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. ⁵ Starting in October 2019, PNP held townhall events across the state to raise awareness and collect signatures. ⁶

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. ⁷

On February 4, 2020, the petition was struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court for its lack of clarity. ⁸ On February 7, PNP refilled its petition, but it was immediately challenged by the law firm GableGotwals, which has ties to the Republican Party,⁹¹⁰ with two lawsuits, one of which says the petition is still unclear in its objectives, and the other claiming the petition is unconstitutional. ¹¹

Donors

In 2019, Politicians not People received $250,000 from Unite America. ¹² Kathryn Murdoch, the liberal daughter-in-law of right-leaning media mogul Rupert Murdoch, co-chairs and funded Unite America. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴

1. “Andy Moore.” Let’s Fix This. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://letsfixthisok.org/our-team.
2. “FAQs” People Not Politicians. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.peoplenotpoliticians.org/learn-more.
3. “Redistricting in Oklahoma.” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_in_Oklahoma.
4. Rios, Miguel. “Not politicians.” Oklahoma Gazette. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/not-politicians/Content?oid=6702363.
5. “FAQs” People Not Politicians. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.peoplenotpoliticians.org/learn-more.
6. “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/.
7. Rios, Miguel. “Not politicians.” Oklahoma Gazette. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/not-politicians/Content?oid=6702363.
8. 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/.
9. “Chris Thrutchley.” Linkedin. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christhrutchley/.
10. “Robert G. McCampbell.” Gable Gotwals Counsel. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.gablelaw.com/attorneys-all/robert-g-mccampbell/.
11. 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.
12. “Unite America Financial Summary.” FEC.gov. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00677773/?tab=summary&cycle=2020.
13. “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/.
14. “Unite American Announces Investments in Four Reform Campaigns.” Unite America. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.uniteamerica.org/news-article/firstgrants.