Oklahoma Primary 2022: Statewide races

Governor: Kevin Stitt. Governor Stitt has been a mixed bag, but he is still a better choice than his primary opponents. In this election under the shadow of the McGirt ruling, Mark Sherwood and Joel Kintsel have both demonstrated more sympathy for the wounded pride of tribal government officials than the concerns of Oklahoma citizens, and they embrace the questionable legal claims made by tribal governments. (A letter from Sherwood referred to "sovereign tribal nations"; on Twitter Kintsel condemned Stitt's veto of a bill that would have recognized tribal government authority to issue traffic citations.)

Stitt has made some excellent appointments to the State Supreme Court, but he has missed opportunities to use his appointing power to clean up taxpayer-funded universities. Governor of Oklahoma is a constitutionally weak position, which limits accountability for results. We elect a governor, and his ability to get things done depends on boards where the members were appointed by his predecessor or legislative leaders or on separately-elected statewide officials who happened to have more special interest money than the conservative running for the post. I also agree that Stitt, who never paid much attention to politics before deciding to run, didn't understand the scope of the job. Nevertheless, he is right to see territorial sovereignty for tribal governments as a threat to democratic governance, and he was right to pursue better gaming deals with the tribal bureaucracies. The business with Swadley's Foggy Bottom Cafe seems like the product of haste to provide more attractive state park facilities to visitors, not some sort of corrupt deal. Dark money groups really want to get rid of Stitt, sending out mailer after mailer smearing him as pro-crime. It seems reasonable to wonder if those mailers have been funded by tribal governments or their allies.

State Auditor: Cindy Byrd. Byrd has continued the efficient and assertive approach to the job initiated by her former boss, Gary Jones. Her investigative audit of Epic Charter Schools identified over $125 million in state funds that were passed to an affiliated for-profit charter management company called Epic Youth Services, LLC.

Byrd has also been targeted by dark money sending out almost daily mailers trying to paint her challenger, Steve McQuillen, as some sort of conservative dynamo who will use his auditor superpowers to rid Oklahoma of CRT and illegal immigrants. According to Steve McQuillen's LinkedIn profile, he is a fixed-asset account manager for Tulsa Public Schools, serving in that role since 1998. He received his associate's degree until 2011, his bachelor's in 2014, and his MBA in 2017. The Oklahoman reports that McQuillen has had two bankruptcies, the most recent in 2020. According to McQuillen's pre-primary ethics filing, he has raised only $1,300 and he appears to have used the money to reimburse himself for the $1,050 he loaned the campaign to cover his $1,000 filing fee. As reported in the Oklahoman, McQuillen professes ignorance of the independent expenditure ads. The $1,300 he raised consists of $200 from John Brock of Save Our Tulsa fame, $1000 from Mike Cantrell of Ada, and $100 in small contributions. The audit named Josh Brock as CFO both of Epic One-on-One and Blended (the charter schools) and Epic Youth Services (the charter management company); could he be related to John Brock?

Former RNC committeeman Steve Fair has endorsed Byrd for re-election and has condemned the dishonest mailers sent in support of her opponent. Here's my endorsement of Byrd from 2018.

State Treasurer: Todd Russ. Todd Russ, a term-limited state representative from Cordell, was CEO of Washita State Bank and served as a director of the Oklahoma Bankers Association and Chairman of the OBA Small Bank Council. Russ was author of the "heartbeat bill" that bans abortion in Oklahoma if the unborn child has a detectable heartbeat.

Russ has two opponents for the GOP nomination: Oklahoma County Clerk David B. Hooten and former State Senator and Oklahoma Tax Commission chairman Clark Jolley. I was impressed by the easy access to public records on David Hooten's Oklahoma County Clerk website and by endorsements from people like Kevin Calvey and County Commissioner Brian Maughan, but then I learned that he resigned as clerk last Friday over allegations of harassment. According to iVoterGuide, Russ has stronger rankings from conservative organizations than Jolley, and Russ has been endorsed by Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights (OKHPR).

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Ryan Walters. Ryan Walters was an AP history teacher at McAlester High School and continues to teach in McAlester and Oklahoma City as he serves as Secretary of Public Education, a member of Gov. Stitt's cabinet. Walters has been endorsed by OKHPR, Americans for Prosperity Oklahoma, OK2A, and OCPAC. When a leftist mob announced plans to show up to heckle newly elected Tulsa Public Schools board member E'Lena Ashley, Walters sent an open letter in support and showed up at the meeting in solidarity. Walters is an outspoken advocate for parent voices in public schools and for meaningful options in K-12 education for Oklahoma families. Most activists leading Parent Voice groups, pushing for accountability in school districts around the state, support Walters.

State Superintendent is an open seat as Joy Hofmeister is term-limited and has changed parties to run for governor as a Democrat. Other candidates for the GOP nomination for State Superintendent are Peggs superintendent John Cox, who previously sought the office as a Democrat, former Shawnee superintendent April Grace, and Bill Crozier, the Republican nominee for U. S. Senate in 1984 and the GOP nominee for State Superintendent in 2006.

April Grace has come under fire for her handling of sexual abuse involving Shawnee Coach Ronald Arthur. Grace touts her work to establish school-based telemedicine clinics, which conservatives generally oppose both as mission creep and as a means for school bureaucrats to interfere in parental decisions for their children. Knowing that Democrats have a hard time winning statewide in Oklahoma, the public education establishment is getting involved in Republican primaries, and it appears that Grace is their stealth candidate. Max donors to Grace include Shawn Hime, president of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA), which remains part of the NSBA despite its characterization of concerned parents as domestic terrorists; Suzanne Schreiber, former TPS board member and program officer for the George Kaiser Family Foundation; maximum Biden donor Burt Holmes, and Chickasaw Nation Secretary of State Bill Lance. Grace has received the "apple" of approval from Oklahomans for Public Education, a group that supports higher taxes and less parental accountability.

Cox has fans among some conservatives who oppose school vouchers out of fear that money will come with strings attached and bring private schools under government control. Cox was an ally in the fight against Common Core, but it should be remembered that there are those who opposed Common Core because they oppose any standards or accountability for effective taxpayer-funded education. Cox also received the Oklahomans for Public Education red apple, which suggests that they believe he will fight for higher taxes and against parental involvement and public accountability in public schools.

UPDATE: For the doubters, here is a direct link to the OPE 2022 voter guide and a link to the post on their FB page linking to the PDF on Google Drive. The State Superintendent race can be found on page 3.

Labor Commissioner: Sean Roberts. Roberts, a conservative stalwart in the State House of Representatives, is challenging liberal incumbent Leslie Osborne. Roberts has been endorsed by OK2A, OKHPR, OCPAC, and Gov. Stitt. Roberts has strong lifetime ratings from conservative groups, while Osborne consistently received failing grades during her time in the legislature and is backed by left-wing public employee and teacher's unions.

Corporation Commissioner: Todd Thomsen. OCPAC has endorsed Todd Thomsen, a former state representative who served as chairman of the Utilities Committee and was a long-time director of Fellowship of Christian Athletes in southeastern Oklahoma. I'm not seeing much commentary on this race from other conservative voices. (UPDATE: I was undecided between these two profligate tax-and-spenders, but wound up voting for Thomsen, on the very marginal basis that David was endorsed by OPEA and Thomsen was not, and Thomsen was endorsed by OKHPR.)

State Senator Kim David seems to be attracting the most money from lobbyists and donors connected with regulated industries, although a bit of that money has gone to Thomsen. David was also endorsed by the Oklahoma Public Employees Association. Both David and Thomsen have a poisoned "apple" from the left-wing Oklahomans for Public Education. The Oklahoman's Jack Money profiled all four candidates.

Jamison Faught reports at Muskogee Politico that both David and Thomsen voted to increase the vehicle tax in 2017.

Harold Spradling, a retired counselor with a focus on substance abuse and addiction, was the Democrat nominee for a northwestern Oklahoma state house seat in 1994 and ran in the GOP primary for Corporation Commissioner in 2018 and 2020.

Justin Hornback is a pipeline welder and union organizer from Broken Arrow who has been working in the energy industry for 15 years. He is attempting to run a $0 campaign -- no money raised or spent -- and amazingly the most recent poll in the race shows him leading slightly against two veteran legislators seeking the job, but with a large number still undecided. Hornback dodged a lot of questions on the iVoterGuide survey as not germane to the office, but the answers he gave tended to be solidly conservative. His interest in running for the office was sparked by trying and failing to get answers about a gas pipeline rupture in Tulsa that forced the evacuation of nearby homes. In May, not long after filing for office, Hornback filed for divorce against his wife of five years. It seems odd to undertake a race for statewide public office under those circumstances, particularly with a six-year-old daughter involved.