EXCLUSIVE — The Democratic candidate running to be Oklahoma’s next governor appears to have “violated” several state laws due to her social media activity, legal experts told the Washington Examiner.
Joy Hofmeister, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction, is trying to unseat Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt in November. But Hofmeister may be running afoul of ethics laws because her government website links to her campaign’s social media accounts, and the government has seemingly promoted her Twitter posts, according to campaign finance lawyers.
Hofmeister’s page on the Oklahoma education department’s website links to her gubernatorial campaign accounts on Twitter and Facebook, according to a Washington Examiner review Thursday. Her Twitter handle is “Joy4OK,” and her Facebook is listed under “JoyforOklahoma,” while both accounts, as is standard for political candidates, share footage of campaign events and ads.
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The Washington Examiner could not find examples of other Oklahoma government officials, besides Hofmeister, linking to their campaign social media accounts on pages.
Oklahoma law holds that a person cannot campaign with “the use of public funds, property or time to engage in activities designed to influence the results of an election for state office or a state question.” In addition, officials are barred from engaging in activities “designed to influence the results of an election for state office” on public time or posting “materials that advocate for the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate,” according to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
“Secretary Hofmeister has likely violated Oklahoma’s ethics laws by using her official, state-funded biography webpage to promote her election campaign,” said Curtis Schube, a lawyer at the Dhillon Law Group who specializes in election law. “Specifically, her bio page includes links to her campaign social media account and her campaign website, which are dedicated to advancing her candidacy for office.”
Chris Winkelman, a lawyer at Holtzman Vogel who also specializes in election law, took it one step further. He told the Washington Examiner that the social media account links “could also run afoul of Oklahoma criminal law.”
It is illegal in Oklahoma for public officials to “directly or indirectly coerce, attempt to coerce, command, advise, or direct any state employees” to pay or contribute “to any party, committee, organization, agency or person for political purposes.”
“These laws are in place not only to protect taxpayer funds from being misappropriated but also to protect state employees from feeling pressured into providing political support for their boss,” said Winkelman, who in the past was general counsel for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
But Hofmeister’s possible violations of Oklahoma law extend past her page linking to her campaign’s social media accounts, according to Schube and Winkelman. There are numerous instances in which the Oklahoma education department’s Twitter account has both retweeted Hofmeister’s campaign account and tagged her campaign, a review of posts found.
This could be in violation of an ethics law outlining how officials cannot, unless permitted by law, use newsletters or informational materials to advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or candidates, said the lawyers.
“Cross-promotion of these campaign social media accounts from official channels gives the impression that the weight of her entire government agency itself is behind her candidacy,” said Winkelman.
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Hofmeister is no stranger to controversy. She was criminally indicted in 2017 for campaign finance violations and conspiracy after allegedly raising money illegally while running against the incumbent Republican Superintendent Janet Barresi and colluding with a dark money group. Charges were later dismissed.
The race between Hofmeister and Stitt has tightened in recent months. Hofmeister led Stitt by 7 percentage points in a poll released on Oct. 17 by the Oklahoma-based political consulting firm Ascend Action. There were 638 likely primary election voters surveyed.
Hofmeister’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
