Prieto aims to flip SD34 back to the GOP

Back in 2016, Republicans lost State Senate District 34 in the aftermath of scandal (the GOP incumbent went to federal prison after embezzling nearly two million dollars from his employer). Democrat J.J. Dossett was a perfect-storm candidate, taking advantage of a weak GOP candidate and the Brinkley scandal to flip the seat from red to blue. The GOP inexcusably failed to field a candidate in 2018, so this is the first time Dossett has faced a challenge since the initial special election.

Dana Prieto is the Republican nominee in SD34, hoping to return the district to the red column. To help introduce him to voters, I asked him the following brief survey, which he was gracious enough to complete.

Jamison Faught: What will you bring from your background and experience that can help you to effectively serve if elected as state senator?

Dana Prieto: "I am NOT a politician. I am a businessman. Ree Drummond raised tax REVENUE in the town of Pawhuska by 25% single handedly ONE business woman with one idea. We surely have business people with more ideas in Oklahoma! The answer is business NOT taxes."

JF: What are the top three or four issues that you see facing Oklahoma, and what would you like to do about them as state senator?

DP: "Parent's Choice. The School System needs revamping Florida has 79 school districts; Oklahoma has 509, each of those school districts has admin costs. Florida has 2,692,162 students enrolled; Oklahoma has 698,696 students. We have 2 million less students than Florida yet we have over 6 times the admin costs!"

JF: You're running against an incumbent Democrat. What are some of the most egregious votes or positions that Sen. Dossett has taken?

DP: "JJ voted against constitutional carry, he voted against HB 1775 to stop CRT and LGBTQ agenda being taught in Oklahoma schools. He has 37 pages of bad votes listed at CPAC. My favorite is he proposed a bill to stop Oklahomans from voting straight party (he did that because if Republicans vote straight party he loses! fortunately it failed)."

JF: What is your position on the idea of lowering the threshold required for legislative approval of tax increases? (Currently, tax increases require a 3/4ths vote of both chambers; in recent years, some legislators have advocated lowering it to 2/3rds or 3/5ths.) 

DP: "I am not in favor of that! We need more business and less taxes."

JF: Where can voters go to learn more about you and your candidacy?

DP: oksenate34.com

You can find a PDF map of SD34 here, confirm your voter registration/district and view a sample ballot here at the State Election Board's OK Voter Portal. You can view a Google Maps overlay of the district with comparison to the old boundary here from Ballotpedia.