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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Red-State Revolt Spreads to Oklahoma
Republicans have a vise grip on power in Oklahoma, and they are in no imminent danger of losing it.
In a state that gave 65 percent of its vote to Donald Trump a year ago, the GOP controls pretty much everything: the governorship and every statewide office, both U.S. Senate seats, all five House seats. The state Legislature is almost laughably one-sided; Republicans have super-majorities of more than 70 percent of the seats in each chamber.
But in the last four months, voters have repudiated those Republicans running Oklahoma at the polls. Democrats have captured four state legislative seats held by the GOP, two in special elections for the House and two for the Senate. The most recentand perhaps the most surprisingwin occurred last week, when a 26-year-old lesbian Democrat named Allison Ikley-Freeman edged out the Republican candidate by 31 votes in a conservative state House district near Tulsa that went heavily for Trump in 2016. Democrats may have a chance to make an even bigger statement in a few months, when a vacancy caused by the likely Senate confirmation of Representative Jim Bridenstine to be NASA administrator could trigger a special congressional election in the district that includes Tulsa.
Officials in both parties attribute the Democrats run in part to the partys motivation to fight back in the Trump era, scandals that have forced Republican legislators to resign, and the low-turnout quirkiness of special elections. But the overriding factor is likely a budget crisis that has starved funding for Oklahomas schools, resulting in a teacher shortage and prompting more than one-quarter of the states districts to hold classes only four days a week.
The people are just not happy, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, a Republican, told me in a phone interview. Government appears dysfunctional, and government officials appear unwilling to solve the problems of the state and the nation. And there will be hell to pay.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-red-state-revolt-spreads-to-oklahoma/ar-BBFMoIu?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp
dalton99a
(81,570 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Total one party rule; who's fault might it be that Oklahoma state government is dysfunctional? And if Republicans are in no imminent danger of losing their hegemony, what does that say about the voters of Oklahoma?
Willie Pep
(841 posts)Especially in red states like Oklahoma? I think that the failure to adequately challenge the GOP at the state level and particularly in red states has hurt us big time.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)This does seem like a prime opportunity to make inroads in Oklahoma.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,213 posts)As if Texas is all that great.
leanforward
(1,077 posts)"Dysfunction" is the word that struck me.
Until recently, I was not aware that Oklahoma was in similar straits to Kansas. Don't tax, can't spend. Trickle down will work.
Public education suffers. How do we or what do we have to do to get people to think critically?
nolabels
(13,133 posts)From the article
When you have a bunch of government-haters getting control of the government, its no surprise they dont know how to make things operate effectively, Sparks said.
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)for voters because it's their local public school being affected. It's their alma mater, their kids's school, their band, their football team, often their direct or related employer and for many small towns, the center of their community.
Here in Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett found out cutting money for schools was a bad idea. It made him a 1 term governor.