AI linked super PAC is spending almost $1 million to support Kevin Hern in Oklahoma’s U.S. Senate race, placing one of the state’s most important Republican primaries inside a much larger national fight over artificial intelligence.
According to the AI Campaign Finance Tracker, Oklahoma has seen $808,341 in AI linked outside spending in the 2026 U.S. Senate race, with the full amount listed in support of Hern. The spending is attributed to Defending Our Values PAC, a Republican focused super PAC listed by the tracker as part of the Public First network.
Defending Our Values PAC is part of a broader AI focused political operation connected to the Public First network, which has become active in races where artificial intelligence policy is at stake. Public First Action, the AI policy organization connected to that network, received a $20 million contribution from Anthropic, one of the most powerful artificial intelligence companies in the country and the company behind Claude.
The AI industry is trying to shape Congress before Congress even gets a chance to shape AI. Tech companies and investors want faster development, fewer restrictions and federal laws that could limit the power of states to pass their own AI protections. And they are putting money behind candidates they believe will help deliver it.
Why is an AI linked super PAC network spending nearly $1 million to support Kevin Hern’s campaign for the U.S. Senate? What does this industry see in Oklahoma’s Senate race? And what kind of AI policy would these groups expect from the candidates they help elect?
If elected to the U.S. Senate, Hern would have a vote on federal AI policy, data center regulation, privacy law and whether states should be limited in their ability to regulate the technology industry.
Oklahomans deserve to know who is spending money in their elections, what industry is behind that money and what those groups expect from the candidates they support. Nearly $1 million in outside spending is not just background noise in a Senate race. It is a signal that AI interests see value in helping Kevin Hern reach the U.S. Senate.
Data centers have found in Oklahoma the perfect place for cheap energy, cheap land and people uneducated enough to welcome them. If it was bad with Mullin in Senate, Hern will only be worse. Is this really the future you want for Oklahoma?
