Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the Oklahoma Primary Election. If you haven't voted yet either by absentee or early in-person, you have from 7:00am to 7:00pm to cast your ballots. If you don't know where to vote, or want to see your sample ballot, use this helpful link from the Oklahoma State Election Board to find out.
Below are my thoughts on various races, as well as some links to additional resources about the primary candidates that you may find helpful.
I've had a crazy month, and was not able to blog as much as I'd hoped about this primary, but better late than never. There is only one statewide race on the GOP ballot (Corporation Commissioner), and really just one congressional primary of any significance, but there are a number of state legislative races that will be interesting to watch. The following are my picks (bold are ones I'm more confident/enthusiastic about):
Corporation Commissioner: Russell Ray. He's endorsed by outgoing commissioner Bob Anthony, who has long been a faithful (and often lone) advocate for taxpayers on the Corporation Commission; if Anthony supports him, that's good enough for me. Michael Bates has a good endorsement piece here.
U.S. House, District 1: Kevin Hern.
U.S. House, District 4: Good luck. I am no fan of pork-spender moderate incumbent Tom Cole, but his main opponent (Paul Bondar) is a multimillionaire businessman who lives in Texas. Is a carpetbagger who is leasing a house in Oklahoma and registered to vote the day before filing to run really the best option? Ugh. Honestly, I'd throw a protest vote to one of the other candidates.
State House, District 2: Incumbent Jim Olsen. He's one of the conservative stalwarts in the House.
State House, District 13: Incumbent Neil Hays. His challenger, Jarod Mendenhall, flunked the NRA and Oklahomans for Life surveys... which is hard to do. His NRA answers indicated anti-gun positions (he opposes constitutional carry and supports "gun-free zones"), and his OFL survey had him opposing protections against euthanasia. Yikes. I've seen some stuff from him that sounds good, but... it's hard to reconcile with these other bad positions.
State House, District 15: Tim Turner. Folks I know in this area feel good about him.
State House, District 23: Derrick Hildebrant. Open seat; he will make a great conservative representative.
State House, District 38: Marven Goodman. Running against a moderate incumbent.
State House, District 41: Incumbent Denise Crosswhite-Hader. Solid conservative.
State House, District 43: Incumbent Jay Steagall. Another solid conservative.
State House, District 79: Paul Hassink.
State House, District 79: Steve Herburger. Running against a moderate incumbent.
State House, District 91: Bruce Fleming. Running against a moderate incumbent; Kannaday infamously targeted solid conservative legislators for defeat in 2018, literally anyone would be better.
State House, District 98: Gabe Woolley; absolutely not incumbent Dean "The Drunk" Davis.
State House, District 101: Jonathan Hewitt. Running against a moderate incumbent.
State Senate, District 3: Julie McIntosh. Patrick Sampson is a good second choice over moderate incumbent Blake Stephens.
State Senate, District 13: Jonathan Wingard. Incumbent Greg McCortney needs to go (he's helped kill bills to abolish abortion).
State Senate, District 17: incumbent Shane Jett. One of the most conservative senators right now.
State Senate, District 25: Brian Guthrie. He's running against a moderate House member in an open seat.
State Senate, District 29: Wendi Stearman. She was a strong conservative in the House, and is running against incumbent senator Julie Daniels, who authored "pro-life" bills that would bring abortion back in greater numbers in Oklahoma. See this article, and Rep. Olsen's op-eds against her bill here and here.
State Senate, District 43: Kendal Sacchieri. Running against a moderate incumbent.
Other resources:
- Michael Bates' picks at BatesLine.com (highly recommend!)
- iVoterGuide (I'm really impressed with this voter guide, for what it's worth)
- Tulsa Beacon endorsements
- Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association (OK2A) endorsements: House, Senate, other races
- Oklahomans for Health & Parental Rights endorsements
- Oklahomans for Life candidate surveys
- National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsements
- Americans for Prosperity-Oklahoma endorsements
Election results will be available on the State Election Board website after the polls close at 7pm on election night.
Don't forget to vote, and vote right!
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