KINGFISHER – Though the three candidates seeking the Republican nod for the state Senate District 26 seat touted their conservative credentials here last Thursday, their views on the issues facing northwestern Oklahoma were wide and varied.
Incumbent Senator Darcy Jech and challengers JJ Stitt and Brad Butler spoke at a candidate forum sponsored by the Kingfisher County Republican Women’s Club last Thursday evening. The event, held at Kingfisher Heritage School, drew about 40 people.
District 46 includes the southwest portion of Kingfisher County, all of Caddo, Roger Mills, Beckham and a good portion of Custer County. Records show about 72,000 people live in the district. More than 72% of the district’s population is white, while about 13% are listed as Hispanic and 11% Native American.
Each candidate had three minutes to answer a question posed by moderator and former Republican state Representative Mike Sanders. Sanders asked Jech, Stitt and Butler what three issues they would focus on in as a member of the Oklahoma Legislature.
Stitt, who spoke first, pointed to taxes and fear that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S Constitution was under attack. Voters in the district, he said, were concerned by high grocery and gas taxes. He said the state was in emergency mode, adding that the federal government was abusing the crisis.
“We’re at DEFCON 5 right now,” he said. “And the bureaucracy is the problem.”
Stitt said he was disappointed the Legislature didn’t pass a bill to eliminate the grocery tax and added that lawmakers should also make some effort to reduce the cost of gasoline by lowering the tax on fuel.
“They need to do it now,” he said. “I don’t want to wait until next session.”
Jech, the incumbent, said tax issue would remain a concern. If re-elected, he said he would continue to support proposals that expand the state’s agricultural and oil and gas industries, adding he would also work to expand to develop Oklahoma’s tourism industry.
“Tourism is huge right now,” he said. “There are no better dollars than out-of-state dollars. Whatever we can do to foster that is important.”
Jech also called for a stronger education system to buttress the state’s economic development efforts. “We need to make sure we sit a table for those teachers and administrators so they can teach our kids,” he said. “Reading, writing [and] arithmetic is important.”
Butler said he was running to fix what was broke in state government.
“I’m not running primarily to fix roads or bridges, education, taxes, the McGirt decision,” he said. “I’m running on root cause issues. I’m trying to get to the foundation of why is our government broke. Why do we continually have to year after year address education and roads?”
Oklahomans, he said, were very “like-minded” but the state’s government doesn’t reflect that.
Butler said his campaign was centered on pushing back against the federal government, to protect Sooners from overreach. Additionally, he said Oklahomans don’t have equal representation in state government.
“Our government has essentially been stolen by a hierarchy that happens inside the Capitol. I believe that the Speaker of the House and the Senate Pro Tempore in each chamber have far too much power and we need to equalize that power among the 48 senators” he said. “I understand that’s a big thought, but it has to happen.”
Butler’s third issue, he said, would be to inject more religion into state politics. He hinted that he would work to breach the wall between church and state but stopped short of saying how he would accomplish the task.
“We have Bible studies and might say religious things but when the pen hits the paper and we actually begin to write legislation, Romans 13 and John 3:16 are the farthest thing from our mind,” he said.
Records from the state Ethics Commission show Jech raised a total of $132,617 for the campaign with more than $37,000 of those funds coming between January and March of this year. Jech reported spending a total of $17,389 with $114,227 on hand.
Stitt reported raising a total of $38,064 for his campaign with $20,620 of those funds coming between January and March. He also reported contributing $15,849 of his own funds to the campaign. So far, Stitt has spent a total of $16,639 and has $18,775 remaining.
Butler reported raising a total of $22,387 for this campaign. Of that figure $14,285 was raised from January of March 2022. Butler contributed $14,300 of his own funds to the campaign and reported spending a total of $16,895 with $5,491 on hand.
Because no Democratic candidate filed for the seat, voters in the district will decide who will be their senator at the June 28 primary election.