Money and politics go hand in hand, and whether leaders notice it or not, their political beliefs shape economic decisions. After 100 years of left-leaning ideas dragging Oklahoma’s schools and economy into the bottom five in the country, Oklahomans decided it was time to change course.
This course correction began in 2008 when conservative Republicans gained control of the Oklahoma House and Senate. That control extended to the governor’s office in 2010, and GOP control in the Legislature has only grown as conservative state leaders have delivered on major changes and conservative promises. As we like to say, “Republicans fix things!”
Lawsuit reform removed us from ranking as one of the top tort liability states. Workers’ compensation reform lowered premium costs for small businesses by over 30%. The state pension systems were nearly bankrupt and are now at or near fully funded status. Our state bridges are now ranked in the Top Ten. Since taxes have been reduced, and data-driven tax incentives have launched more high-paying jobs, Oklahoma has become a top state for legal migration as Americans flee tax-heavy and over-regulated states like California and Illinois.
Yet, even with all of this Republican-driven improvement, a cabal of nefarious leaders and radical leftists want to take Oklahoma away from conservative principles just when we have a chance to usher in a golden age of growth and prosperity by turning political power over to the minority of voters who don’t belong to the Democrat or Republican party.
This group has launched an initiative to put a California-style open primary system on the ballot in 2026. Since they can’t win at the ballot box during primary season, they want to open primaries so everyone can vote regardless of party affiliation. I doubt that the 1,190,626 registered Republicans, which make up 51.7% of voters in the state, will support independents and Democrats being lumped into open primaries with them. At least, I hope not.
The open primary advocates are claiming that their goal is to increase voter turnout, but what they want is to give more control to non-party independent voters, who only make up about 19% of registered voters. Discarding the voice of the majority strikes me as entirely unconstitutional. The Center for Government Studies reports that more than one-third of political campaigns from open primary scenarios see two candidates from the same party square off. For example, if this “jungle primary” system had been in place during the 2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial election, a Democrat would have been elected as governor.
For Tulsans, this issue hits close to home. In the recent Tulsa mayoral race, two democrats won in the “jungle primary” and ran against each other in a strange general election. Congratulations to Mayor-elect Monroe Nichols, but by all accounts, voters were very confused about their choices right up until election day, and I doubt there is a majority preference for the more liberal political ideology of Nichols. Time will tell, but we don’t need to bring this bizarre system to the entire state.
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