Oklahoma Election 2021 Category

POST-ELECTION UPDATE: While the winning percentage was lower than 2015, it was still 3-to-1 in favor. Turnout was only 17,599, a tiny increase over the 17,125 that voted in March 2015. That's about 11.5%. Most organizations require a quorum of the membership to be present to take any action; why shouldn't we require a quorum of 50% of eligible voters to cast a ballot in order for a proposition to be enacted into law?

The two municipal propositions in Lahoma and Spavinaw were franchise renewals for OG+E and PSO, respectively, and passed unanimously. Navajo Public Schools bond issue passed by 5 votes.

There's yet another election this Tuesday, June 8, 2021. The Tulsa Public School board scheduled a special election for four general obligation bond issue propositions totaling $414 million. TPS residents can express their lack of confidence in the TPS administration's stewardship of our tax dollars and our children's education by voting NO on all four propositions. Opponents of the bond issue will hold an Accountability Matters Rally Opposing TPS School Bond at 5:30 pm, Monday, June 7, 2021, at the Education Service Center, 3027 S. New Haven Ave.

Never mind that we had an annual school general election back on April 6. TPS decided to hold the bond election at a time when nothing else would be on the ballot, when most Oklahomans' minds would be on summer activities. In all of Oklahoma, only four places are having an election on June 8, 2021: The Town of Lahoma (Garfield County), the Town of Spavinaw (Mayes County), Navajo Public Schools (Jackson & Greer Counties), and Tulsa Public Schools, which requires four county election boards (Creek, Osage, Tulsa, Wagoner) to staff precincts.

A school bond issue requires a corresponding increase in property taxes in the district to repay the borrowed money. Even property owners (e.g., senior citizens) who enjoy a valuation freeze will see their taxes go up, because the bond issue increases the millage rate, not the valuation of the property.

Governmental taxing authorities like scheduling special elections, because it offers a great deal of control over who turns out to vote. School officials will be sure to remind teachers and administrative staff that there's an election, and they might target parents with an interest in a particular project slated to be funded by bond money. Otherwise they keep it as quiet as possible. There's unlikely to be an organized campaign against the bonds, because concentrated benefits motivate funding for the "vote yes" side, while diffuse costs mean that opponents don't have as strong a motivation to contribute financially to its defeat. The last bond election in March 2015 drew only 17,125 voters. As of March 29, there were 152,453 eligible voters in the TPS district. Under Oklahoma law, school bond issues require approval of 60% of those voting.

But such an election also is an unusual opportunity for parents and taxpayers to issue a vote of no confidence in TPS leadership. School board elections are seemingly set up to defeat democracy. In most districts, it is only possible to replace one of the five board members every year. As a large district, TPS has a seven-member board and four year terms, but in either situation, there is no way to "throw the bums out," to clean house, to elect a new slate of board members that will take the district in a different direction. Making matters worse, filing period is held in early December when everyone is thinking about Christmas, and the school board elections are often the only item on the ballot during the February primary and April general election.

A school bond issue offers every voter in the district a chance to vote at the same time. It is the perfect opportunity to let the school board know that you're unhappy with the superintendent, the board, curriculum, the COVID-19 response, school closures, and the district's too-cozy relationship with progressive philanthropic organizations.

None of a school district's operational funds come from bond issues, so defeating a bond issue does not jeopardize teachers' salaries or the day-to-day running of the schools. Defeating a bond issue just means that TPS will have to wait a bit longer to build another monstrosity like the new Clinton West Elementary (formerly Clinton Middle School), which was James Howard Kunstler's "Eyesore of the Month" in March of 2010.

Clinton West Elementary (formerly Middle School), Eyesore of the Month, March 2010.
James Howard Kunstler described the building as "a building that expresses to perfection our current social consensus about the meaning of education. It stares balefully at the street with the blank-faced demeanor of an autistic child preparing to explode in violent rage. It summarizes our collective aspirations about school as the unidentifiable contents of an inscrutable set of boxes."

This time around, there is an active campaign against the bond issue propositions. Both Tulsa Parent Voice and the Tulsa County Republican Party have announced their opposition to the bonds.

There are plenty of reasons that the administration and board of Tulsa Public Schools deserve a vote of no confidence. Here are just a few that come readily to mind:

1. Scheduling a bond issue election for the summer, when nothing else is on the ballot, is designed to discourage voter participation. A solid defeat of the bonds will discourage such anti-democratic behavior in the future.

2. TPS schools are failing. Out of 73 campuses receiving a State Department of Education report card in 2019, 57 received Ds or Fs (29 and 28, respectively). Only one school, Booker T. Washington High School, managed an A. (You can download grades and stats for every school in Oklahoma here.)

3. TPS is shrinking, but the demand for funds is unchanged. Since the 2015 bond, TPS enrollment has decreased by 6,500 students, but TPS is asking for as much as it did then, including money for new facilities. Ten schools that were promised 2015 bond money were closed instead: Jones, Park, Penn, Remington, Academy Central, Greeley, Grimes, ECDC Porter, Mark Twain & Gilcrease. Gilcrease was closed despite a petition signed by 2,500 residents.

3. The school board's 2020 decision to extend Superintendent Deborah Gist's contract through 2023 was timed to prevent newly elected school board members from participating in the decision, which shows profound disrespect for the voters.

4. TPS pushes progressive politics. Superintendent Gist's May 2021 personal statement about "equity" is filled with leftist jargon from the Critical Race Theory glossary, but the rot is by no means limited to Gist. The district's "Who We Are" page states that "living our values requires working actively to dismantle systems of racial oppression."

5. The information about the bond issue propositions on the TPS website is supportive marketing material, not neutral, just-the-facts information. This is in violation of state law.

6. TPS requires a formal request under the Open Records Act to release campaign contribution reports that, by state law, must be filed with the school district clerk. TPS does not respond to these requests in a timely fashion -- another anti-democratic policy.

7. TPS has a bloated administrative structure and spends millions on consultants.

8. TPS has continued to force children to wear masks and never returned to full-time in-person learning.

There are plenty of other reasons to revolt against the current TPS administration, many of which you'll see documented on the sos-tps.org website, which also has the specifics on the four propositions. A vote against the bond propositions is the simplest way to express a demand for change at Tulsa Public Schools.

POST-CONVENTION UPDATE: John Bennett was elected chairman, Shane Jemison was elected vice chairman. The convention reverted to paper ballots, a likelihood that outgoing Tulsa County Chairman Bob Jack, serving as convention credentials committee chairman, had anticipated and had prepared for.

Four candidates have filed to become the next chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party. Incumbent chairman David McLain of Skiatook is not running for re-election. The candidates on tomorrow's ballot at the Oklahoma State GOP Convention are:

• John Bennett from Sallisaw (personal Facebook profile)
• Christine Leeviraphan from Catoosa (personal Facebook profile)
• Charles Ortega from Altus (personal Facebook profile)
• Jenni White from Luther (personal Facebook profile)

Bennett and Ortega are former state representatives, Leeviraphan is chairman of the Rogers County Republican Party.

Personal obligations won't permit me to attend tomorrow's Oklahoma Republican State Convention, but if I could be there, I would cast my ballot for Jenni White. Jenni is a principled conservative, an excellent communicator, and someone with a record of getting things done. Her signature accomplishment was as a leader of the successful effort to end Common Core in Oklahoma, in the face of opposition from the state's education and business establishment.

After the Common Core battle ended, White won a seat on her town's board of trustees in 2017 and was immediately chosen by her colleagues to serve as mayor. In that unpaid role, she provided leadership for a number of town improvements and won praise from Luther officials.

Town Manager Scherrie Pidcock wrote, "She is a problem solver and has worked tirelessly on grants, committees and numerous projects as Mayor of Luther. She is decisive, a person of action, and in my experience, always keeps her word." Kasey Wood, chairman of the Luther Parks Commission, said that White's "accomplishments in 4 years changed the trajectory of the Town of Luther" and that she has "been such a pleasure to work with and always willing to do whatever is needed."

Two of the candidates are former state representatives. Charles Ortega was term-limited this last election; he had a 55% lifetime conservative score from the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper. John Bennett decided not to run for re-election in 2018; he had a 69% cumulative conservative score. Some of my conservative friends are backing Bennett rather than White. I don't doubt his conservative credentials, but he didn't have a record of accomplishment at the State Capitol. It's great to make bold conservative statements on policy, but you also have to be able to persuade your colleagues to vote for your ideas. Jenni White has demonstrated the ability to get legislators to vote for her cause, even though she didn't have the access that a legislator would have.

I anticipate three knocks by supporters of Jenni's opponents: She lost her race for re-election as town trustee earlier this week; she wasn't an enthusiastic Trump supporter from the beginning; and she attended the January 6th rally in Washington in support of election integrity.

Tuesday's Luther town election drew only 80 voters, 37 of whom voted to re-elect Jenni White as trustee. (Four years ago, over 200 voters went to the polls.) Four candidates were on the ballot, and voters could cast a vote for up to three. Jenni made her decision to run for state party chairman after it was too late to take her name off the ballot, and she opted to put her resources into running for state chairman rather than her re-election effort. (If she had been re-elected and then elected state chairman, she would have had to resign her seat as a town trustee.)

Some Lutherites professed to have been offended by her attendance at the January 6th rally in Washington. In this column for The Federalist published before the rally, she recounted her years of political involvement, trying to accomplish change by playing by the rules of the game; the lack of response by judges and state officials to clear evidence of fraud and significant irregularities undercut her belief in the system, and she wanted to stand with her fellow Americans to call for Congress to investigate. After the march, she wrote her first-hand account of the day, far from the violent incidents at the Capitol.

White has been criticized from some Trump fanatics because she was a Ted Cruz supporter in 2016. I don't know of any serious, thoughtful conservative activist who did back Trump during the 2016 primary season. There were plenty of other candidates with a track record of conservative action from which to choose, and there was plenty of reason at that point to doubt the sincerity of Trump's commitment to conservatism and his ability to carry out an effective program of conservative action.

Jenni White has the intelligence, organizational skills, and powers of persuasion to be a successful Oklahoma Republican Party chairman, and I ask my friends at the convention to give her their support.

FOR VICE CHAIRMAN:

Shane Jemison from Wapanucka and David Van Risseghem from Tulsa are the two candidates seeking the vice chairman's office. Jemison is currently serving as State GOP Vice Chairman, having been elected last June to fill the vacancy by the Republican State Committee; he was previously elected by county party officials across eastern Oklahoma to serve as 2nd Congressional District Republican Chairman. Van Risseghem has the soonerpolitics.org website and has served in a number of party offices at the county level. I know David personally, and I know he has great familiarity with the nuts and bolts of the party organization.

MORE:

Jamison Faught expresses his concerns about the plan to use all-electronic voting at the state convention, despite the fact that, unlike last year's conventions, delegates must attend and vote in person.

Post-election update: My municipal picks did better than my school board picks. Mask mandates and issues related to the CCP Bat Virus (COVID-19) response had salience with the voters, who turfed out pro-mask candidates in Oklahoma City, Broken Arrow, Jenks, and elsewhere. The outsiders beat the insiders in BA, despite attack mailers and deceptive "Vote Republican!" signs backing Thurmond and Kelly; their victorious opponents are also Republicans.

TPS board member Jennettie Marshall won re-election by 25 votes. Out of 18,152 eligible voters, only 1,027 bothered to vote. In Union seat 1, Joey Reyes won by 24 votes; only 434 of 8,213 eligible voters voted. 35,176 eligible voters in the Owasso Public School district, only 1,766 voters turned out.

Polls will be open today, Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. The Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter tool will let you know where to vote (and if you have a reason to go to the polls) and will show you a sample of the ballot you'll see.

I don't get to vote, which will be the case for large numbers of Oklahomans, perhaps the vast majority. Here's the complete list of elections today across Oklahoma.

Below are my thoughts on some of the races in the Oklahoma school board and municipal general election on April 6, 2021, along with links to candidate websites, social media profiles, and candidate forums for elections and bond issues on Tuesday's ballot in Tulsa County.

I was asked whether it should be reckoned as significant if a candidate is a friend of mine on social media. Short answer: No, don't read anything into that. I got on social media back when it was a fairly new thing and when I was a columnist for an alt-weekly and a frequent guest on the top local talk radio show, and I was more liberal in accepting friend requests than I am today.

How do I evaluate city council and school board candidates? A person's party registration can be a useful clue, but in many of these non-partisan races both candidates are of the same party. I look for some indication of political courage, a willingness to take a public stand and explain a position on a controversial issue. A commitment to accountability and transparency is crucial. A school board full of cheerleaders for the superintendent is superfluous. A city council that rubber-stamps the city manager's recommendations is not doing its job.

Candidates are very careful nowadays to scrub social media of anything controversial -- or even anything interesting. Campaign websites have turned into the online equivalent of the photo that came with the picture frame -- pleasantly generic. Nevertheless, you may yet find clues to a candidate's character and philosophy.

Tulsa School Board, Office No. 3: Jennettie P. Marshall

• Jennettie P. Marshall (D), 62, incumbent. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.
• David J. Harris (D), 46. (Registered to vote as David Jeremy Harris.) Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

Pastor Jennettie Marshall was the lone, brave school board member who voted against extending controversial and unsuccessful Superintendent Deborah Gist's contract last year; the rest of the board pushed through the extension before new school board members might jeopardize the extension. David Harris's campaign contribution report 20210329-David_Harris-Tulsa_School_Board-Campaign_Contributions.pdf is full of Midtown Money Belt types like former Mayor Kathy Taylor, Sharon King Davis, Gary Watts, Burt Holmes, George Krumme, Stacy Schusterman, Educare Director and former school board member Cynthia Decker, and defeated school board member Ruth Ann Fate. All the money is against her, but I'm rooting for Jennettie Marshall.

On February 2, 2021, Tulsa Classroom Teachers' Association held a forum for
candidates for Office 2, which was decided in February, and Office 3, on this Tuesday's ballot.

Union School Board Office No. 1: Kasey Magness

• Joey Reyes (D), 43. (Registered as Joey Gabriel Reyes.) Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook page.
• Kasey Magness (R), 35. (Registered as Kasey Beth Magness.) Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

This is an open seat, currently held by Jeff Bennett. Magness is a Union graduate and home-health nurse who has also served as a Trauma ER nurse. She is an officer in her school's PTA and the district-wide PTA and served on the district committee to plan re-entry following the CCP Bat Virus pandemic. In response to the League of Women Voters questionnaire, Reyes uses the term "Latinx," a silly word invented by people who are offended by the fact that there are two sexes, male and female. While 98% of Latino and Latina people reject this ridiculous, unpronounceable term, its use is a reliable marker for the sort of progressive who is eager to signal his or her virtue by adopting the latest politically correct jargon, not someone a reasonable voter would want in charge of the education of children.

Owasso School Board Office No. 1: Rick Lang

• Rick Lang (I), 42. (Registered as Richard Joseph Lang.) Campaign Twitter account. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook page.
• Stephanie Ruttman (D), 42. (Registered as Stephanie Kenkaye Ruttman.) Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

Incumbent school board member Pat Vanatta is not running for re-election. Lang is the outsider candidate, running to bring accountability to the school board; Ruttman appears to be running for Student Council, judging from the vapidity of her Facebook posts. More information on this race from Owasso Chapter of Parent Voice Oklahoma, Compilation of Owasso School Board Candidates, and Owasso Rams Hand in Hand.

Berryhill School Board Office No. 1: Allisha Phillips Craig

• Allisha Phillips Craig (D), 40. (Registered as Allisha Marie Craig.) Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook page.
• Jack Lollis (R), 63. (Registered as Jack D. Lollis.) Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

Last year, Craig ran unsuccessfully for the Office 5 seat against an incumbent. At the time, I wrote that Craig, a public school teacher with Epic, with children in the Berryhill system, would bring a critical eye to "the way things have always been done," and experience in remote instruction that may be crucial in the coming years. Her campaign Facebook posts offer constructive ideas about specific problems that the district faces. The incumbent, Jack Lollis, has been a board member for 45 years. Lollis has posted a supportive statement from current, outgoing superintendent Mike Campbell which walks right up to the line of an endorsement. It may not be illegal, but it is surely unethical for a public employee to issue a near-endorsement of one of the people who controls his employment. It suggests a too-cozy relationship between the administration and the board, another good reason to defeat the incumbent and elect an outsider.

Tulsa Technology Center, Board Member, Office No. 6:

• Paul J. Kroutter, Jr. (R), 67. (Registered as Paul Joseph Kroutter, Jr.) Held the seat from 2004-2014. Archived board member page. Personal Facebook profile. Faculty page at University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. LinkedIn profile.
• Sharon A. Whelpley (R), 76. (Registered as Sharon Ann Whelpley.) Incumbent, first elected 2014. Campaign website. Board member page. Personal Facebook profile.

It puzzles me that there should be so little noise about a rematch between the incumbent board member and the previous incumbent, in a board district where 70,000 voters live across eastern Tulsa County and western Wagoner County, for a seat on a board that controls hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate and annual budget (good luck finding the budget or CAFR; here's the most recent audit, from 2018). Perhaps Whelpley (the current incumbent) and Kroutter (the former incumbent) each have their small platoons of voters that they will quietly turn out via phone, without arousing the interest of the rest of the electorate. The term of office is 7 years, which is ridiculous.

City of Broken Arrow

Despite being the fourth largest city in Oklahoma, Broken Arrow still is running on the "statutory charter," a default form of municipal government defined in state statutes. Accordingly, Broken Arrow has five city councilors, all elected at-large (so all BA registered voters can vote for all seats on the ballot), the council hires a city manager to run city government, and the mayor is not an executive position, but rather chairman of the council and figurehead, chosen by the city council, rather than directly by the voters.

Know Your Candidate BA conducted 20-30 minute interviews with all of the BA council candidates.

City of Broken Arrow: Council Ward 1: Debra Wimpee

• Debra Wimpee (R), 48. Incumbent councilor. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile. Profile page on BA Buzz.
• Cathy Smythe (D), 66. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.
• Jonathan Kelly (R), 31. (Registered to vote as Jonathon Michael Kelly.) Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

Incumbent Debra Wimpee was a leader in the effort to keep the city from mandating masks on Broken Arrow residents and visitors. She created the website BA Buzz to promote the city and its businesses. Cathy Smythe, a relative newcomer to the city (2012), is running specifically because she supports imposing a mask mandate. A mysterious PAC is sending out attack mailers against Wimpee, presumably to help Kelly, who seems to be attempting to run to Wimpee's right. Wimpee has the endorsement of Congressman Kevin Hern. (I consider it a point in a candidate's favor if she's under attack by a mysterious PAC.)

City of Broken Arrow: Council Ward 2: Lisa Ford

• Craig Thurmond (R), 67. Incumbent. Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.
• Lisa Ford (R), 59. Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

Thurmond has been on the city council for 19 years and has served for 8 of those years as mayor. Ford is retired from 20 years as an employee of the Broken Arrow Police Department, who organized a auxiliary organization to provide volunteer support the BAPD. She has also served on the Union school board. Ford, like Wimpee, was also targeted by an attack mailer from a mysterious PAC.

City of Jenks

Jenks has an at-large seat and a ward seat up for election. Incumbent councilor Dawn Dyke, who voted for a citywide mask mandate and to extend it for another 100 days, and Planning Commissioner David Randolph, who led a petition effort in favor of the mask mandate, are running as a ticket, as are Republican challengers Rodney Cline and Kevin Short, who opposed any mask mandate for the city.

City of Jenks: Council Ward 4: Rodney Cline

• Dawn Dyke (R), 49. Incumbent. Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.
• Rodney Cline (R), 47. Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

City of Jenks: Council member At-Large: Kevin Short

• Krista Monk (D), 35. Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.
• David Randolph (D), 39. Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.
• Kevin Short (R), 49. Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

City of Bixby

No council races on the ballot, but Bixby citizens will vote on four general obligation bond issue propositions:

1. $8,500,000 for public safety buildings and equipment
2. $16,300,000 for streets and bridges
3. $1,700,000 for park, cultural, and recreational facilities
4. $2,000,000 for stormwater drainage

AT THE FAR END OF THE TURNPIKE: Oklahoma City, Edmond, and Norman have city and school district races on the ballot, and there's a special State Senate election.

The group Unite Norman, which emerged to oppose radical anti-police sentiment on the City Council, has endorsed Kelly Lynn ; incumbent Alison Petrone considers Oklahoma a backwards state.

Oklahoma City Ward 3, the southwestern part of the city, has an open seat, with a race between Barbara Young, who has been endorsed by the Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association, and Jessica Martinez-Brooks.

Also in the Edmond area, there is a special general election between Republican Jake Merrick and Democrat Molly Ooten to fill the State Senate District 22 seat vacated by U. S. Rep. Stephanie Bice. Merrick, interviewed here, has the backing of my conservative friends in central Oklahoma.

My friend Jenni White, who led the successful fight against Common Core at the State Capitol, is Mayor of Luther and is up for re-election as a town trustee. There are four candidates for three seats; each voter gets to pick three of the four. (She is also running to be Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party this Saturday and has my full support.)

TIP JAR: If you appreciate the many hours of research that went into this guide and into the rest of my election coverage, and if you'd like to help keep this site online, you can contribute to BatesLine's upkeep via PayPal. In addition to keeping me caffeinated, donated funds pay for web hosting, subscriptions, and paid databases I use for research. Many thanks to those generous readers who have already contributed.

You can find all of the results from Oklahoma's February 9, 2021, elections here.

Acting Tulsa County Treasurer John Fothergill became treasurer in his own right with a 71%-29% Republican primary victory over Joe Hart. Turnout was 5,294 voters out of 186,076 eligible voters, or 4%.

Only 379 out of 15,770 eligible voters cast a ballot in the Tulsa School Board District 2 race. Judith Barba, who needed a translator to cope with a candidate forum but was able to raise $10,000 from Tulsa big-shots, won the election with 201 votes. If Theresa Hinman and Marsha Francine Campbell had received another 12 votes each, Barba would have been held short of a majority, and there would have been an April runoff.

The 2018 change to 26 O.S. § 13A-103 that moved two-candidate school board elections to April also applied the term General Election to the April vote and labeled the February election as a primary. Since the electorate for a primary is always smaller than a general election -- many voters prefer to wait until the candidates have been filtered down to a manageable number -- there ought to be a general election between the top two candidates, even if one candidate receives more than 50% in the primary. We already do this for some non-partisan district judge elections. The same rule ought to apply to school and municipal races.

By the way, that 2018 law also affected technology center (vo-tech) districts, which would explain why the Tulsa Technology Center Office 6 campaign has been quiet so far -- they won't be on the ballot until April. (I could swear I saw that race on the list for this election on the State Election Board website, but it's not there now.)

Collinsville school board: Pharmacy owner Ryan Flanary defeated incumbent Tim Reed, with 64% of the vote in a three-way race. (432 votes cast out of 9,378 eligible voters.)

Owasso school board: There will be an April runoff between Stephanie Ruttman (30.94%) and Rick Lang (24.30%). Kristin Vivar missed the runoff by 15 votes. This is a good case study for the value of instant runoff voting -- the 397 votes of the 4th and 5th place candidates were more than enough to produce any order of finish among the top three.

Owasso city council: Alvin Fruga defeated Kyle Davis, 63% to 37%, for the open seat:

Norman city council: Among the pro-police-funding Unite Norman candidates, Rarchar Tortorello won outright in Ward 5, Kelly Lynn survived to a runoff in Ward 3; Unite Norman candidates finished a close second in Wards 1 (losing in an open seat), 2 (a special election), and 7 (losing to an incumbent). At least they will have a seat at the table.

Oklahoma City city council: Incumbent Todd Stone was re-elected in Ward 4 with 64%. Stone opposes a mask mandate and lockdowns. Bradley Carter and Shay Varnell will face off in a runoff for Ward 1, receiving 26% and 19% respectively (with 7 candidates in the race, another good case study for instant runoff voting). Varnell is opposed to mask mandates; Carter did not respond to the Oklahoman's survey, but had support from conservatives in the Canadian County part of the far-northwest ward. In Ward 3, Jessica Martinez-Brooks and Barbara Young will advance to a runoff; both support restoring funding for police.

There were 29 school and municipal propositions statewide:

The two Jenks bond issues passed with 78% and 77% of the vote, respectively.

Town of Wapanucka voters approved a question unanimously, 33-0. A proposition in the City of Broken Bow passed 105-1. Crutcho Schools passed an issue by 15-1.

Only four propositions were defeated statewide: Leach Public Schools voters turned down a proposition, 35-64. Gotebo voters rejected two questions, 12-18. A Quinton Schools proposition fell short of the 60% margin; 15 more yes voters would have made the difference.

I wish I could tell you what these propositions were about, but after election day, there is no way to get to the sample ballots. Before election day, you can use a voter's name and date of birth to pull up his or her sample ballot for an upcoming election. There needs to be a more direct way. It would also be useful to have a central repository for election resolutions and public notices related to elections in Oklahoma. I should be able to go online and see the details of what Wapanuckans unanimously approved and what Gotebites (Goteboans?) rejected.

Polls are open today until 7 p.m. The Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter tool will let you know where to vote and will show you a sample of the ballot you'll see.

Below are my thoughts on some of the races in the Oklahoma school board primary election and Tulsa County special election on February 9, 2021. (The entry is post-dated to keep it at the top.) This isn't the usual ballot card, mainly because I don't feel I can make strong recommendations in any of these races. Part of my reluctance stems from the apparent reluctance of most candidates to offer a specific platform or even to offer specific criticisms of the governmental entities they seek to govern.

In an earlier entry, I provided links to candidate websites, social media profiles, and candidate forums for elections and bond issues on the February 9, 2021, ballot in Tulsa County. Candidates are very careful nowadays to scrub social media of anything controversial -- or even anything interesting. Campaign websites have turned into the online equivalent of the photo that came with the picture frame -- pleasantly generic.

At the other end of the turnpike, Oklahoma City, Edmond, and Norman have city council races on the ballot, and there is a special primary (both Democrat and Republican) to fill the State Senate District 22 seat vacated by U. S. Rep. Stephanie Bice. The group Unite Norman, which emerged to oppose radical anti-police sentiment on the City Council, has endorsed a slate of five candidates. The Daily Oklahoman asked the 18 candidates running in 3 Oklahoma City wards about police funding, crisis counselors, and mask mandates. Jake Merrick, interviewed here, has the backing of my conservative friends in central Oklahoma and is part of a "Liberty Ticket" running for legislative, school, and city office in Edmond.

Campaign contributions often tell a story about a candidate's ideological leanings or close ties with local power brokers. Campaign expenditures can be telling, too. Unfortunately, our state legislators have made this harder for us to find than it should be. While statewide, legislative, and judicial candidates file their required ethics reports electronically with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, school board candidates file their reports with the school district clerk, county candidates file theirs with the county election board, and municipal candidates with the town or city clerk. Ideally, all of the recipients of ethics reports would immediately scan and post them on the website, but usually one has to file an Open Records request, and which may or may not receive an answer between the ethics report due date and the election a week later. The Tulsa County Election Board is always very quick to respond to my email requests. The Tulsa City Clerk's office is usually prompt about posting all reports online shortly after they are received. I submitted an Open Records request through the Tulsa Public Schools website on Thursday -- three days after the reporting deadline. (I was able to obtain a copy of Judith Barba's report from someone who had requested that report only from TPS a few days earlier.)

Tulsa County Treasurer: Three candidates filed for the seat, but the only Democrat dropped out, so the vacancy left by the sudden retirement of long-time County Treasurer Dennis Semler will be filled in today's special Republican primary.

When former County Assessor Ken Yazel retired, he didn't run for re-election, and four Republicans filed to replace him, which made for a vigorous contest and a meaningful choice for the voters. Semler arranged his departure to benefit his handpicked successor.

John Fothergill has been serving as acting treasurer since Semler's resignation in September. Fothergill had been Chief Deputy to Democrat County Commissioner Karen Keith, was hired by Semler as First Deputy (behind the Chief Deputy) on January 1, 2020, then became Chief Deputy on May 1, 2020, when the previous Chief Deputy, Steve Blue retired, then became acting treasurer when Semler retired. During the Tulsa 912 Forum, Fothergill related that he had planned to run for County Commission District 2, but had become burned out on constituent service, and decided to accept Semler's offer to succeed him. (Fothergill discussed this at the Tulsa County Treasurer forum, about 15 minutes in to the recording.)

Fothergill's rise as Semler's chosen heir is worrisome to me. Semler was not a friend of transparency in his role as a member of the county budget board. When then-County Assessor Ken Yazel pushed to account for all county funds, including earmarked funds that were exempt from the budget process, Semler was on the other side of the issue. Based on Fothergill's comments, Semler had plans to retire going back at least into 2019, just a few months after taking office for his seventh term, but Semler kept his plans hidden from the public. A press release announcing Semler's retirement was issued on September 29, 2020, just a day before his resignation was effective. Fothergill filed his statement of organization on September 8.

Joe Hart, on the ballot as Francis Joseph Hart II, has been active in the Tulsa County Republican Men's Club and as a volunteer for Republican candidates. He is an Eagle Scout. Hart seems like a sincere and decent person, motivated in part by the admirable sentiment that no one should run unopposed. But he doesn't appear to have had a plan to fund and run a campaign with a chance of winning.

Last Tuesday, February 2, 2021, the morning after pre-primary campaign finance reports were due, I checked with the Tulsa County Election Board, and only Fothergill's statement of organization had been filed the previous September. I contacted both candidates shortly before 2 p.m.: Hart told me he did not raise or spend enough money to be required to file. Fothergill told me that he "was out of town at a conference as the Treasurer and just got back. I drove straight to the election board and filed the documents." He sent me cell phone pictures of the filings; according to election board timestamps these were filed at 2:58 pm on February 2, 2021.

Here are all of Fothergill's campaign finance reports for the campaign. Fothergill received a $500 contribution from the Bank of Oklahoma Finance (BOKF) PAC; the "vast majority" of Tulsa County deposits, according to Fothergill, are held by Bank of Oklahoma.

Friends who have worked closely with Fothergill when he was on staff at the City Council speak very highly of him. He has plans in mind to increase transparency and efficiency, plans that he thought should wait until he had been elected to the office in his own right, rather than as a caretaker. He supports televising the Tulsa County Budget Board meetings. At the Tulsa County Treasurer forum, Fothergill professed support for competitive bidding for bond issues for county entities, which is routinely waived, although he noted that bond issues are under the control of the Board of County Commissioners; presumably he was referring to their role as the board of the Tulsa County Industrial Authority. As he is almost certain to win, my hope is that Fothergill will use the relationships and good will he has already built at the county courthouse to follow through on his stated commitment to transparency, particularly with regard to the county budget.

Tulsa School Board, Office No. 2: This is an open seat. If no one gets 50% today, there will be a runoff between the top two candidates in April. All three candidates are registered Democrats. None of the candidates are conservative.

Judith Barba, Community Leadership & Mobilization Manager for Growing Together, a non-profit supported by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, has the financial backing of many Tulsa establishment figures, including former Mayor Kathy Taylor ($1,000) and her husband Bill Lobeck ($1,000), former board member and Educare director Cindy Decker, Stacy Schusterman ($1,000) and Lynn Schusterman ($1,000), and GKFF Executive Director Ken Levit ($250), which leads me to believe she will be a rubber stamp for the foundations and Superintendent Gist. Departing board member Jania Wester's campaign account contributed $ 2,304.85. (Here is a PDF of Judith Barba's campaign contributions and expenditures reports.) During last week's TCTA candidate forum, Barba had to have several questions translated for her and was unable to reply in English to several questions, which raises doubts about Barba's ability to participate fully in board meetings.

From her social media posts, it seems that Theresa Hinman and I are far apart on national political issues. Her conversation is full of identity politics lingo, which is worrisome. At the same time, it's apparent that Hinman is a devout Christian, a member of First Baptist Church, and a founder of Circle of Nations, a ministry to Native Americans in Oklahoma. I admire Hinman's willingness to challenge the school administration over the past year for their use (or misuse) of Federal funds earmarked for Indian education. She demonstrates an energetically skeptical mindset and pledges to building a kitchen cabinet of advisors who will help her analyze specific issues; for example, she mentioned a district resident who would help her analyze issues involving district real estate and facilities. She wants to bring accountability measures to bear on the expensive consultants that TPS hires (often with foundation grants). Her drive and initiative would be a welcome addition to the board, and I could imagine her working closely with Jerry Griffin to ask salient questions at board meetings and to develop a strategic plan for the district.

Marsha Francine Campbell is a 17-year veteran teacher in Tulsa Public Schools. She is probably the best equipped of the three to speak to how best to attract, respect, and retain teachers, and her answers seemed reasonable. Campbell would be a better choice than Barba, but Hinman's positive but critically inquisitive attitude is what district taxpayers, parents, and students need most at the moment.

Owasso City Council, Ward 2: There are two candidates for the open seat. Pastor Alvin Fruga is to be commended for his willingness to answer questions on his Facebook page, but it's clear from this Q&A session that Fruga would be a rubber stamp for the current city administration. Fruga offered no criticism of the current councilors and defended the city's long-term subsidy of the Bailey Ranch golf course. Likewise, Kyle Davis, a loan officer for Community Bank, offered only vague replies to some specific questions about his views on city policies and no criticism of the current council or city manager. Owasso used to have a couple of city councilors who would ask tough questions and push for accountability. That no longer appears to be the case and doesn't look to change, no matter who wins this seat.

Owasso School Board Office No. 2: Kristin Vivar has been endorsed by Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman David McLain and by Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights.

Tulsa Technology Center Board Office No. 6: It puzzles me that there should be so little noise about a rematch between the incumbent board member and the previous incumbent, in a board district where 70,000 voters live across eastern Tulsa County and western Wagoner County, for a seat on a board that controls hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate and annual budget (good luck finding the budget or CAFR; here's the most recent audit, from 2018). Perhaps Whelpley (the current incumbent) and Kroutter (the former incumbent) each have their small platoons of voters that they will quietly turn out via phone, without arousing the interest of the rest of the electorate.

TIP JAR: If you appreciate the many hours of research that went into this guide and into the rest of my election coverage, and if you'd like to help keep this site online, you can contribute to BatesLine's upkeep via PayPal. In addition to keeping me caffeinated, donated funds pay for web hosting, subscriptions, and paid databases I use for research. Many thanks to those generous readers who have already contributed.

This coming Tuesday, February 9, 2021, Oklahoma voters will vote in school board primaries, some municipal primaries, school bond issues, and special elections.

Early voting will be available tomorrow, Thursday, February 4, and Friday, February 5, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Because there are no state or federal offices on the ballot, there won't be any early voting hours on Saturday. Early voting sites are typically at the county election board, which is the case in Tulsa and surrounding counties, but there are a few exceptions.

Tulsa County Republican voters will choose a new County Treasurer to replace Dennis Semler, who retired last fall. (One Democrat filed for the seat, but withdrew, so the winner of the two-man primary will be elected.)

School board seats will only be on this Tuesday's non-partisan primary ballot if three or more candidates filed for the office. Seats that drew only two candidates will be on the April 6 general election ballot, along with any runoffs from this Tuesday. In Tulsa County, there are primaries for Tulsa Schools Office 2, and Collinsville and Owasso Office 1. Tulsa Tech Center Office 6 has a two-candidate election -- Tech Centers weren't included in the legislation that moved two-candidate elections to the general.

Jenks Public Schools patrons will vote on two bond issues, and there is a two-man race for Owasso Ward 2 councilor.

Here are some links and info about the candidates:

Tulsa County Treasurer:

• John M. Fothergill (R), 47, Sand Springs. (Registered to vote as John Marion Fothergill.) Served as Tulsa City Council Director of Constituent Services, chief deputy to Democrat County Commissioner Karen Keith, chief deputy to Republican County Treasurer Dennis Semler. Became acting County Treasurer after Semler's resignation last fall. Website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile. LinkedIn profile.
• Francis Joseph Hart III (R), 39, Broken Arrow. Better known as Joe Hart. Active as a volunteer for Republican candidates and the county GOP. Website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile. Photography business website. Photography business Facebook page. LinkedIn profile.

On February 1, 2021, Tulsa 912 Project held a forum for the candidates for Tulsa County Treasurer.

Tulsa Public Schools, Board Member - Office No. 2:

• Marsha Francine Campbell (D), 65. Campaign Facebook group. Personal Facebook profile. Earlier Facebook profile. Still earlier Facebook profile. LinkedIn profile.
• Theresa Hinman (D), 52. (Registered to vote as Theresa Marie Hinman.) Twitter account. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile. Business Facebook page. LinkedIn profile. TalkJive.org intervew
• Judith Barba (D), 30. (Registered to vote as Judith Barba Perez.) Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

On February 2, 2021, Tulsa Classroom Teachers' Association held a forum for
candidates for Office 2, on Tuesday's ballot, and Office 3, which will not be on the ballot until April.

City Of Owasso, Council Member, Ward 2:

• Alvin D. Fruga (R), 58. (Registered as Alvin Darryl Fruga.) Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal ministry website. Church website. Personal Facebook profile. Personal Twitter account. LinkedIn profile.
• Kyle Davis (R), 39. (Registered as Kyle Andrew Davis.) Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile. LinkedIn profile.

Incumbent Owasso City Councilor Chris Kelley is not running for re-election.

Collinsville Public Schools, Board Member, Office No. 1:

• James R. Roderick (R), 62. (Registered as James Randall Roderick.) Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile. LinkedIn profile. Archived business website. Archived consulting website.
• Tim Reed (R), 63. (Registered as Timothy N. Reed.) Incumbent since 2013. Campaign Facebook page. LinkedIn profile.
• Ryan Flanary (R), 40. (Registered as Ryan Dean Flanary.) Personal Facebook profile. Business website.

Owasso Public Schools, Board Member, Office No. 1:

• Rick Lang (I), 42. (Registered as Richard Joseph Lang.) Campaign Twitter account. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook page.
• Kristin Vivar (R), 42. (Registered as Kristin A. Vivar.) Campaign website. Campaign Facebook Page. Personal Facebook profile.
• Lisa M. Anderson (R), 48. (Registered as Lisa Marie Anderson.) Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook page.
• Lynn Cagle (D), 70. (Registered as Marguerita Lynn Cagle.) Campaign Facebook page.
• Stephanie Ruttman (D), 42. (Registered as Stephanie Kenkaye Ruttman.) Campaign website. Campaign Facebook page. Personal Facebook profile.

Incumbent school board member Pat Vanatta is not running for re-election. More information on this race from Owasso Chapter of Parent Voice Oklahoma, Compilation of Owasso School Board Candidates, and Owasso Rams Hand in Hand.

Tulsa Technology Center, Board Member, Office No. 6:

• Paul J. Kroutter, Jr. (R), 67. (Registered as Paul Joseph Kroutter, Jr.) Held the seat from 2004-2014. Archived board member page. Personal Facebook profile. Faculty page at University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. LinkedIn profile.
• Sharon A. Whelpley (R), 76. (Registered as Sharon Ann Whelpley.) Incumbent, first elected 2014. Board member page. Personal Facebook profile.

Jenks Public Schools bond issues:

• Proposition No. 1: $15,060,000 general obligation bond issue for school facilities.
• Proposition No. 2: $1,045,000 general obligation bond issue for transportation equipment.

Here is a PDF sample ballot for the Jenks Public Schools bond issues, and the disclosure of currently outstanding Jenks Public Schools bond issues required by the Bond Transparency Act. Jenks currently has five outstanding general obligation bond issues, with $96,885,000 in outstanding principal, and another $97,100,000 in "unissued building bonds authorized at an election held on the 10th day of February 2015." (Original link to BTA disclosure on JPS website.)

This is not what democracy looks like.

Sixteen Oklahoma jurisdictions -- Sapulpa, Pawhuska, other cities and towns, two school districts, a technology (vo-tech) district, and a county -- had propositions on the ballot today. Mostly bond issues, I suspect.

State law allows for 11 election dates in odd-numbered years, and that allows officials a degree of control over turnout by scheduling a vote on an unexpected day and minimizing publicity, notifying only likely Yes voters, so as to sneak a proposition past their constituents.

There ought to be a law to require proposition elections to be held on the corresponding general election day for the political subdivision. Until there is such a law, voters can deter this behavior by turning out en masse to vote against whatever happens to be on the ballot today. Here's the list from the Oklahoma State Election Board:

1. Hammon Public Schools (Beckham, Custer & Roger Mills Counties)
2. City of Piedmont (Canadian & Kingfisher Counties)
3. City of Sapulpa (Creek & Tulsa Counties)
4. City of Town of Arapaho (Custer County)
5. Town of Fairmont (Garfield County)
6. Kremlin-Hillsdale Schools (Garfield & Grant Counties)
7. Hughes County
8. Town of Terral (Jefferson County)
9. Eastern Oklahoma Tech Center (Lincoln, Logan, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie Counties)
10. Town of Kingston (Marshall County)
11. Town of Webbers Falls (Muskogee County)
12. City of Pawhuska (Osage County)
13. City of Shawnee (Pottawatomie County)
14. City of Wewoka (Seminole County)
15. Town of Muldrow (Sequoyah County)
16. Town of Burns Flat (Washita County)

And here are the results for the January 12, 2021 special elections. 125 precincts were open for business (about 5% of the statewide total), requiring three precinct officials at each precinct, plus county election board officials in 21 counties. Those 21 counties had to offer early in-person voting, but only 159 voters availed themselves of the opportunity.

Each precinct had exactly one proposition on the ballot. In 20 precincts, no one voted, nor were there any absentee or early votes cast by residents of the tiny sliver of Sapulpa in Tulsa County (two Tulsa County Sapulpans voted in person on election day). A grand total of 4,740 votes were cast.

Kingfisher County Election Board had to open up to support one election (City of Piedmont road tax) in one precinct (370103) in which there were no eligible voters (all voters in the precinct live outside the city limits, which are mainly in Canadian County).

All the propositions passed, except one: Voters in the City of Piedmont turned down a $28/month road tax by 81% to 19%. 1,213 voters turned out, about 25% of the number of eligible voters.

Piedmont's raw vote totals were exceeded only by the Eastern Oklahoma County Technology Center, with 1,228 votes cast, but that was accomplished in a district covering parts of four counties, with about 10 times the number of registered voters.

The smallest turnout was in Webbers Falls: 20 votes for and no votes against the renewal of OG+E's utility franchise.

Hughes County only managed 557 votes on a bond issue for funding $950,000 for the Hughes County Emergency Medical Services District, a cost to the average taxpayer of $1 per month.

It's hard to find out exactly what was being voted on, but so far, none of the issues appear to be emergent, or even urgent. 445 citizens of Sapulpa voted on extending a half-penny sales tax until March 31, 2044, but there's no mention of the election on the city website or Facebook page. In order to find out what was on the ballot, I had to pick a Sapulpa voter from the voter file, go to the Oklahoma voter tool, and then input the name and birthdate so that it would show me a sample ballot.

372 voters in the City of Pawhuska approved a 20-year one-cent sales tax to fund the local hospital. No mention of the election on the city's website or Facebook page, but at least the local paper ran a short news story.

No doubt every town published the required legal notices, but they don't seem to have bothered to publish in a way that would attract the notice of all eligible voters.

I return to my proposed schedule for Oklahoma elections: Every year a June primary, August runoff, and November general election. In odd-numbered years, school, municipal, county, and other local elections; in even-numbered years, federal and state elections. Propositions would only be permitted on the November election; if held on another date (because of a genuine emergency) they would require the approval of 50% of registered voters, which would give the locality an incentive to call attention to the election. Whether a shortened election calendar is passed or not, a quorum requirement seems like a reasonable innovation.