New revelations threaten to sink grassroots effort among party faithful

According to a copy of the Oklahoma Republican Victory 2006 budget obtained exclusively by the Oklahoma Political News Service, Victory Director Marsha Funk earns $5,625 per month ($67,500 per year), nearly twice the $3,161 per month ($37,932) Funk earned as manager of the failed Bode for Congress campaign earlier this year, Federal Election Commission records show. Additionally, Funk is afforded a $500 personal expense account and an additional $1,000 in staff expenses, according to the budget.

“Victory” is a biennial program of the Oklahoma Republican Party designed to turn out the Republican base on Election Day and help finance Republican candidates around the state.

In addition to questions over her salary, new evidence shows that Funk and party chairman Tom Daxon may be overstating Funk’s qualifications. Daxon introduces Funk as a former “senior manager” from IBM. According to a catalog of IBM personnel, she in fact served as one of over a dozen regional middle-managers in an IBM web sales division. Furthermore, according to a 2004 FEC contribution disclosure report, Funk herself didn’t list her IBM position as management, instead saying she worked in “Marketing.”

Prior to her appointment as Victory director, rumors of the impending announcement caused a firestorm among Republican activists and party faithful, who questioned the qualifications of Funk, a sorority sister of Denise Bode.

Funk’s appointment to lead the state GOP’s Victory efforts did nothing to quell any concerns from party leaders. With Election Day looming less than 25 days away, most say they are skeptical the ambitious timetable and expensive budget will yield any real results.

Oklahoma Political News Service could not find a single Republican candidate who said they have been beneficiaries of the program. In fact, many candidates indicated they are not relying on the program at all, and have had no contact from Funk as to how her efforts specifically aid their campaigns. Some even said they had been told outright they would not be helped. All agreed that if a detailed Victory plan existed, it had not been made available to them. This isn’t the first time activists and candidates have stepped forward to voice their concerns. The Oklahoma Political News Service has documented the ongoing Victory program challenges (see “EXCLUSIVE: House, Senate GOP Dumps Daxon Over Victory ‘06” and “Victory 2006 Chair Takes Vacation 45 Days Before Election").

The Oklahoma Political News Service will continue to track this story through Election Day and beyond.