Tales of the Capitol Swamp: Echols ally, Drummond target Starling

Here's another example of the dirty politics emerging out the State Capitol swamp. A political ally of Attorney General candidate Jon Echols requested an Attorney General's opinion that seems aimed at creating an embarrassing headline for his announced opponent, and the current Attorney General, Governor candidate Gentner Drummond quickly turned the request around, releasing the opinion just before the filing period and the official start of the campaign.

Jon Echols and State Rep. Chris Kannady were both part of Charles McCall's machine during McCall's imperial reign as "Speaker Maximus" of the State House. Echols was McCall's enforcer as Majority Floor Leader, while Kannady, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, led and helped fund the effort to purge principled conservatives from the House in 2018, using an out-of-state PAC to fuel primary challenges. Kannady called the defeated conservatives a "cancer" that had to be removed. Echols hit his term limit in 2022; Kannady is term-limited this year.

Jeff Starling, running for the open Attorney General's seat against Echols, serves as Oklahoma's Secretary of Energy and the Environment and as Oklahoma's representative on the Interstate Oil Compact Commission. He is paid for the latter role as an agency head, but not for the former role as a cabinet member. Here's the version of events from the Starling campaign:

On February 20, 2026 -- six weeks before Jeff Starling's filing deadline -- Echols ally Rep. Chris Kannady fired off a request to Attorney General Gentner Drummond asking, in effect, whether the Secretary of Energy and Environment, the role Starling currently serves, was being paid an illegal salary. AG Opinion 2026-4 dropped on March 31, 2026. Starling filed for AG two days later, on April 2....

Question: Are Echols and Kannady Willfully Dishonest, Or Are They Just Bad
Lawyers?

Pick one. Because the opinion they engineered doesn't do what they think it does.

AG Opinion 2026-4 says cabinet secretaries can't be paid more than the statutory cap
in 74 O.S. § 10.5 -- between $65,000 and $90,000, depending on the position -- for
their service as cabinet secretary. That's it. That's what the opinion holds.

Both Echols and Kannady know that the leaders of state agencies are authorized to
also serve as cabinet secretaries. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has spoken definitely
on this. But Echols and Kannady tried to back door the same issue, to relitigate the
same dispute, hoping no reporter would notice. Neither of them should be allowed to
use the Attorney General's office as a political weapon.

By Executive Order 2023-08, Secretary Starling is responsible for the Interstate Oil
Compact Commission (Oklahoma agency # 307), commonly referred to as Oklahoma's
Department of Energy. Former Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor
independently reviewed relevant case law, statutes and the facts, and lays bare the
false accusation that Starling's employment is somehow improper. "Starling wears two
hats: (1) he is the head of a state agency and (2) he serves as the Secretary of Energy
and Environment, which is entirely proper under Oklahoma law," said former Attorney
General John O'Connor.

Jeff Starling is not paid by the Office of the Governor for his cabinet service. He is
compensated through the agency he leads -- a structure that has existed across
Oklahoma government for decades and that the Oklahoma Supreme Court explicitly
blessed six months ago.

On November 12, 2025, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Stitt v. Drummond
that an agency head may serve concurrently as a cabinet secretary. The Court
reversed the district court and overturned Drummond's 2024 opinion, which had
argued the same dual-office theory Echols' allies are now repackaging in salary form.
Vice Chief Justice Dana Kuehn wrote for the majority. The vote wasn't close.

"Since the 1930s, Oklahoma statutes have permitted the Governor to appoint the
representative of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission (Oklahoma agency # 307),
and for years, the Oklahoma legislature has specifically created and designated a
special fund from the Oklahoma petroleum severance tax to pay for the activities of the
commission, including the salary of its representative," said O'Connor. "Starling's
salary is paid exclusively by that fund, and he receives no compensation by the
Governor's office as a cabinet secretary. This arrangement is entirely proper and has
been a longstanding practice in Oklahoma."

So either Echols and Kannady didn't read the statutes that they helped write or the
Supreme Court's 7-2 rebuke of the AG's office six months ago -- or they read them
and tried to relitigate the same dispute through a different statutory door, hoping to
fool Oklahoma voters long enough to retain power. Neither option recommends them
for higher office. One of them isn't qualified to be Attorney General. Neither of them
should be allowed to use the Attorney General's office a political weapon.

Starling's campaign points out that the average AG opinion takes about 150 days from request to publication. It takes time to research not only the relevant laws but any relevant court precedents that shape the interpretation of the law. From the AG's website: "Generally, public officials are required to act in accordance with an Attorney General opinion unless or until the opinion is set aside by a court." So these opinions carry a great deal of weight and aren't to be issued lightly. AG opinions are logged on OSCN and available there for public review. Drummond issued this opinion rather speedily, in just 39 days, and conveniently right as the campaign for AG began. The Starling campaign says, "This isn't the rule of law. This is a political operation on state letterhead."

Here's the timeline:

• November 12, 2025: Oklahoma Supreme Court rules 7-2 against Drummond that agency heads can serve as cabinet secretaries. Drummond's prior opinion, on which the Echols-Kannady theory leans, was overturned.
• February 20, 2026: Rep. Chris Kannady, a close friend and ally of Echols, requests an AG opinion specifically targeting the salary structure of the Secretary of Energy and Environment. Starling is the only sitting cabinet secretary running against Echols.
• March 31, 2026: The day before filing opens for statewide office, Drummond's office issues AG Opinion 2026-4, applying the §10.5 salary cap to cabinet secretary service. The opinion conflicts with the November 2025 Supreme Court ruling.
• April 2, 2026: Jeff Starling files for Attorney General.

I can't help but notice that both Echols and Drummond are on Team Surrender, pledging not to defend Oklahoma's sovereignty in Federal Court, instead making side-deals with tribal governments that will institutionalize two systems of justice and law. Jeff Starling has my support because, while he'll work cooperatively with tribal governments, he will win court victories that protect the interests of all Oklahomans and the fundamental American principle of Equal Justice Under Law.