Oklahomans go the polls on Tuesday for a statewide primary. All of Oklahoma’s U.S. Congressmen face challengers from within their own party, and it’s the first test for many of the educators running for state House and Senate seats.
The Journal Record’s Dale Denwalt and eCapitol’s Shawn Ashley joined KGOU’s Jacob McCleland in the Oklahoma Senate press gallery to talk about the upcoming primary.
U.S. House primaries
All five members of Oklahoma’s House delegation face a primary opponent on Tuesday.
U.S. Rep. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, will face Frank Volpe in Oklahoma 5th Congressional District. Both men are retired from the military, and Volpe voted for Russell two years ago. Denwalt said the challenger is criticizing Russell for his vote on the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill last December.
“There were some things in that bill that people on the far right really hate,” Denwalt said. “You had Planned Parenthood in there, you had funding for the Affordable Care Act in there.”
Denwalt said Volpe is running to the right of Russell, and said fiscal conservatives were upset about the level of spending in the omnibus bill.
“You see a lot of anger and frustration from people who voted for who they thought was a conservative and then ended up voting when they got to Congress to support this bill,” Denwalt said.
In the 2nd Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Westville, faces combat veteran Jarrin Jackson. Endorsements from Republican party elders provide a twist in this race. Retired U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn has endorsed Jackson, while sitting U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford both support Mullin.
“One of the things we know about Tom Coburn is he was a fiscal hawk whereas Jim Inhofe is a defense hawk. He likes to spend a lot and bring the bacon home, so to speak. Tom Coburn was famously against that. You’ll have the more libertarian-leaning types who will look at the Coburn endorsement and say, ‘You know, maybe this is my guy,’” Denwalt said.
Coburn, who had endorsed Mullin in the past, endorsed Jackson after Mullin did not say whether or not he would stand by his pledge to only run for three terms in office. This election would kick off Mullin’s third term.
Mullin recently introduced an amendment to the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000 that would expand its scope to include mixed martial arts. ESPN reports the Ali Act requires promoters to disclose the amount of compensation the promoter could receive from a fight to the boxer. Currently, MMA fighters do not receive this information and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, only discloses to fighters who, under their contracts, receive a certain percentage of revenue from pay-per-view broadcasts. Mullin is a former MMA fighter.
Shawn Ashley said the proposed amendment could hurt Mullin.
“People see that, as someone like Tom Coburn might say, as federal overreach,” Ashley said. “You’re now nationalizing the regulation of a sporting activity, and I think that could be working against him.”
Teachers put pressure on incumbents
Sixty-three current or former teachers, administrators and superintendents are running for state House and Senate seats.
Ashley said educators were once a strong force in the Oklahoma legislature, but their power has waned over the years.
Educators held rallies at the state capitol in 2014 and 2015, and thousands of teachers and their supporters showed up, asking for more education funding and a teacher pay raise. Ashley said educators realized they can’t force change from the outside, so they are trying to become a force from inside the legislature.
“I think there is some discontent among the general public over the way education has been handled in the state, particularly on the funding side,” Ashley said. “With that in mind, teachers have not received a pay raise in about eight years, and I think that is going to weigh heavily on some voters’ minds. And if they see someone, a teacher in particular who is making that jump, they’re very likely to vote for them and we may see more of them in the legislature next year.”
Lloyd Snow, from Sand Springs, is among the educators running for office. The long-time superintendent, principal and teacher is running in Senate District 37 against two other Democrats, Cory Gage and Andrew Nutter. The seat is currently held by Dan Newberry, R-Tulsa, who faces two Republican challengers, Brian Jackson and Paula Patterson. An independent candidate, Shawn Ketcher, is also running for the seat.
“He [Snow] has been extraordinarily vocal for teachers and schools,” Denwalt said.
Jackson, a Sand Springs city councilman and development manager for Junior Achievement of Eastern Oklahoma, was denied access to the Republican party’s data centerbecause he has said he would support Snow in a general election over the incumbent Newberry.
Senate District 15 in Norman features incumbent Republican state Sen. Rob Standridge, who faces challenger Edward Maguire. The winner of the primary will face Oklahoma Teacher of the Year Shawn Sheehan, who is running as an independent.
“He [Sheehan] will probably be a formidable opponent for whichever one comes out of that Republican primary,” Ashley said.
Sheehan will face some positive and negatives as an independent candidate. On the one hand, Ashley said he will garner more attention than he would as a Democrat. On the other hand, he won’t be able to access party resources. However, Ashley thinks Sheehan might be able to draw from Republicans and Democrats to finance his campaign.
Denwalt said traditional thinking might lead one to believe the surge in educator candidates would be an advantage for Democrats because it is a sort of anti-status quo insurgency. But he believes both parties will benefit.
“A lot of these teachers are Republicans, too. You have a nice mix of Democratic and Republican, and I think that’s one reason why you see quite a few serious primary races going on [Tuesday],” Denwalt said.
Incumbents at risk
A handful of incumbents could see themselves ousted from office during the primary. Denwalt said state Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City, who faces a pair of GOP challengers, has received criticism from law enforcement over his proposals to change civil asset forfeiture laws.
Houston Wells and Mike Mason both square off against Loveless in the primary. Mason is a teacher at Mustang Public Schools.
“If his opponent … is making hay about that, and if his constituents side with the police on this issue, then he could be in trouble,” Denwalt said.
Ashley said he will closely watch the re-election campaigns of Sens. Nathan Dahm and Dan Newberry.
“One thing that interested me about both those races, is that they face multiple primary opponents,” Ashley said. “Primary elections are always squirrely and interesting to watch. And when you have a number of opponents facing an incumbent, it can get even more interesting.”
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