Oklahoma Politics: August 2008 Archives

Two Tulsa area legislative seats are up for grabs today. Term limits have ended the legislative careers of State Sen. Jim Williamson (R) and State Rep. Darrell Gilbert (D). The two seats are heavily partisan -- the winner of the runoff is guaranteed the Senate 35 seat and all but guaranteed the House 72 seat. (Lawrence Kirkpatrick, a perennial candidate, will be on the general election ballot as an independent.)

In Senate 35, former Tulsa City Councilor Cason Carter received 45% of the primary vote to 41% for Tulsa resident and Jenks school board member Gary Stanislawski. Three other candidates finished in single digits. Stanislawski has been endorsed by Sen. Jim Williamson and the Tulsa Area Republican Assembly. Carter has outraised and outspent Stanislawski, but both candidates have had ads on radio, something of a novelty for a state legislative race. As I said before the primary, I'm voting for Gary Stanislawski. (Having already decided to support him, I had the opportunity to do some computer work for him early in the campaign.)

Stanislawski's campaign manager Josh McFarland was on the Chris Medlock show on 1170 KFAQ yesterday, answering the negative ads being mailed out by Cason Carter. Medlock, like me, lives in Senate 35. He says this is a race between a candidate driven by principle (Stanislawski) and one driven by the bottom line (Carter), which would explain why the grassroots are lining up behind Stanislawski and the Chamber / Money Belt types are backing Carter.

In House 72, Seneca Scott finished first in the primary with 42% of the vote; Christie Breedlove finished second with 28%. That's a tough gap to overcome in a runoff, but Breedlove has the advantage of being not only a lifelong resident of the district, she lives in a more typical part of the district. (Scott, a Jenks High School graduate, lives near TU, in the small section of the district south of TU.) She has been endorsed by State Sen. Judy Eason-McEntyre and City Councilor Jack Henderson and former Councilor Roscoe Turner.

Runoffs often have rotten turnouts. If you live in either of those districts, please be sure to turn out to vote.