People Not Politicians (PNP) is a left-of-center advocacy group that opposes gerrymandering in Oklahoma. It is a project of two Oklahoma-based political education nonprofits: Let’s Fix This and the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma.
Executive director Andy Moore is also the founder and executive director of Let’s Fix This; the executive director of Freedom of Information Oklahoma, a state-level watchdog; and a co-founder of Consumer Focus USA, a consulting company specializing in customer preferences. 1
Petition
On October 28, Politicians Not People launched a state-wide initiative, Initiative Petition 804, to form a “citizen-led, independent commission to determine all redistricting decisions” for the 2020 census. 2 As of 2020, Oklahoma’s redistricting process is entirely controlled by the state legislature subject to a gubernatorial veto;3 partisan control of the state is such that the process is controlled by Republicans. 4 PNP needed to get 177,958 voter signatures in 90 days to put the petition on the November 2020 ballot. 2 Starting in October 2019, PNP held townhall events across the state to raise awareness and collect signatures. 5
Critics of the petition say that it makes the redistricting process more complicated and less responsive to voter input. State House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) called the initiative a “solution in search of a problem.” Other critics say the petition is an attempt by Democrats to seize control of the state-legislature through their own gerrymandering. 4
On February 4, 2020, the petition was struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court for its lack of clarity. 6 On February 7, PNP refilled its petition, but it was immediately challenged by the law firm GableGotwals, which has ties to the Republican Party,78 with two lawsuits, one of which says the petition is still unclear in its objectives, and the other claiming the petition is unconstitutional. 9
Donors
In 2019, Politicians not People received $250,000 from Unite America. 10 Kathryn Murdoch, the liberal daughter-in-law of right-leaning media mogul Rupert Murdoch, co-chairs and funded Unite America. 11 The organization has donated to many state-level electoral advocacy nonprofits: In September 2019, Unite America announced donations totaling $5 million to four advocacy groups seeking state-level changes: Pennsylvanians Against Gerrymandering, Alaskans for Better Elections, Voter Choice Massachusetts, and New York-based Rank the Vote. 12
References
- “Andy Moore.” Let’s Fix This. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://letsfixthisok.org/our-team.
- “FAQs” People Not Politicians. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.peoplenotpoliticians.org/learn-more.
- “Redistricting in Oklahoma.” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_in_Oklahoma.
- Rios, Miguel. “Not politicians.” Oklahoma Gazette. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/not-politicians/Content?oid=6702363.
- “Redistricting group sets town hall meetings.” The Journal Record. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://journalrecord.com/2019/10/31/redistricting-group-sets-town-hall-meetings/.
- Metzer, Steve. “Court strikes down redistricting petition.” The Journal Record. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://journalrecord.com/2020/02/04/court-strikes-down-redistricting-petition/.
- “Chris Thrutchley.” Linkedin. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christhrutchley/.
- “Robert G. McCampbell.” Gable Gotwals Counsel. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.gablelaw.com/attorneys-all/robert-g-mccampbell/.
- Forman, Carmen. “Redistricting petition faces new legal challenges.” The Oklahoman. Accessed March 6, 2020. http://stage.newsok.com/article/5656189/redistricting-petition-faces-new-legal-challenges.
- “Unite America Financial Summary.” FEC.gov. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00677773/?tab=summary&cycle=2020.
- “Murdoch-Funded Anti-Gerrymandering Group Hired Lobbyists with a History of Gerrymandering.” The Intercept. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://theintercept.com/2019/10/07/murdoch-pennsylvania-gerrymandering-lobbyists/.
- “Unite American Announces Investments in Four Reform Campaigns.” Unite America. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.uniteamerica.org/news-article/firstgrants.