Truth Test: Does Something 'Stink' In Edmondson's Record

As the race to be Oklahoma’s next governor comes down to the wire candidates from the two major parties are flooding the airwaves and screens with ads about each other.

You may have seen a bovine blitz of an ad from the out-of-state Republican Governors Association against Drew Edmondson claiming Edmondson’s policies are too liberal for Oklahomans. But how true are its claims?

There were only two claims of the four things said in this ad we could test. The two that didn’t meet the standards of a Truth Test were that Edmondson had a liberal platform and a quote from the Oklahoman in 2008 saying he sounded “more like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) than an Oklahoma Democrat.” Both claims are matters of opinion and fewer statements of testable fact.

The first claim we could test is this; “As governor, Drew Edmondson has already promised he would seek to increase state income taxes.”

How true is that? Well, it's not true, but it's definitely not all the way false either.

The ad points to an article from the Guthrie News leader where Edmondson said he'd restore the income tax. It was far from a promise, and it's no longer a part of his state funding plan, according to his campaign website.

But Edmondson does want to remove the capital gains tax deduction which some will argue is restoring an income tax on Oklahoma's wealthy and some farmers and ranchers.

Here's the next claim: “Edmondson supported Hillary Clinton all the way.”

This is true. Edmondson was a big name on a list of who’s who of Oklahoma Democrats to back Secretary Clinton in the 2016 election.

Overall this ad is split, at least on the claims that weren't purely political. We give the ad a rating of one misleading and one true.