Consultant for Senate raises Dems' ire

Barbara Hoberock
April 21, 2010

Correction

This story originally incorrectly reported who controls each chamber of the Oklahoma Legislature. The story has been corrected.

OKLAHOMA CITY Senate Democrats want a political consultant off the state payroll.

Karl Ahlgren had been paid $5,000 a month by the state Senate for work on redistricting. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, reduced the contract by 10 percent this year in response to declining state revenue.

Ahlgren is co-owner and general partner of AH Strategies, a political relations firm with offices in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, according to the firm's Web site. His firm's client list includes more than 40 current members of the Oklahoma Legislature, according to the Web site.

"This absolutely reeks of good-ole-boy politics, but what's worse, it certainly appears to be a huge conflict of interest," Sen. Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee, said Tuesday.

Ahlgren is being paid by the state Senate on a contract basis "to help the very senators who also pay him to secure their re-election to the state Senate," said Laster, Senate minority leader.

Republicans control both houses of the Legislature.

Laster called on Coffee to end the contract and seek reimbursement for the more than $40,000 in state funds paid to Ahlgren.

"If Mr. Ahlgren is being paid on a contract basis for work related to redistricting, it's completely unnecessary," Laster said.

"When Democrats were in charge of the redistricting process, we utilized current Senate staff and were never so brazen to pay our campaign consultants thousands of dollars a month to make our districts safer for re-election."

Coffee said he would not end the contract and doesn't believe there is a conflict of interest.

"He has a lot of knowledge and expertise about the districts and how they are designed," Coffee said. "He has gone to several conferences to get a better understanding of the current law and the process and has a lot of knowledge on the issue."

Coffee said he doesn't think Ahlgren's monthly pay is excessive. Ahlgren has worked in the statehouse for three years in various capacities, he said.

Democrats had not raised the issue before, Coffee said. "I find the timing of it curious," he said.

A Senate Democratic campaign staffer also serves on Senate staff, Coffee said, referring to Amber England, the Senate Democratic communications director.

"We have never raised an issue about that to my knowledge," Coffee said. "She has never done any activity that has crossed the line, and I have certainly seen no evidence that is the case with Karl, either."

Laster said England takes a leave of absence when she works campaigns.

Ahlgren did not return phone calls seeking comment.