As an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling looms on whether voters will have the chance to open state primary elections to all, the state Republican Party is working to convince its members that State Question 836 is a bad deal. But political rhetoric differs from the argument in court.
Oklahoma Republican Party Chair Charity Linch was clear with supporters while hyping them up during a GOP meetup in Sapulpa earlier this month.
"We have no choice but to get our act together and quit letting the enemy divide us," she said to a crowd gathered.
It was the same night that about 50 locals came to hear State Superintendent Ryan Walters rehash the state legislative session and rally his base.
"We do not have the luxury of hurt feelings and offense," Linch continued. "That is a luxury we do not have. We are at war. And so I would ask that you remember that, as we move forward and we join forces. We've got 836 coming up."
Her numerical reference to State Question 836, which would force all candidates, regardless of their party, onto one ballot during state-funded primary elections, then open those primaries up to the nearly half a million registered Independents in the state who can't vote in closed-Republican primaries, and Democrats.
Everyone registered to vote would see every candidate running for office, parties listed by their names, on the same primary ballot, and choose who they prefer. The top two vote-getters would move on to the general election.
And while the lawsuit the GOP filed against the state question relates to First Amendment violation claims, Linch relayed the real worry the party has with it to that Sapulpa crowd.
"If we allow Democrats and independents to vote in our elections, they will vote for the guy we don't want on purpose to control who our Republican candidate is," she said. "We cannot allow it. You might as well move to California."
Liberal states aren't the only ones with this type of so-called open primary. Louisiana, Alaska, and Nebraska are all Republican-controlled and have systems similar to that proposed in State Question 836.
Other red states, such as Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, have systems that don't require voters to declare a party affiliation when they register to vote. All candidates appear on one ballot with their affiliation indicated.
Based on the questions the Oklahoma Supreme Court justices asked during oral arguments, it is likely that they will let it go before voters. So, for now, Lynch said, she's making sure people are 'armed with the information' for the war to maintain the party's control to primary out so-called 'liberal Republicans.'
But for registered Independent voters like Tony Stobbe, who served 20 years in the U.S. Coast Guard and moved to Oklahoma two years ago, the GOP's focus on protecting their party's union overshadows the actual issues he has with Oklahoma's election system.
"I have no right to vote in the primary is the way that I would phrase it," Stobbe said.
He's also one of the people petitioning for State Question 836 to appear on the ballot, ideally next year.
"The parties in the current system have the ability to decide whether they will let people who aren't registered in their party to vote," he said after the Supreme Court hearing. "Currently, I could vote in the Democratic Party just based on their kindness…not in the Republican Party."
Democrats in Oklahoma allow Independents to vote in their primaries, but do so solely at their discretion. It helps boost turnout, and if you ask Stobbe, it makes for better representation of Oklahoma's voters.
The stakes if Oklahoma's primary elections open up
Of the 2.4 million registered voters in Oklahoma, 488,756 of them were Independents as of Jan. 21 this year. That leaves nearly 1.3 million Republicans, 658,136 Democrats, and 23,858 Libertarians.
Together, Independents and Democrats would add 1.1 million voters casting ballots for Republicans – or not – in Oklahoma's primaries. That could throw a wrench into the local GOP's ability to maintain the state's Republican supermajority in the legislature.
Last year, a coalition of far-right Republicans primaried out members of the state legislature who were slated for their party's leadership in 2025 and considered too liberal for the state GOP establishment.
Then, during this year's legislative session, Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, announced the launch of the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus, with himself as chair and Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, as vice-chair.Other members include Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, and Sen. Dana Prieto, R-Tulsa.
The total number of members of the Freedom Caucus and their identities, though, are kept secret. Jett has said it's to protect them from retribution during future internal leadership votes.
And if the words of Linch's second in command of the party, Wayne Hill, are any indication, a shake-up in the legislature's Republican leadership is in the works.
"The leadership of both chambers, Paxton and Hilbert – Paxton is the pro tem, Hilbert is the speaker of the House – they control what legislation actually makes it through," Hill said to that same Sapulpa crowd. "Good conservative bills, the majority of the time, don't get heard. And if leadership wants a certain bill passed, they will break their own rules in order to get it passed."
Hill said if a politician has the letter R behind their name, it should mean something.
"And all these people that have Rs behind their name, they're not Republicans. They're not Republicans," he said. "We're going to keep these people accountable, ladies and gentlemen. And guess what? The ones that keep selling us out, we're going to primary them. We're going to do it again, and we're going to do it over and over."
But for that to happen, State Question 836 can't be allowed to go before voters.
