state Rep. Kevin Calvey's race for the Congressional 5th District has raised more money by a political action committee than his Republican opponents.

Calvey said his campaign fundraising is going well, especially for a guy who does not regulate anything because he holds no office.

"Special interests are certainly not interested in supporting somebody who doesn't regulate them," said Calvey, of Del City.

More than 1,600 individuals have given contributions to the Calvey for Congress 2010 and the Calvey for Congress political action committees, he said

"So it's a huge base," Calvey said. "I've been blessed to have some personal resources I can put into it as well."

The Calvey campaign trove has $607,649 in net receipts with $529,194 cash on hand, according to the Federal Election Commission.

The seven Republican Congressional 5th District candidates also include James Lankford and Johnny Roy, both of Edmond; state Rep. Mike Thompson of Oklahoma City, Paul Arabie of Del City, Rick Flanigan of Bethany and Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud, R-Oklahoma City.

Independent candidate Clark Duffe, of Edmond, also is in the race. No Democrats have announced their candidacy for the Congressional 5th District seat currently occupied by Republican Mary Fallin, a 2010 gubernatorial candidate.

Lankford said most of the people giving to his campaign have never given to a political campaign before.

"They see our campaign as different and they want to get involved in something that's totally new," said Lankford, director of Falls Creek Summer Youth Camp since 1996.

Families for James Lankford has raised $129,782 with $64,677 on hand, according to the FEC. That represents more than 1,000 donors since his campaign began four months ago. He has never run for a voter-elected political office before now.

"We feel very good about where we are on the campaign finance side of it," Lankford said. "We're very different from other candidates. Other candidates have a large group of donors who have donated to their previous campaigns."

FEC records show that Oklahomans for Mike Thompson has generated $571,273 in PAC money with $368,886 cash available. Meanwhile Cloud for Congress has $174,551 noted as its net receipts with $160,400 remaining in the fund, according to the FEC.

Roy for Congress shows $45,315 in total receipts for the Edmond physician with $42,815 remaining cash available, according to the FEC. He announced his campaign in August saying it's unfortunate that the credibility of a candidate is often equated to their war chest.

The FEC notes that Rick Flanigan for Congress 2010 has made $2,543 in financial disclosure with $1,126 available.

Duffe said his campaign has not reached the $5,000 mark so he is not compelled by law to make a campaign disclosure.

"We're doing very low-key fundraising and will not be doing a push until later," said Duffe, an optical technician at the Oklahoma History Center.

Neither does Arabie's name appear on the FEC's list of 5th District PAC disclosures. He told The Edmond Sun that the strength of his campaign is based purely on his message, word of mouth and some yard signs. There's no Web site, no brochures.

"I don't want special interests to help me. I don't want the oil companies to help me. I don't want any big business to help me," Arabie said. "I want to say I represent the people. I don't want to owe anybody anything."

The official filing period for candidates is set for June 7-9, said Paul Ziriax, Oklahoma State Election Board secretary. The statewide primary will be July 27 with a run-off election Aug. 24. The general statewide election will be Nov. 2.