The November 5th ballot will be a large one with many candidates, judges and questions to be answered by voters in Tulsa County. There are federal, state, county and local candidates.
The presidential election will determine the trajectory of our nation for the next four years. There have been many unexpected twists and turns with President Joe Biden removing himself from the ticket and the assassination attempts on former Pres. Donald Trump.
There are actually 5 groups of President/Vice President candidates on the Oklahoma ballot. There is Trump/J.D. Vance (R), Kamala Harris/Tim Walz (D), Chase Oliver/Mike Ter Maat (Lib.), Chris Garrity/Cody Ballard (Ind.) and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr./Nicole Shanahan (Ind.) despite having dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump/Vance.
The two most prominent candidates are Trump and Harris. The two could not be more different. Trump was elected to only one office that of president. The Harris platform is promising many things including a tax cut or no tax hike for Americans making under $400,000 a year. Yet somehow she will also implement many new programs that will require funding such as money to help with down payments on homes, up to $25,000.00, double lending to minority entrepreneurs, bring down healthcare costs and make the cost of living lower. She projects herself as a moderate, but in her time in congress as a senator she was one of the most liberal senators.
Trump was president for four years and promises to make America great again. He says he will seal the border, end the rampant inflation that has endured under the Biden/Harris administration, defend the Constitution and our freedoms, fight for social security and medicare, keep men out of women’s sports and make America the dominant energy producer.
The District 1 congressional seat for Oklahoma will be on the ballot as well. Incumbent Republican Kevin Hern will face Democrat Dennis Baker and Independent Mark David Garcia Sanders.
Baker wants to support the Women’s Health Protection Act that will codify Roe v. Wade at a federal level. He also supports the McGirt v. Oklahoma Supreme Court decision.
Rep. Hern wants to secure the border, protect out Constitutional rights of free speech, freedom of religion, and 2nd Amendment rights, protect life, and have a balanced budget.
Sanders as an Independent wants to commit to advancing creative solutions to real problems – not engaging in unproductive partisan bickering. His platform is a mix of conservative and liberal values.
The only state office up for grabs this election cycle is that of Corporation Commission. It is an open seat with Republican J. Brian Bingman, Democrat Harold D Spradling and Libertarian Chad Williams.
Bingman earned a degree in petroleum land management from from the University of Oklahoma and worked as a vic-president of land and operations at Uplands Resources Inc. He was president pro tempore of the Senate from 2011 to 2015.
Spradling earned a B.S. in law enforcement and also obtained a masters in education. His career experience includes working as a psychiatric social worker and a school counselor. Spradling is an ordained minister and served as the director of a residential treatment program for 14 years until his retirement.
Williams was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2002 to 2006. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2010. His career experience includes working as a business owner.
There are two state questions to amend the Oklahoma Constitution. See an analysis of the state questions on Page 3.
There will be a retention vote for state judges on the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Court of Civil Appeals. There is no race between judges, just a vote on whether to retain each individual judge.
The OCPA put out a rating on each of the Supreme Court justices this year. The rating system ranks them not on their political views, but on how they have decided on their cases – whether they are Constitutional conservatives. One hundred percent under this system being the most Constitutionally conservative. There are three Supreme Court judges up for retention.
Justice James E. Edmondson has been on the court since 2003 and has a Conservative index of 21 percent. He was appointed by Gov. Brad Henry.
Justice Noma Gurich has been on the court since 2011, being appointed by Gov. Henry as well. She has a conservative index of 18 percent.
Justice Yvonne Kauger has been on the Supreme Court since 1984 and has a conservative index of 18 percent as well. She was appointed by Gov. George Nigh.
The Court of Criminal Appeals also has 3 retention votes this election cycle. We do not have an index rating for them, but can report some basic information.
William J. Musseman was appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2022. He grew up in Tulsa and graduated from Union High School. He was a judge for the 14th Judicial District here in Tulsa before being appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Scott Rowland was appointed by Gov. Mary Fallin. He grew up in Wynnewood and majored in journalism/political science at OU before going to law school at OCU. He has served as a district attorney, a general counsel for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, an adjunct professor and an author.
David B. Lewis is from Ardmore and earned his bachelor’s and law degree from OU. He has been a prosecutor and a special and a district judge. He was appointed by Gov. Henry.
The Court of Civil Appeals retention vote will be covered next week.