Gov.-elect Kevin Stitt is ready to get Oklahoma moving.

He takes office on January 14.

“Since the day I launched my campaign back in July of 2017, I’ve promised voters that with their support, and their vote, we’d get Oklahoma’s turnaround started right here, right now,” Stitt wrote in a message to supporters after the election. “The people have spoken, and it’s time to get to work on that turnaround.”

Even though Stitt got 64 percent of the vote statewide (643,987 total), he only got 50 percent of the votes (101,370) in Tulsa County – his home county. Democrat Drew Edmondson got 47 percent (95,188) in a county that has more registered Republicans than Democrats.

“Voters connected with (Stitt’s) bold, new vision for Oklahoma,” said Senate President Pro Tem-designate Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City. “There will be a lot of common ground and shared goals between Governor-elect Stitt and the Oklahoma Senate Republicans.”

Edmondson, who lost to Stitt, tried to pry votes away from Stitt by associating Stitt with Gov. Mary Fallin.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he will have a very smooth transition,” Fallin said. “My office is well prepared to help make him successful. The governor-elect’s office at the state Capitol is equipped with computers and telephones to begin the orderly transition of power.”

Fallin said that when she took office eight years ago, Oklahoma’s unemployment rate was 6.2 percent, and the state had $2.03 in its savings account. Today, the unemployment rate is 3.5 percent and Oklahoma has nearly $500 million in its Rainy Day Fund.

• More than 56 percent of the registered voters in Oklahoma voted on November 6. There were 1,185, 185 votes cast in the gubernatorial race.

• U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Oklahoma, replaces former U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Oklahoma.

“It has been so humbling to meet the great citizens across the 1st district,” said Hern. “To listen and to learn what makes the First District so special, a place where the United States Constitution still matters. People in our district strongly believe that free market principles and limiting government regulations are still the foundation of this great nation.”

• A group called “Yes on 793,” were predictably disappointed when that proposed constitutional amendment failed.

State Question 793 would have allowed retail giants like Wal-Mart to open optometry clinics. Eye doctors and other medical professionals united against the proposal, pointing to language that would give non-medical corporations almost total control over doctors, threatening quality-of-care and patient safety.

Dr. Jason Ellen, a Tulsa-based eye doctor and the president of the Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physicians (OAOP), said that Oklahomans weren’t fooled by the argument that SQ 793 would lead to lower prices.

“You can get eyeglasses online for less than $10, so we know this campaign had nothing to do with price,” said Ellen. “It had everything to do with corporate control. You cannot elevate profits above patient health and practice good medicine. Voters understood that and decided that lowering the standard of care in medicine could directly harm their health and the health of their loved ones.”

OAOP’s Executive Director Joel Robison said the organization’s membership deserved a lot of credit for the win.

“There is no way for Oklahoma eye doctors to compete with Wal-Mart money,” said Robison.

• State Question 801, which would have allowed school district to use property taxes for teacher salaries, failed.

“SQ 801 would have caused an even greater financial gap between wealthy and poor school districts, and it would have shifted the responsibility of funding teacher salaries to local school boards instead of keeping it where it belongs — the responsibility of the Oklahoma Legislature,” said Alicia Priest, president of the Oklahoma Education Association (teacher union).

The OEA led the teacher strike earlier this year after the Legislature had approved a teacher pay raise.

• The OEA (teacher union) worked for the re-election of State School Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, one of the few Republicans who supported the teacher strike.

“We support the re-election of State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister,” said Alicia Priest, president of the OEA. “ She has made positive progress for Oklahoma students, and we are impressed by her FY 2020 budget priorities of decreasing class sizes and increasing the number school counselors.”

• State Question 794, also known as “Marsy’s Law,” passed with over 75 percent of Oklahomans voting yes. It creates a new, constitutionally protected set of rights for victims of crime.

Marsy’s Law for Oklahoma Executive Director Kim Moyer said SQ 794’s passage was the result of over a year of “grassroots mobilization.”

“The effort to pass Marsy’s Law has always been driven by people whose lives have been profoundly impacted by crime,” said Moyer. “They know firsthand how the criminal justice system can make people feel powerless, voiceless and lost.”

Brian Hermanson, a Republican district attorney representing Kay and Noble counties, said he was a proud supporter of SQ 794.

SQ 794 places a new, specific set of distinct rights for crime victims in the Oklahoma Constitution. Some of these basic, commonsense rights include:

  • The right to have standing in court
  • The right to present at all proceedings involving the case
  • The right to reasonable and timely notice of proceedings
  • The right to be heard in any proceeding during which a right of the victim is implicated including release, plea, sentencing, disposition, parole, revocation, expungement or pardon
  • The right to timely notice of any release, escape or death of the accused, if the accused is in custody or on supervision at the time of death
  • The right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay
  • The right to timely information about the outcome of the case 

Marsy’s Law is named for Marsy Nicholas, a California college student who was murdered in 1983 by her ex-boyfriend. A few days after her death, her mother and brother walked into a grocery store where they were confronted by Marsy’s accused murderer. Marsy’s family had not been notified that he had been released on bail.

• Has the “education caucus” replaced the GOP “platform caucus”?

Unofficially, the education caucus has risen from nine elected lawmakers to 25 after November 6.

Caucus members have ties to public education, usually as classroom teachers or administrators. Sixteen new members were elected during the general election and six more during the primary and runoff elections.

Out-of-state political action committees and education groups targeted members of the GOP platform caucus in the House and managed to defeat several in the Tulsa area.

Education Caucus Candidates Elected Nov. 6

Republicans

  • David Bullard, Senate District 6
  • Brenda Stanley, Senate District 42
  • Lundy Kiger, House District 3
  • Randy Randleman, House District 15
  • Sherrie Conley, House District 20
  • Ronny Johns, House District 25
  • Ty Burns, House District 35
  • Toni Hasenbeck, House District 65
  • Dean Davis, House District 98

Democrats

  • Mary Boren, Senate District 16
  • Carri Hicks, Senate District 40
  • Trish Ranson, House District 34
  • Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, House District 46
  • John Waldron, House District 77
  • Melissa Provenzano, House District 79
  • Kelly Albright, House District 95

Education Caucus Candidates Elected Before November

Republicans

  • Danny Sterling, House District 27
  • John Thomas Talley, House District 33
  • Rep. Rhonda Baker, House District 60
  • Mark Vancuren, House District 74

Democrats

  • Sen. JJ Dossett, Senate District 34
  • Rep. Mickey Dollens, House District 93

Education Caucus Lawmakers Not Up for Election in 2018

Republicans

  • Sen. Michael Bergstrom, Senate District 1
  • Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, Senate District 9
  • Sen. Ron Sharp, Senate District 17
  • Two former members of the Education Caucus, Rep. Karen Gaddis, D-Tulsa; and Rep. Donnie Condit, D-McAlester, lost their bids for re-election.
  • For the first time in state history, a legislative caucus has more women than men.

After the November 6 election, there are more women in the Democrat Senate Caucus than men. Two women were elected and now that caucus as five women and four men. Previously, it was five men and three women.

Democrat Carri Hicks was elected in District 40 (previously held by Sen. Ervin Yen, R-Oklahoma City).

Despite the election, Hicks said women are underrepresented in the Oklahoma Senate.