While the Oklahoma Legislature was charging toward an early adjournment four floors above them, the Ethics Commission reached a settlement Thursday with the Oklahoma House Democratic Party Campaign Committee and its former chairman for campaign finance violations.
Ethics Commission executive director Lee Anne Bruce Boone said in a statement that the settlement with the House Democratic PAC acknowledges lapses in recordkeeping, expenditure practices, contribution reporting and required financial documentation, constituting violations of Ethics Rule 2, which governs campaign finances. The allegations center around the former chairman and treasurer of the PAC, Joe Hartman, who must pay $32,500 in fines, while the PAC itself will pay $5,000.
“Those requirements are not technicalities — they exist so the public can have confidence in the integrity and transparency of the electoral process,” Bruce Boone said.
Hartman, whose LinkedIn lists him as the executive director of the Oklahoma House Democratic Party Campaign Committee from 2023 to 2025, must pay through “21st Century Majority Project, LLC,” according to the statement. The LLC is listed as inactive on the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s business registry. Hartman is now listed as the campaign treasurer for House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson’s gubernatorial campaign.
Hartman and the PAC committed the violations during the 2024 election cycle, the Ethics Commission’s findings said.
The settlement agreement (embedded below) gives more insight into the relationship between Hartman, the LLC and the PAC. The PAC reported some of its payments to the LLC, when in reality, they were paid directly to Hartman in violation of Ethics Rule 2.95, and the PAC accepted free office space from the LLC through Hartman in excess of what is allowed by Ethics Rule 2.33. Hartman also received payments from the PAC for “general counseling services” in violation of Rule 2.105, and the payments were made without proper invoicing in violation of Rule 2.83.
The statement outlined the PAC’s violations in four main points:
- “Improper expenditure methods utilizing internet transfers rather than authorized payment methods;
- Reporting inaccuracies regarding payments and consulting services;
- Failure to maintain complete and accurate committee records as required by Ethics Rules; and
- Deficient invoicing and documentation practices.”
The Ethics Commission found reasonable cause to believe the PAC had committed ethics violations in December 2024 and issued a formal notice of allegations to the PAC this March. The settlement agreement shows Hartman signed it April 22, and he pledged not to make similar mistakes in the future in a statement issued Thursday afternoon.
“As a former chair of the OKHDCC PAC, I cooperated with the investigation, which found administrative errors in records and filings. All money, donations, and expenditures are accounted for and I appreciate the Ethics Commission and their professionalism during the process,” he said. “I have always valued transparency and accountability during my career in campaigns and am glad we were able to reach this amicable, administrative settlement that closes the matter. I have taken steps to ensure these errors do not happen in future filings and that we are above board in all matters with the Ethics Commission.”
As business partners and spouses, Hartman and Cassi Peters have operated one of the state’s most prominent Democratic consultant businesses for years. Peters and Hartman founded Skyfire Media in 2013 as “a full service consulting company for anyone wanting to run a campaign.” Skyfire has represented several of the Oklahoma Legislature’s high-profile Democrats, including Munson (D-OKC), Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt (D-OKC) and Sen. Carri Hicks (D-OKC).
But Hartman and Peters are named as the defendants in a civil relief case brought by the Oklahoma Tax Commission in November 2025, both as individuals and as officers of Skyfire Media. A tax warrant issued Nov. 12 stated the pair were $32,061.48 in debt to the OTC for unpaid taxes in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019. In his statement, Hartman also acknowledged that he and Peters were attempting to get caught up on their taxes.
“I owned a small business for 10 years with my wife. Like a lot of small business owners who don’t come from wealth or privilege, there were hard times,” he said. “We are still paying off taxes from that small business and are doing it responsibly and with the help of our attorney. My personal financial situation has no bearing on the settlement with the Ethics Commission.”
On Thursday evening, Munson offered a short statement on Hartman’s settlement.
“I’m aware of the investigation by the Ethics Commission into a PAC formerly chaired by one of my campaign staff,” she said. “We value transparency and integrity in this campaign and (I) am glad he was able to reach this administrative settlement transparently and ethically. I defer to the settlement and Joe Hartman for any other questions or details you might have.”
This is the fourth time in five years that a PAC heavily involved in legislative elections has been hit with fines worth tens of thousands of dollars. In 2022, the Republican Senatorial Committee faced a $62,000 fine and order to dissolve after accepting at least $35,000 in improper contributions. Then, in 2023, the Ohio-based Conservative Alliance PAC settled with the commission for $45,000 after failing to file reports and include appropriate disclosures.
That same year, four affiliated Democratic House PACs were ordered to dissolve and pay a collective $11,800. While the PACs collected money for Democratic House candidates, the commission found some of the funds ended up with the House Democratic Caucus, where money was spent on staff and other expenses.
Read the Ethics Commission’s settlement
