Why I Started Writing Again—and What Comes Next

From the call that brought OSC back to life to the fight against dark money, the latest subscriber numbers, and what comes next for the No Lobbyist Money movement—it’s all here.

In this first-ever Oklahoma State Capital AMA, special to the paid subscribers of OSC, we will take a closer look at the questions you’ve been asking Jason Murphey: whether OSC was unfair to Jon Echols; which OSC post went most viral; the number of free and paid subscribers to OSC; what’s next for the No Lobbyist Money pledge; and how campaign dynamics are shaping up for 2028.

We also break down the mechanics of dark money, whether it should be “outlawed” in Oklahoma, and offer practical advice for grassroots candidates of the future, and more.

Let’s get started.

Why did you start writing again?

It all started with a call from Marven Goodman, the publisher of The Sooner Sentinel. He had attended a meeting where an officeholder was speaking. I had substantially supported this officeholder during the previous election. Goodman sat quietly in the back and observed what was going on. He knew right away that something was wrong, and he brought to my attention that the candidate wasn’t holding to the values of small-government conservatism.

For me, it wasn’t an uncommon phenomenon: helping someone run, and then feeling betrayed.

Candidates take advantage of good-hearted volunteers who still believe in the foundational principles of our nation, principally small government, and invest their most important resource, God-given stewardship over time, because they just want to do their part to save our nation by electing those who purport to hold our views.

But then, once those candidates get elected, they act as if we are naive for believing they, the now-all-wise governing officials, can stick to their campaign “rhetoric,” and they ignore or dismiss the concerns of the most loyal volunteers who helped them get to that position.

For me, though, this ended up being a type of last straw. The last betrayal. I couldn’t keep making the same mistake: helping candidates, and taking their word for it that they would actually govern as small-government conservatives. It hardly ever happens.

So I figured that I could best make a difference by returning to writing, educating, training, and even reporting, some of which I had already done dating back to 2000. To the extent that I would help, or even endorse, candidates in the future, I am mostly limiting those endeavors to assisting those who made clear and specific commitments before getting elected, such as the No Lobbyist Money Pledge.