Oklahoma Primary Elections are Tuesday, June 18th
Republican Primary is stacked with candidates for multiple offices. Have you done your research? I'll help you out with that!
The Oklahoma Primary Elections are coming up on Tuesday, June 18th. It is at the ballot box that We The People are supposed to make our voices heard in a working Constitutional Republic, but yet, in Oklahoma, in election after election, we have the MOST apathetic voter turnout in the United States.
Literally, we are LAST.
There are many reasons for this, including feeling like one vote has little-to-no-impact on the outcome because the state so heavily leans toward one political party.
Other reasons include
a. a lack of meaningful choice in the two-party system,
b. cynicism fueled by incidents of political corruption,
c. lack of political education (keep reading to become more educated on specific candidates in the primary),
d. one-sided media coverage,
e. lack of issue awareness or relevance if the voter doesn’t feel like the issue pertains to them,
f. overwhelming complexity of the political machine,
g. negative campaigning and partisanship,
h. believing that the political system does not represent their interests or address their needs and
i. systematic barriers like scheduling elections every month on weekdays at inconvenient polling locations.
This last reason hits near and dear to my heart because the timing of elections matter and Oklahoma holds off-cycle elections often - in fact, in 2023, Cleveland County had an election almost every month. In 2024, we will have *only* SEVEN elections and that’s because by state law, elections are prohibited in May, July, September, October and December in even-numbered years. THANK GOODNESS! Let’s fix those election dates in odd-numbered years, shall we?
It is a royal pain to have to remember to vote almost EVERY MONTH; especially when the vote is for ONE ISSUE or ONE OFFICE. Not only is it hard to remember to cast a vote in off-cycle elections, but it is often hard to find information to get educated and do the background research to understand we we are supposed to vote on. Why can’t they just combine all these elections to coincide with national elections?
While average citizens prefer their local elections to be on the same day as national elections, off-cycle elections are the timing of choice for special interest groups because lower voter turnout means that their organized, motivated voter base can influence elections to a greater degree.
Why do special interest groups get to choose the timing of their election? (Look at the pencil)
Another reason for our voter apathy may be that we are one of only six states left to allow straight-party-voting (SPV): Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
SPV allows voters to choose a party’s entire slate of candidates with just a single ballot mark, which takes away the critical thinking and individualistic politics and makes in near IMPOSSIBLE for an INDEPENDENT or a LIBERTARIAN to win a race in Oklahoma.
For example, in the November 2022 presidential election, 41.7% of all voters used the straight-party-voting option; 70% of those were Republican and 30% were Democrat. Apparently the use of SPV in Oklahoma has been increasing, which is NOT a good thing.
Oklahoma should join the majority of the states and ABOLISH straight-party-voting.
But SPV isn’t an issue in the primaries, so let’s get back to that.
Oklahoma Primary Elections
In Oklahoma primary elections,
if you are registered as an Independent, you can only vote in the Independent OR Democratic primary. The Republicans won’t allow you to vote in their primary.
if you are registered as a Democrat, you can only vote in the Democratic primary.
if you are registered as a Libertarian, you can only vote in the Libertarian primary.
if you are registered as a Republican, you can only vote in the Republican primary.
In today’s Oklahoma, which Oklahoma primary election will influence the final outcome the most? Republican, Democrat, Independent or Libertarian?
REPUBLICAN.
I mean if you are registered Independent or Democrat, in the Primary Elections you are only voting on ONE office and it is US Congressional District 4 between Kody Macaulay and Mary Brannon.
You have no chance to have your voice heard on any state or county level offices. Just look at the pink sample Democratic Ballot versus the yellow sample Republican sample ballot.
Cleveland County Primary Ballots
Remember in the GENERAL elections, it doesn’t MATTER what political party you are registered with. You can vote for whoever you want to. You can be a critical thinking Independent, not enamored with either party, but be registered as a Republican to vote the primaries. Something to think about.
Let’s move on to some voter education. If you are registered Republican, and live in Cleveland County Oklahoma, in Senate District 15 (shown on the map in green along with the proposed Oklahoma Turnpike Routes in red), the yellow sample ballot above shows what offices and candidates you will be voting on in the REPUBLICAN PRIMARY.
Do you know what all the offices are, what they control and who is running for them?
You can find your specific sample ballot here. You should look it up because some areas of Cleveland County are NOT voting on a Senate seat (areas on the map shown in grey).
In order to look it up, you have to know your precinct number. Your precinct number is on your voter identification card or you can look it up at the Oklahoma Voter Portal.
Be Informed - Do Your Research
Let’s work our way through a sample Republican Primary ballot. I’ll provide links when available to candidate web or Facebook pages so you can decide for yourself who to vote for. We’ll do the three state/national offices in this post and the four county offices in the next post.
State Officers - Corporation Commissioner
The Corporation Commission is a regulatory agency for the State of Oklahoma. It regulates public service corporations whose businesses are considered essential to the public welfare, including the Fuel, Oil and Gas, Public Utilities and Transportation Industries. For example, the Corporation Commission presently regulates oil and gas drilling, production and environmental protection, the safety aspects of motor carrier, rail and pipeline transportation and the environmental integrity of petroleum storage tank systems. It also enforces federal regulations for underground injection of water and chemicals.
Candidates - Three
J. Brian Bingman is a career politician (since 1992) and this is his second time running for Corporation Commission. In 2017, he ran for Corporation Commission against incumbent Bob Anthony but lost in a runoff election. He’s running to bring his experience to to the office. He’s raised over $336K from donors that include entities he’d be tasked with regulating. You don’t say.
He was first elected to the Supulpa city commission in 1992 before being elected mayor in 1994. He served in both offices until 2004 when he was elected to the House of Representatives in the 30th District. After one term in the house, he ran for the 12th district of the Oklahoma Senate in 2006 and held the seat until term limited in 2016. He served as President Pro Tempore of the Senate from 2011-2016 (53rd, 54th and 55th Legislative Sessions).
In October 2020, Governor Stitt appointed him Oklahoma Secretary of State, Oklahoma Secretary of Native American Affairs and Native American Affairs Liaison. He resigned from the Governor’s Cabinet in 2023 to run for Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner. He is a citizen of the Muskogee Nation.
Russell Ray has decades long experience evaluating energy policy as an energy reporter and journalist and chairman of POWER-GEN International. He lives in Edmond. He aims to bring transparency to Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony, who is terming out after 36 years in office, has endorsed him. Russell Ray is running to stop the “career politicians from playing politics with electric bills and siding with the big corporate interests instead of the consumer.” He said he will not accept any donations from political action committees or companies that he would regulate. You can see from his campaign finance report that he’s only raised a little over $1,500.
Justin Hornback is from Broken Arrow and has worked as a pipeline welder, welding inspector and specialist in pipeline health and safety in his two-decade career within the energy sector. He’s running to address the difficulties that businesses face in voicing their concerns and being heard by regulatory bodies and to improve the transparency and accountability of the office. He’s active on social media and has made many appearances on the campaign trail. He’s depending on word of mouth and small grass-roots donations. This is his second bid for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. He ran in 2022 but lost in the primary election.
U.S. Representative District 4
Did you know that there were other candidates in this race besides Bondar and Cole? You probably didn’t because those two are the only two who can afford to BUY MEDIA TIME.
The Dreamers
Nick Hankins - Young guy from Moore. Patriot. Love his tagline. “I don’t accept campaign contributions, support foreign wars, foreign aid or international bodies like the WHO and WEF that attempt to strip Americans of their constitutional rights or our country of its sovereignty. I will only consider bills that are single subject or line item veto.”
Amen.
But seriously. He needs a campaign manager to get his name out there, to help him garner donations and, for goodness sake, he needs a better website. I had never heard of him until today when I was searching for information. I’d love to see him start with a local election. He cannot compete with the DC money machines in this primary.
Andrew Hayes - Young guy from Lawton who is a farmer/rancher from Commanche county who serves in the National Guard. Veteran. Patriot. He has a Facebook page, but only 49 followers. Again, I’d love to see him start with a local election. He cannot compete against the millionaires in this race. That’s a sad fact, isn’t it?
Rick Whitebear Harris - This candidate lives in Norman. I live in Norman. I’ve never heard of him. He is apparently a physician. I can’t find any website or Facebook page for him.
Paul Bondar - This guy is the only real challenger to Tom Cole because he has MONEY! Tom Cole has launched an impressive attack against this guy, funded by all those millions. Just think back….. since Tom Cole became our US Representative in 2003, have you EVER seen so many Tom Cole mailers? So many one-sided negative campaigning advertisements and news stories? An Alexandria, Virginia-based Super PAC Americans 4 Security has spent nearly $2.2 million on advertising against Bondar since May 10.
Who is Paul Bondar? Apparently he’s a business man who has owned several insurance companies in different states, who has recently purchased a 500-acre ranch near Durant, Oklahoma. He’s currently living in Stonewall, outside of Ada. From the campaign finance website, it looks like he loaned himself almost $5 million to run against Tom Cole.
Then he spent a boatload with MultiMediaServices for Media/Television Buy. WOW!!! $4 MILLION!!!! It never ceases to amaze me how expensive these campaigns are.
Tom Cole is a career politician and made his money in the early days as a political consultant for candidates in his firm Cole, Hargrave, Snodgrass and Associates. Cole was elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 1988 and resigned in 1991 to accept an appointment as executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee. From 1995-1999 he served as Oklahoma’s Secretary of State, but resigned to become chief of staff of the Republican National Committee. He was elected as the District 4 US Representative in 2003 and has served ever since, winning many of his elections uncontested.
It’s hard to compete against the kind of money this guy has, although he didn’t raise more than Bondar… but he didn’t have to loan himself money either.
After 20 years serving in the US House of Representatives, what’s this guys net worth? Isn’t it interesting that many public servants (on BOTH sides of the corrupt two-party system) leave political offices more enriched than when they came in? Surely it isn’t because of their salaries.
It doesn’t seem fair that it takes multiple millions of dollars to buy a seat in the U.S. Congress. Will the people speak?
State Senator District 15
There are SIX Republican Candidates running for this Senate Seat. The incumbent, Rob Standridge, is term-limiting out this year. Please read the candidate websites for CONTENT. Many of them just list platitudes and from their involvement on different boards and non-profits, you might find areas of undue influence.
Four of the six republican candidates came out to the Royal Bavaria for the 3rd Annual PIKE OFF OTA Family Fun Fest on Sunday, June 9th. It was a lot of fun. Robert Keyes, Tommie Herell, Brandon Nofire and Lisa Standridge were there interacting with over 150 concerned citizens.
Kyle Chapman is an attorney at his firm Chapman Law. He is a veteran. He hasn’t yet filed an ethics report on his campaign financing, so it is unclear if he is still in this race or not.
Kelly Lynn is an attorney, a municipal judge and sat on the Norman City Council for Ward 3 until 2023. He loaned himself $20,000 for his campaign.
Robert C. Keyes is the president and CEO of Associated Environmental Industries, his second drilling company. Interestingly, he is a board member of the National Ground Water Association. He has self-funded much of his campaign and seemingly has the most yard signs up of any candidate- at least in my neck of the woods. He loaned himself $250,000 (that’s a quarter of a million for a state senate race). He was good friends with Stan Ward, who was a huge advocate for the citizens against the OTA.
Tommie Herell is the chief development officer at AquaNyx Midstream water management company and serves on the executive committee for the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma. He is supported by an organization called Energy Engaged, Inc. that paid to launch a separate website for him. He has raised more than $120,000, some of it from PACs.
Lisa Standridge, wife of incumbent District 15 State Senator Rob Standridge, works in pharmaceuticals at Blanchard Drug and Gift. She loaned herself $25,000 for her campaign. She hasn’t done much campaigning OR spending. She might be relying on the name recognition at the ballot box.
Brandon Nofire is a former Marine who works as a lead technical specialist at Booz Allen Hamilton. He has been active in the legislature for the past two sessions as a citizen advocate asking for stronger eminent domain laws to protect private property rights. A bill he helped author, HB3159, was signed into law by the governor in May 2024. He understands how to advocate within our legislative system with a strong ethical core and get common sense laws passed.
Please research their campaign funds. Keyes has spent $124,000, Herell has spent ~$31,000, Lynn has spent ~$26,000 and the rest have spent under $10,000 as of the last filing. Don’t let money or name recognition alone win this primary. Pick the BEST CANDIDATE.
If no one person receives at least 50% of the vote, this primary race will go to a run-off on Tuesday, August 27th between the top two candidates.
Stay tuned for the next voter education post for the four Cleveland County offices up for election.