Twenty of Oklahoma’s 42 delegates went to the eventual nominee Hillary Clinton during Tuesday’s roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The rest went to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who won Oklahoma’s presidential primary in February.
Delegate Isabel Baker cast the votes for Clinton. The mother of Cherokee Nation principal chief Bill John Baker was born in 1929, just nine years after the 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote.
“I never thought that I would live to see this day,” Baker said.
Lots of Oklahomans got in on the DNC roll call, including Isabel Baker and Cedric Johnson. pic.twitter.com/SnKMezmgf2
— Chris Casteel (@casteelpolitics) July 26, 2016
Watch Tuesday’s Roll Call During The Democratic National Convention. Oklahoma’s Vote Begins At 2:22:57
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzFWdAs5VTc&feature=youtu.be&t=2h22m57s
Oklahoma City attorney and Sanders delegate Mark Henricksen told The Associated Press he has no problem supporting Clinton in November, and that he believes most Sanders supporters feel the same way.
Another Sanders delegate - former Congressional candidate Tom Guild - says he fully intends to support the Democratic nominee. But he says Sanders' endorsement of Clinton both inspired him and broke his heart at the same time.
Delegate Cedric Johnson said he was glued to his television in 2008 when Barack Obama became the first African-American to accept the nomination for the presidency.
“I knew that our world had changed forever, and had changed for the better,” Johnson said. “Tonight, eight years later, we are taking a step forward for equality."
Johnson also recognized several Oklahoma civil rights leaders.
“The late Jake Simmons. Clara Luper, and the recently departed E. Melvin Porter would be equally as proud of tonight," Johnson said.
Porter passed away Tuesday after a lengthy illness. The Okmulgee native was a member of the first class that included African-Americans at Vanderbilt University's law school. He later became the president of the Oklahoma City chapter of the NAACP. In 1964 Porter became Oklahoma's first black state Senator - holding that post for 22 years until his defeat by now-federal judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange, according to The Oklahoman:
He was appointed an Oklahoma County commissioner in January 1993, but resigned in July 1994 amid controversy. Last year, on the 50th anniversary of his first election to office, Porter was honored with a resolution put forth in the Oklahoma Senate. LaTonya Porter, Porter's daughter-in-law, said she was surprised how much her father-in-law had influenced Oklahoma. "It was just incredible being in his presence. He was one of the funniest men I've ever encountered. He had stories that were incredible. He was just so funny, and I don't think people realized it.
Audio from last year's resolution for Sen. Melvin Porter. If you have 13 min, there are some special moments here: https://t.co/vZhFn1KVZs
— Mayor David Holt (@davidfholt) July 26, 2016
Jake Simmons was a prominent African-American oilman during the mid-20th century, and filed one of the first cases challenging segregated schools. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling in Simmons v. Muskogee Board of Education in 1939. His son, Jake Simmons III, served as an undersecretary in the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Kennedy. The elder Simmons passed away in 1981.
Clara Luper staged sit-ins in Oklahoma City during the late 1950s, and also servef as a youth advisor for the NAACP. Luper died in 2011.
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