As the chairperson of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Kim David regulates some of the state’s biggest industries, including oil and gas and utilities. Now the Republican is hoping her years of experience in state government will give her an edge in the crowded race for the 1st Congressional District.
“When we’re talking in this day and age, with energy truly being a national security issue — ensuring that we have generation and that we have transmission, and those costs are allocated where they’re supposed to — we need someone in there that understands that job,” David said.
During more than a decade in state government, David has built a reputation for helping local businesses. She was also the lead author of a state law that allows eligible individuals to openly carry guns in public.
David’s congressional campaign website states she will “protect American energy” and “keep energy affordable for families.” But as the leader of the three-member Corporation Commission, she has never voted against a rate increase for Oklahoma Gas & Electric, Public Service Company of Oklahoma or ONE Gas since she took office in 2023, according to a review of the commission’s meeting minutes.
Asked about her voting record, David says by the time a utility’s request for a rate increase reaches the Corporation Commission for a vote, commissioners have heard months of testimony, audits and hearings.
“Our job then becomes looking at that record, evaluating the administrative law judge’s recommendation, and then determining what costs are reasonable, and then how those costs should be allocated among the customer classes,” David said.
She says the commission has reduced rate increase requests from OG&E and PSO by more than $500 million throughout her tenure.
“Everybody just rolls their eyes when I say that, but it’s true,” David said.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average monthly price of electricity for Oklahoma ratepayers has increased by $4.38 since 2020. David says she hopes voters understand utility companies must prove their need before the commission approves the request.
She also says she is bound by a state law that requires the Corporation Commission to approve passing some costs on to ratepayers before natural gas projects are built and useful. There are ongoing efforts, she says, to create a new tariff for large industrial users, like data centers, to protect residential customers from price hikes.
At the same time, records show David has repeatedly accepted donations from individuals and political action committees tied to industries she now regulates — a pattern that has continued in her congressional campaign, which comes to a head in the June 16 primary.
Defending industry donors
Three dark money groups spent about $600,000 on TV, digital, social media and radio advertisements in support of her Corporation Commission campaign in 2022, according to state records. In 2024, David accepted two paid trips to New York City from the American Gas Association and Gee Strategies, both Washington, D.C.-based energy lobbying groups.
David says her ties to the American Gas Association are part of her work to ensure lower costs for customers.
“They’re trying to gauge what the temperature is of the commissioners that are deciding on the utility cases — trying to decide how good of a rating they’re going to give the utility,” David said. “The terrifying part of that is, if they think we’re anti-utility, then the bond rating goes down, and then the utility customers have to pay more for every bit of debt that the utility company incurs to build a power plant.”
Unlike state legislators who are permitted to receive donations year-round, corporation commissioners can only receive donations during a fundraising window that begins 120 days before a primary election and ends 120 days after a general election.
Although David’s term on the Corporation Commission is not up until 2029, her congressional campaign has allowed her to receive donations outside of the established window — many from industries she currently regulates.
In March, David’s congressional campaign received $2,000 from the ONEOK Inc. Employee PAC, $2,500 from the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma INC. PAC and $2,500 from the Continental Resources INC. PAC.
David defended her willingness to accept campaign donations from PACs tied to industries regulated by the commission. She says these groups are just trying to ensure candidates are capable of doing the job.
“I’ve taken money from the NRA, I’ve taken money from the Federation of Small Businesses. I’ve taken money from the REALTOR PAC…,” she said. “I have taken criticism on that, but once we’re elected to office, unlike the legislature, we can’t be wined and dined. They can’t even buy me a cup of coffee.”
According to Federal Election Commission filings, David’s campaign raised about $180,000 by May 27. About $42,000 is from members of the Hilliary family, which owns Hilliary Communications — a large Lawton-based telecommunications company regulated by the Corporation Commission.
Dustin Hilliary, co-CEO of the company, serves as senior adviser in Gov. Kevin Stitt’s cabinet. In March, Stitt appointed Hilliary to the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents. The Tulsa Flyer reached out to the Hilliary family and Hilliary Communications for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
“The Hilliarys have always liked me and supported me in my elections, and yet I’m not sure why they like me so much,” David said. “I called them and said, ‘Hey, I’m running for Congress,’ and they were like, ‘Fantastic, we love you, we’re all on board.’”
Harold Hamm, chairman emeritus and founder of the oil and gas company Continental Resources, donated $3,500 to David’s campaign in March. Members of the Mewbourne family, who own Mewbourne Oil Company, donated about $6,000. Ken Waits, another executive at Mewbourne Oil Company, donated $2,000.
David Le Norman, a prominent Oklahoma City businessman who once chaired the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma, donated about $3,600 to David’s campaign. Mike Cantrell, an Oklahoma oilman who serves as the president of Pivotal Strategic Solutions, donated $3,500.
“If it’s energy that’s giving me any donations for this congressional race, it’s because I’m so outspoken on supporting fossil fuels and Oklahoma energy,” David said. “I just think it’s important for Oklahoma’s economy. I tell people all the time, we’re an oil and gas state.”
Breaking barriers
David broke barriers during her 12 years in the state Senate from 2010 to 2022. Representing Porter in Wagoner County, she became the first woman in Oklahoma’s history to serve as Senate majority leader. She is also the first woman to chair the Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee.
“I understand how the legislative process works. I know how to build a coalition. I’ve worked with a fractured legislature and had success. Those are some real talents I think are sadly lacking in today’s Congress,” David told the Flyer during a 45-minute sit-down interview in May. “I think I am the only candidate that has that experience.”
David says she’s most proud of authoring the constitutional carry bill that passed during the 2019 session. That law allows Oklahomans older than 21 to carry a firearm without a permit. She also noted legislators cut the income tax twice during her time in the state Senate.
David also has a track record of helping cut red tape for local businesses.
Tommy “Blue” McDaniel, owner of Hochatown Distilling Co., says David shepherded a bill through the Oklahoma Legislature as Senate majority floor leader in 2021 that allowed distilleries to sell their own spirits for on- and off-premises consumption.
“Her actions there on the forefront set the stage to allow distilling in Oklahoma to continue to grow,” he said.
Had that bill failed, McDaniel says he would have closed his business in Broken Bow.
“That (bill) really opened it up to where we could put a little speakeasy in our deal where people could come in and buy a drink and sample it,” McDaniel said. “It really allowed our business to survive … There was just no way to create the revenue needed to reinvest back into the business.”
Josh Carson, executive vice president and general counsel with Rausch Companies — an Arkansas-based real estate, land development and energy company — says David authored a bill during the 2020 legislative session that prevented cities from enforcing regulations based on design aesthetics in single-family residential neighborhoods.
Organizations like the Oklahoma Home Builders Association argued these municipal regulations drove up the price of construction and created another barrier to building affordable housing across the state.
“She knew this was a big issue and did not like the way that Oklahomans were having to suffer through some of the affordability issues that we cared a lot about — and that was all it took for her to get involved quick and pass this initiative,” Carson said.
This piece of legislation, he says, is an example of David standing up for what is “right.”
“This rubbed several the wrong way in some powerful groups, but she knew that this was right, and she fought for that regardless of what that looked like with what were a lot of good friends and municipal contacts,” Carson said.
Greenlighting higher power costs
Since her election to Oklahoma Corporation Commission, David has voted six times to allow utility companies to pass higher costs from PSO, OG&E and ONE Gas onto consumers, according to a review of the commission’s meeting minutes.
On May 11, David joined Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett in a 2-1 vote giving PSO permission to build $1.2 billion in new power generation and storage capacity — and allowing the utility company to bill ratepayers before the units are active. Commissioner Brian Bingman voted against the proposal.
PSO requested that its natural gas generators be funded through a process called construction work in progress, or CWIP, which allows utility companies to collect customers’ payments on energy generation before its new units come online.
Legislators passed a bill last year that requires the Corporation Commission to approve CWIP for natural gas projects. Despite voting in favor of the PSO project — claiming she is forced to by state law — David says she is hopeful it will be challenged at the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the legislation will be overturned.
“Constitutionally, (ratepayers) are not supposed to have to pay for any cost until it’s used and useful,” she said.
In the meantime, David says the Corporation Commission delayed the collection of CWIP payments until after zoning issues for the PSO project have been resolved. She says the commission is implementing a new large-load tariff that will require big energy users like data centers and manufacturers to pay a larger share of the costs for utility upgrades by sometime this summer.
“We’re doing everything we can to protect the residential ratepayer,” David said.
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