Voters battle heat, politics to vote in Tuesday’s election

OKLAHOMA CITY – After spending more than $20 million and waging one of the wildest political battles in recent history, Oklahoma Republicans finally picked a nominee for governor Tuesday — former state Sen. Mike Mazzei. Mazzei defeated Attorney General Gentner Drummond by just 2,047 votes in a close, tense race. Mazzei had 186,678 votes to Drummond’s 184,631, unofficial election returns show. “Well, we wanted to keep you on the edge of your seats for a while. At least on the edge of my seat,” Mazzei said during a watch party in Tulsa. Drummond, though disappointed, praised voters during his watch party in Oklahoma City. “Thank you for every Oklahoman who voted for me, who knocked on doors, put up signs, made calls, gave what they could and believed in this campaign,” he said. “It is not the outcome that we wanted. But I believe deeply in the right of people to choose their candidate, so tonight I respect their decisions. Mr. Mazzei, tonight I wish you and your family well.” The turnout, however, remained low. In addition to the governor’s seat, Republicans also selected their nominees for state superintendent, labor commissioner and insurance commissioner. Filings show that Robert Franklin defeated James Taylor for the Republican nomination for state superintendent. Franklin captured 197,017 votes to Taylor’s 163,612 votes.

 Franklin earned more than 54% of the vote and will face former Tulsa Public Schools board member Jennettie Marshall in the Nov. 3 general election. In the contest for the GOP nomination for labor commissioner, Kevin West far outpaced John Pfeiffer. West captured 203,938 votes, while Pfeiffer earned 145,981 votes. West earned 58.28% of the vote to Pfeiffer’s 41.72%. In the race for the insurance commissioner nomination, state lawmaker Marty Quinn was soundly defeated by Bob Sullivan for the Republican nomination. Quinn captured 158,627 votes – about 44.87% – to Sullivan’s 194,922 votes, or 55.13%. The runoff featured several legislative races, including State Senate District 32, which covers the Lawton area. Dusty Deevers, the current state senator, was defeated in June during the primary election. Tuesday, voters in the district chose Curtis Erwin as the GOP nominee. Erwin earned 2,307 votes — 56.88% — to Jean Hausheer’s 1749 votes, or 43.12%. Erwin will face Booker Newton, a Democrat, and Valentin Pena, an Independent, in the November election. 

Democrats had one statewide race on the August ballot: the battle between Jim Priest and N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, who were both seeking the party nomination for Oklahoma’s U.S. Senate seat. Thomas defeated Priest, earning 61.19% of the vote, or 79,201 votes. Priest finished with 50,238 votes, or 38.81%. Voters also had the opportunity to support or vote “no” for two state questions. State Question 844 would have given the Legislature the authority to recalculate the reimbursement amounts paid under a manufacturing tax incentive program. That proposal was defeated by a “no” vote of 389,735, or 73.25%, to a “yes” vote of 133,755, or 26.25%. State Question 846, which would enshrine voter identification in the Oklahoma Constitution, passed with a “yes” vote of 292,481, or 54.61%, to a “no” vote of 243,064, or 45.39%. Voter turnout In Comanche County, election board officials told the Ledger on Tuesday that only about 685 votes had been cast in the county’s three-day early voting period. Public Broadcasting Service reported that only about 32,000 ballots had been cast statewide during the same period. The low turnout was similar statewide, said Oklahoma Election Board Communication Director Misha Mohr. “OK, so it looks like early voting totals came to 39,987,” she said. “I believe it was slightly under the primary election held in June. It was a bit lower than that. In June, early voting turnout was 48,408.” Comanche County voter Anne Andrus of Lawton said she tries to vote in every election. Andrus said she voted in Tuesday’s GOP primary runoff election because she was worried about a plan to build an aluminum smelter at the Port of Inola. Andrus spoke to Southwest Ledger after she cast her ballot at Lawton Heights United Methodist Church. 

She said she voted for Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who was running against former state lawmaker Mike Mazzei in the GOP race for governor, because Drummond opposed the aluminum plant. “I do not want an aluminum smelter on Oklahoma farmland affecting our river,” she said, referring to the Verdigris River in Southeast Oklahoma. “So, that was very important to me.” Andrus, who described herself as an independent-leaning conservative, said she split her vote on the two state questions on the ballot. If it had passed, SQ 844 would have allowed lawmakers to tweak the state’s system for reimbursing local governments and communities for some manufacturing property tax exemptions. SQ 846, which did pass, changes the state Constitution to require proof of identity for all voting methods. Lawmakers would decide what qualifies as proof. Andrus said she voted “No” on SQ 844 but “Yes” on the question about voter ID.

 “I think it makes sense,” she said of SQ 846. “It’s the only honest thing to do.” In Oklahoma County, Election Board Secretary Doug Sanderson said the turnout was low and could have been hampered by a number of issues, including hot weather. “Even though it’s a runoff, we have a pretty good turnout for early voting, and you could kind of sense that people were coming early. And then when it was getting hotter in the day, the crowd became more sparse, so definitely (the heat) impacts it,” he said. Sanderson said Oklahoma County had 6,683 mail-in ballots, with another 3,000 people voting early. One Comanche County voter, who asked not to be identified, said she voted at Bethlehem Baptist Church. She said she was registered as an Independent, which meant she could not vote in either the GOP or Democratic primaries. 

She could, however, vote on the two state questions on the ballot. The woman said she voted “no” on each state question. She declined to discuss the reasons behind her vote, adding that she wished the two major political parties had open primaries. “I don’t like the fact that we can’t vote for either party, but that’s OK,” she said. On the other end of the political spectrum, Mitchell Dufrin, a registered Democrat, said he felt Oklahomans were obligated to vote, especially on propositions that affect the entire state. Because of his registration, Dufrin could not vote in the GOP primary election. He did vote, however, on State Questions 844 and 846. Dufrin said he voted “No” on SQ 844, the voter ID question. “My whole time I’ve voted, we’ve always had to show ID,” he said in an interview after voting at Bethlehem Baptist Church’s Family Life Center. “I feel like making it part of the Constitution now — it feels like it gives the state the obligation to change the voters’ way of voting, especially right before, let’s say, the primary or the midterms.” Dufrin said he voted “Yes” on State Question 846, which involved property tax reimbursements. He said school districts benefit from those reimbursements. “Our schools need the funding more than anything, especially now that we’re 50th in education,” he said. Oklahoma’s general election is scheduled for Nov. 3.

 ___ M. Scott Carter is an award-winning political and investigative reporter with more than 40 years’ experience covering federal and state government and politics in Oklahoma. He can be reached at scott. carter@swoknews.com. Eric Swanson is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years’ experience covering local government and criminal justice in Oklahoma, North Dakota and Kansas. He can be reached at eric.swanson@ swoknews.com.