Oklahoma AG candidates spar on death penalty, smelter in debate

The Democratic and Republican candidates for Oklahoma attorney general staked out opposing views on the death penalty and other hot-button issues during a tense debate less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

During the Thursday, Oct. 22, debate, Republican Jon Echols contended his opponent's stances were out of step with what he called the state's conservative way of life. Democrat Nick Coffey, meanwhile, maintained that the attorney general's office had become too political. He criticized Echols' ties to a controversial company that provides health care in jails and detention centers.

Their starkest disagreements revolved around how much their political and ideological viewpoints might influence their decisions as Oklahoma's chief legal officer.

When asked about the death penalty, Coffey, a former federal prosecutor, admitted that as a Catholic, he had conflicted feelings about the topic. But he said the attorney general's job is to uphold the law, not write it. He said that he would support an independent review commission to better ensure that death row inmates received fair trials and that innocent people were not being executed.

Echols, a Baptist, said he is a strong proponent of the death penalty, believing it should be used "in the most extreme of circumstances." If elected, the ex-state lawmaker pledged to attend every execution because of the gravity of the matter. He did not, however, signal support for an independent commission reviewing death penalty cases, instead arguing that the state's appellate court process was sufficient.

"I have strong concerns that we live in a world where there are two different sets of justice," Echols said during the debate, which was hosted by NonDoc and Griffin Media at the Metro Tech Springlake campus in Oklahoma City. "There's the justice for the rich and powerful that they can get a Kardashian to look at the case, and there's the justice for everybody else. And I think everyone should have to go through the court system."

In 2021, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted the sentence of death row inmate Julius Jones hours before he was set to be executed for a 1999 killing. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian had lobbied for years on behalf of Jones, who is now serving life in prison.

The attorney general's race has drawn increased attention as Election Day nears. A new political action committee, The Oklahoma Accountability Project, has disclosed spending $219,000 to air ads backing Coffey. Most of the funding comes from the Oklahoma Voter Alliance, an OKC-based political nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors. The group previously backed the effort to raise the state minimum wage as well as other Democratic causes.

While describing himself as "a Kennedy Democrat," Coffey contended the attorney general's office has become too partisan in the past 15 years, saying that his platform prioritizing "children, costs, corruption and crime" was not inherently political. He also said the attorney general's office had lacked the courage in recent years to hold state officials fully accountable when corruption was uncovered.

"It's the prosecutor versus the politician," Coffey said. "It is progress versus more partisanship. It's about protecting Oklahomans versus just protecting a party."

Echols described himself as a staunch conservative and said he believed officials, including judges, should be able to admit their political affiliations when asking for public support. He touted his bipartisan leadership of the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency and endorsements by a coalition of sheriff's offices and public safety organizations as reasons the public should vote for him.

"If you are looking for a conservative attorney general that understands state government and can root out waste, fraud and abuse, that's the position that matters, and that's the job experience that matters," Echols said.

Related: Nick Coffey, Jon Echols clash in Oklahoma attorney general race

The pair did find some common ground, including the state's need to collaborate with Native American tribes and protect consumers from price gouging by insurance agencies and energy companies.

They also agreed that the sentencing of Brent Swadley for defrauding the state was too lenient, arguing that Swadley should have received the 10-year prison sentence a jury had previously recommended. Coffey and Echols both said they disagreed with the current attorney general's call for the judge in the case to resign .

Yet tensions between Echols and Coffey flared when moderators asked questions about the proposed aluminum smelter in northeast Oklahoma's Inola , a potential $4 billion project between Chicago-based Century Aluminum and the Dubai-owned Emirates Global Aluminum. While Stitt openly backs the smelter, current Attorney General Gentner Drummond has sued to block the project. Both are Republicans.

Coffey has said several times on the campaign trail that he opposes the smelter because he's visited with Inola farmers and ranchers, believing their voices are going unheard and their property rights aren't being respected. When Echols said he would also maintain Drummond's lawsuit against the proposed smelter, Coffey suggested Echols had "evolved" on the issue. Echols, in turn, implied that Coffey was a "liar."

"I am going to continue that litigation, and I have two primary concerns. No. 1 is foreign land ownership. That is the No. 1 issue I've been campaigning on, and it's an issue I've tackled as a legislator," Echols said. "No. 2, I am concerned about the fluoride emissions, and I have not been convinced that those are safe."

More: Trump-backed smelter exposes land use revolt shaping Oklahoma politics

Arguably the most heated moment of the debate arose when moderators brought up TK Health, a private health care company Echols co-founded in 2009. Contracted with numerous correctional facilities in Oklahoma and other states, TK Health has faced dozens of lawsuits alleging substandard conditions and constitutional violations from families of inmates who have died at the facilities.

Echols and his campaign have said the former legislator owns a small stake in TK Health and is not involved in its day-to-day operations. During the debate, Coffey said Echols was attempting to distance himself from his former executive leadership of the company and pressed him on whether the civil rights of several inmates had been violated by TK Health.

"I don't care how much you own. This is a company that has led to the death of 50 people," Coffey said. "Two percent or 20 percent (ownership), I don't care. It's too much."

Echols said that "any loss of life is incredibly sad" but said he believed Coffey was politicizing the issue.

"You know there's a difference between what the counties do and what the health care does," Echols said. "Or what's even more terrifying: maybe you don't? Maybe you haven't spent any time whatsoever with our local sheriffs and our local jails. Maybe you have spent so much time in your ivory tower and the feds that you actually don't know what it's like down on the ground for those trying to make a difference."

More: Scrutiny grows over Oklahoma AG candidate's ties to medical company

Echols criticized Coffey's lack of experience in the state legal system, adding that he has never been in management or run a business.

But Coffey said his experience with federal trials, including organized crime and drug conspiracy cases, positioned him as the one who could be trusted to pursue tough cases as attorney general. He said the upcoming election comes at a crucial time as the state faces a crisis in both public trust and quality-of-life rankings in areas such as education.

"I don't want anyone to vote against Jon Echols; I want Oklahoma to vote for me," Coffey said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma AG candidates spar on death penalty, smelter in debate