OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Sean Roberts can remain on the ballot as a candidate for State Labor Commissioner, but not with a nickname.
The State Election Board ruled 3-0 on April 25 to strike “The Patriot” from Roberts’ name as it will appear on the Republican primary ballot. Incumbent Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn challenged Roberts’ use of that moniker as an official element of his name as it will appear to voters on Election Day.
The state Administrative Code provides, “The candidate’s name shall appear on the ballot exactly as it appears on the designated line of the Candidate Information and Oath. A candidate who is generally known by or who does business using a nickname, birth name, or any name other than his or her legal name may choose to appear on the ballot by providing that name on the designated line of the Candidate Information and Oath…”
“The important word today is ‘generally’ known,” said former state Attorney General Mike Hunter, who represented Osborn in the proceeding. “The rule is clear that there’s a standard, and Sean Roberts is not generally known as ‘Sean the Patriot Roberts.’”
Osborn’s challenge was important to “establish a precedent, that you can’t use a campaign slogan as part of a candidate’s name,” Hunter said.
Roberts’ attorney, Lexie Norwood, pointed to former state Rep. Scooter Park of House District 65; incumbent state Sen. Blake “Cowboy” Stephens, who’s been known by that nickname for many years; and Virginia Blue Jeans Jenner, a Wagoner Democrat who identified herself by that name in her unsuccessful campaigns for governor in 1986, Tulsa mayor in 1988, U.S. Senate in 1990, Congressional District 2 in 1996 and again in 2018, state House District 12 in 2000 and 2004, and state Labor Commissioner in 1994, 1998 and 2002.
There is no evidence that Roberts “is generally known by or who does business using” the name Sean the Patriot Roberts, Osborn asserted. In fact, Roberts has appeared on the ballot in seven successive legislative elections as Kevin Sean Roberts or as Sean Roberts, Osborn noted.
And in his filing with the Federal Election Commission for his aborted campaign earlier this year for the Third District congressional seat held by Frank Lucas, Roberts filed as “Kevin Sean Roberts” and listed his campaign committee as “Patriots for Sean Roberts.”
Hunter asked, “Why didn’t you identify yourself as Sean the Patriot Roberts” when filing for the congressional seat? “I had to put my legal name,” said Roberts, 48, of Hominy.
Use of the term “The Patriot” between Roberts’ first and last names is “nothing less than a cynical artifice to attempt to misdirect or mislead voters” about his credentials for office, Osborn charged. “It was a ballot gimmick,” she said later.
“When did you begin to be called Sean the Patriot Roberts?” Hunter asked.
“It began after the 2018 election and it picked up steam from there,” Roberts replied.
However, Roberts indicated he didn’t start referring to himself as “the Patriot” until after his 2020 campaign when he was re-elected to his sixth and final two-year term in the Legislature. He said he adopted the moniker because of his “love of country and the freedoms that go along with that.”
Nevertheless, in the House chamber he is recognized as Representative Roberts, his name on the door of his State Capitol office appears as Representative Sean Roberts, and his business cards do not refer to him as Sean the Patriot Roberts, he acknowledged. His driver’s license was issued to Kevin Sean Roberts, and he has no IDs or credit cards that refer to him as Sean the Patriot Roberts, he admitted.
The Election Board’s decision “evened the playing field,” said Osborn, 58, of Mustang, who is seeking a second four-year term as State Labor Commissioner. She said she filed her contest because it was a matter of “election and ballot integrity.”
Other candidates for that post include Republican Keith Swinton, 58, of Norman; Democrat Jack Henderson, 71, of Tulsa; and Libertarian Will Daugherty, 28, of Yukon.
The statewide primary election will be held June 28; a runoff election, if necessary, is set for Aug. 23; and the general election is scheduled for Nov. 8.