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Oklahoma Election 2022: BatesLine ballot card
In-person absentee voting will be available at in every county on Wednesday through Friday, November 2 - 4, 2022 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday, November 5, 2022, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. In most counties, this will be at the County Election Board office or...
Oklahoma 2022: Tulsa area legislative races
Two State Senate districts and six State House districts that overlap with Tulsa County have general elections on November 8, 2022. Neighboring counties add in four additional State House seats. Here's an overview with my recommendations in six of the races; details after the jump, and more to be added....
Re-elect Governor Kevin Stitt
Oklahoma hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office since 2006. Since 2004, every county in Oklahoma has given a plurality of its vote in every presidential election to the Republican nominee. Voter registration, a lagging indicator, continues to trend toward the GOP across the state, most strongly in southeastern Oklahoma,...
Oklahoma Runoff, Tulsa General Election 2022: BatesLine ballot card
On Tuesday, August 23, 2022, Oklahoma Republicans and Democrats have a partisan primary runoff election in a number of statewide, federal, legislative, and county races, and the City of Tulsa will conduct a non-partisan citywide general election, including races in all nine council districts as well as three charter-change propositions....
Oklahoma Primary 2022: BatesLine ballot card
Polls will be open Tuesday, June 28, 2022, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. NOTE: Precinct boundaries, voting locations, and district boundaries have changed, in some cases dramatically. Enter your name and date of birth on the Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter portal and you will see where...
Oklahoma Primary 2022: Statewide races
Somewhat short takes on the races for Oklahoma statewide office on the June 28, 2022, Republican primary ballot. Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell did not draw a primary opponent, and Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready has been re-elected without opposition. I've endorsed John O'Connor for Attorney General in a separate entry....
Leftist groups donate $6.3 million to SQ 805
Two out-of-state Leftist organizations contributed a total of $6,336,852.36 in support of State Question 805, the proposed constitutional amendment that will allow temporarily inconvenienced career criminals to return more rapidly to their vocation of victimizing their neighbors. The two organizations, the ACLU and FWD.US, combined to provide 87% of the...
SQ 640 and raising taxes in Oklahoma
Last week the Oklahoma House approved HJR 1050 by a bare majority of 51 votes, pushed by the Chambercrat House Leadership, voting to erode the constitutional protection against tax increases without approval of the voting public. These 51 representatives, including two, Leslie Osborn and Glen Mulready, who are seeking higher...
Election 2016: Oklahoma's seven electors
I almost left the top line of my ballot blank. When I was filling out my absentee ballot, I left the presidential race until the last. Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton nor Gary Johnson -- our only three choices in Oklahoma -- are fit to serve as president of...
Oklahoma 2016 judicial retention
Two State Supreme Court justices, two judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals, and three judges on the Court of Civil Appeals are before the voters for retention. If any of the judges get more no votes than yes votes, he or she will be out of office, and a...
Oklahoma Election 2014: judicial retention ballot
Three justices of the State Supreme Court (Reif, Colbert, Watt), one justice of the Court of Criminal Appeals (Lumpkin), and five justices of the Court of Civil Appeals (Goodman, Wiseman, Barnes, Rapp, Goree) will be on Tuesday's ballot. Oklahoma has a two-path appellate system: Criminal cases are appealed to the...
Art Rubin, RIP
Arthur E. Rubin, grand old man of the Tulsa County GOP, died Sunday, February 2, 2014, at the age of 93. Visitation is tonight, Friday, February 7, 2014, from 5 - 7 p.m. at Moore Funeral Home Rosewood Chapel at 2570 S. Harvard. Funeral is Saturday, February 8, 2014, at...
"The Governor Who Must Not Be Named"
Jim Geraghty notes an interesting omission in the resume of Merrick Alpert, a Democratic primary challenger to U. S. Sen. Chris "Countrywide" Dodd. From the resume: In 1993, he went to work for the National Health Care Campaign, organizing the State of Oklahoma. While in Oklahoma, he was hired as...
PLANiTULSA prep, the RNC, and St. Paul's epistle to the Tulsans
In addition to all the writing I did for BatesLine during the Republican National Convention, I managed to turn out three pieces for this week's issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly: The cover story about the upcoming PLANiTULSA citywide planning workshops. The folks at the City of Tulsa Planning Department and...
Rules committee: A summary
Friday's Republican National Convention rules committee meeting heralded major changes in the way Republicans will select a presidential nominee in years to come, although exactly what those changes may be are yet to be determined. The primary process was one of several thorny issues debated in a six-hour meeting by...
My election day cheat sheet
For my own reference (and yours as well, if you like), a little cheat sheet to help me keep all the races straight. The front side of the ballot varies from precinct to precinct. If you live in Tulsa County, this page has links to an image of each precinct's...
2006 primary observations, part 1
First (and probably briefest) in a series: Tulsa County DA Tim Harris prevailed over a tough challenge, but a few other incumbent District Attorneys didn't make it. Tim Kuykendall, 12-year DA in Cleveland, McClain, and Garvin counties, lost to challenger Greg Mashburn, 63% to 37%. While Tim Harris was criticized...
The case for Instant Runoff Voting
An edited version of this piece was published in the March 8, 2006, issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly. The archived version is no longer online. Posted on the web July 1, 2010. The case for Instant Runoff Voting By Michael D. Bates The polls haven't even opened as I write...
Why we need preferential ballots
An election result like this ought to convince you that first-past-the-post is a lousy way to run an election. Never mind for the moment who won -- none of the candidates came anywhere near a majority. Ideally, you want a system where voting for your favorite candidate can't help your...
My picks
(ENTRY POSTED 6:59 PM, Monday, November 1, postdated to remain at the top through election day.) UPDATED 12:00 AM, Tuesday: I've moved off dead center on 707. Here's how I'm voting tomorrow -- click the link below, for my choices with links to what I've written about them:...
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