Many state offices are up for grabs
Races for governor, lieutenant governor, school superintendent, state treasurer, corporation commissioner, labor commissioner, state auditor, attorney general and insurance commissioner will be on the November 6 ballot, thanks to term limits in Oklahoma.
The only incumbent is Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony, who is qualified to serve one more six-year term.
Here is information on the statewide races.
Governor
Republican Kevin Stitt founded Gateway Mortgage in 2000 with just $1,000 and a computer. Now, Gateway Mortgage is a nationwide company with 1,200 employees and 164 field offices in 41 states. Gateway has a loan-servicing portfolio of more than $16 billion.
Stitt grew up in Norman. The fourth-generation Oklahoman’s father was pastor of a Bible church in Norman and Kevin Stitt is vocal about his faith in Jesus Christ. He and his family are members of Woodlake Church in Tulsa. Stitt has a degree from Oklahoma State University.
If elected governor, Stitt said he would:
- Reduce Oklahoma’s 400 agencies, boards and commissions;
- Fire underperforming agency leaders;
- Audit all agencies and set goals;
- Budget all state funds; and
- Require a line-item budget and stop giving 80-plus agencies a chunk of money without accountability.
Stitt wants to raise the pay for classroom teachers and expand the use of video technology for AP classes statewide. He wants a temporary program to give classroom teachers who are teaching in the state for the first time a $5,000 bonus.
Stitt wants to recruit new business to Oklahoma and relax onerous licensing requirements. He will protect state farmers from out-of-state animal rights’ groups and protect private property rights.
A father of six children, Stitt believes life begins at conception and opposes abortion. He got a 100 percent score from Oklahomans for Life. Stitt said he would sign every bill that comes before him that restricts abortion.
Stitt supports constitutional gun rights and got an “A” rating from the NRA-PVF. He wants an audit of Medicaid and address problems in the Oklahoma Department of Health. He thinks selling health insurance across state lines would stimulate competition and he has been endorsed by Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak.
Stitt has been endorsed by fellow Republican President Donald Trump and his campaign presents him as a conservative businessman with common sense approach to solving problems.
Democrat Drew Edmondson, 72, is a Navy veteran who was Oklahoma Attorney General for 16 years. He was instrumental in setting up the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, which now contains more than a billion dollars.
Edmondson is the son of former U.S. Rep. Ed Edmondson and the nephew of former Gov. J. Howard Edmondson. All were Democrats.
Drew Edmondson is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church.
Edmondson challenged the late U.S. Rep. Mike Synar in 1992 and lost that race. Edmondson lost to then-Lt. Gov. Jari Askins in the Democrat primary for governor in 2010.
In 2001, as attorney general, Edmondson won a case against former Gov. Frank Keating over the makeup of the governor’s cabinet. Former Gov. Brad Henry appointed Drew Edmondson’s brother, Justice James Edmondson, to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2003.
In 2000, AG Edmondson supported a New Jersey lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America to try to force the Boy Scouts to allow homosexual scout leaders. The Boy Scouts prevailed in that case.
In 2007, Edmondson indicted three people because he claimed they used out-of-state petitioners to get signatures for an initiative petition drive. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that Oklahoma statute in 2008 and in 2009 they rejected Edmondson’s appeal in that case. That petition was the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The three defendants pleaded not guilty and the charges were dropped after the law was ruled unconstitutional. The Wall Street Journal called his prosecution of the three “bizarre” and Steve Forbes asked, “Has North Korea annexed Oklahoma?” Edmondson has been endorsed by fellow Democrat David Boren, the former governor, U.S. senator and president of The University of Oklahoma.
Edmondson says he doesn’t want to raise income taxes but he would raise the gross production tax on energy to 7 percent. He wants to raise the capital gains tax by eliminating exemptions.
Even though the Legislature raised the tax on cigarettes by $1.50 in 2018, Edmondson wants to raise that tax by another 50 cents.
Edmondson wants more money for public education and higher salaries for teachers. He wants publicly funded education for children before kindergarten.
Edmondson wants to expand the Medicaid budget and he wants price controls on prescription drugs.
Edmondson supports “abortion rights for women” and generally would not defend bills to restrict abortion when he was attorney general.
Libertarian Chris Powell is a military veteran who served in the Gulf War. He wants prison reform to limit incarceration. He wants local control of public schools.
Powell wants to combine some state law enforcement agencies to save money. He wants to eliminate most tax credits and subsidies for special interests.
He supports gun rights and reforms in family law and child welfare policy.
Powell supports the full legalization of marijuana.
Lieutenant Governor
Republican Matt Pinnell was the youngest state Republican Party Chairman when he was in that position. In 2013, he became national state party director of the Republican National Committee. A graduate of Oral Roberts University, he and his wife own a small business.
Pinnell wants competitive salaries for classroom teachers and lower class size averages. He will promote tourism and recruit more families to serve as foster parents.
Democrat Anastasia Pittman is a state senator representing District 48. She was first elected in 2014 and could not seek re-election in 2018 due to term limits.
She has a degree from The University of Oklahoma in journalism and a master’s degree in education from Langston University. She has worked as a media assistant, legislative assistant and clerk in the Oklahoma Senate and she taught Spanish and hosted a radio talk show. She said she would “build Oklahoma’s economic future, increase entrepreneurship opportunity and defend Oklahoma’s values.” She supported the legalization of marijuana (with limits).
Independent Ivan Holmes taught English, speech and journalism at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. He got his doctorate from The University of Tulsa and handled publicity at Northeastern State University. He was chairman of the Oklahoma Democrat Party for two years. He has a master’s degree from Oklahoma State University.
State Auditor and Inspector
Libertarian John Yeutter is a licensed CPA who used to be a staff accountant at The Williams Group. He has a doctorate from OU and teaches at NSU. He wants more transparency in government and more accountability for government spending.
Republican Cindy Byrd is the deputy state auditor for local government services. She has an undergraduate degree from East Central University and is a CPA.
Byrd said she eliminated the five-year backlog of county audits in Oklahoma and supervised 304 of the 411 audits in fiscal year 2017.
Attorney General
Republican Attorney General Mike Hunter has degrees from OSU and the OU College of Law. He was in the Oklahoma House for six years. He then was general counsel for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and became chief of staff for former U.S Rep. J.C. Watts. Former Gov. Frank Keating named Hunter Oklahoma Secretary of State and his liaison to the Legislature. Hunter became secretary of Oklahoma’s Commissioners of the Land Office.
In 2015, he was the first assistant attorney general under AG Scott Pruitt. When Pruitt left, Hunter was appointed to replace him.
One of his main issues is combatting the opioid crisis in Oklahoma. He believes in the sanctity of life and protecting unborn babies. Hunter supports the death penalty.
Democrat Mark Myles once worked as a sportswriter for the Lawton Constitution. He has a degree from OSU and a law degree from OU. Myles worked for IBM Corporation for 21 years and currently practices law in Oklahoma City.
He said his priorities would be public safety, public health, tribal sovereignty, transparency, police training, “debtor’s prison” reform and others.
State School Superintendent
Republican Joy Hofmeister has a degree from TCU. She has been endorsed by former Gov. Brad Henry, a liberal Democrat.
She was charged with violating campaign finance laws four years ago but those charges were dropped. Hofmeister encouraged the teacher strike earlier this year and wants higher salaries for teachers and more funding for education.
Democrat John Cox has a doctorate from OSU in special education. He is president-elect of the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators. He has worked in public schools for the past 32 years.
Cox wants more money for public education and higher teacher salaries.
Independent Larry Huff has over 30 years of experience with the Oklahoma State Department of Education as a special education coordinator, state director of gifted and talented, state director of instructional television, accreditation officer and Oklahoma state director of the North Central Accrediting Association. He was an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City University and East Central Oklahoma State University and a professor at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Labor Commissioner
Republican Leslie Osborn, a state representative from Mustang, was dismissed as chairman of the Oklahoma House and Budget Committee by Speaker Charles McCall after Osborn criticized Republicans for budget cuts. She has a degree in business from OSU.
Democrat Fred Dorrell worked for 34 years at the Ford Motor Company Glass Plant in Tulsa and later became a UAW benefits representative. For the last six years, he worked in human relations for Spirit AeroSystems. He is an adjunct professor at Tulsa Community College.
He advocates raising the minimum raise.
Independent Brandt Dismukes lives in Oklahoma City.
Insurance Commissioner
Republican Glen Mulready, a state representative from Tulsa, has 35 years of experience in the insurance industry. He was majority floor leader. He wants to expand insurance options and that insurance regulation should be by states and not the federal government.
Mulready has a lifetime score of 61 (out of 100) by the Oklahoma Conservative Index. He voted for the largest tax increase in state history and he advocated for the liberalization of state laws on liquor.
Democrat Kimberly Fobbs has worked as a business analyst, a marketing director and a business consultant. She worked for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company for 16 years (1990-2006) as a strategic data manager. She served on the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission.
She wants Oklahoma to accept federal health funding and promises to work independently of the insurance companies she would regulate.
Corporation Commissioner
Republican Bob Anthony has won six consecutive terms on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. In 2012, he won all 77 counties. He was first elected to the Commission in 1988 – the first Republican in 60 years. He has college degrees from Harvard and Yale universities and previously was a staff economist for the Interior Committee of the U.S. House.
Democrat Ashely Nicole McCray is an enrolled member of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. She has degrees from UCO and OU. She is a self-described educator and researcher. Her main concerns are environmental and she wants more regulation of the energy industry.
Independent Jackie Short is an attorney in Oklahoma City and she describes herself as an “environmental attorney.” She has an undergraduate degree from UCO and a law degree from OU. In the past, she has been both a Republican and Democrat.
State Treasurer
Republican Randy McDaniel is a state representative representing District 83. He previously was assistant majority floor leader and deputy majority whip. He has a degree in economics from OU and a master’s degree from Cambridge University in England. He formerly was the vice president of investments for City Bank and Trust and he was an officer in the Oklahoma Army National Guard.
Independent Charles De Coune was born in Belgium and moved to the United States. He has a degree from UCO. He later became a financial analyst at MidFirst Bank and then the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (as lending manager). He and his family attend Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help near Oklahoma City.