Oklahoma Republicans have been subjecting our state to a lot recently- passing unconstitutional (and embarrassing) legislation, pillaging limited funds to patch up an ongoing budgetary crisis, four day school weeks. Republican mismanagement of our state is what motivated over 52,000 Oklahomans to vote Democrat in the primary for House District 2 this past Tuesday.[1] Compared to a Republican primary in the same District that saw turnout under 32,000, it’s safe to assume that Oklahomans are making a statement- enough with Republican dysfunction; it’s time to take back our state from rogue legislators and their special interests.

Joshua Harris-Till, a name you’re going to hear more and more, led the way with 31,652 votes, enough to both win the primary and overlap both of his Republican competitors combined. This result is telling; in such an unstable election cycle, Oklahoma voters are spurning the GOP, which has rapidly become the party of Trump and his politics of fear and chaos. Instead, they are turning to a Democratic Party that is alone in offering Oklahoma a chance at responsible stewardship and leadership with a vision.

Our state is teetering dangerously close to the fiscal cliff right now, and the response of our overwhelmingly Republican legislature this past session was to try to waste more taxpayer dollars on a special session to bring back a doomed, vetoed, and unconstitutional bill. Oklahoma lost over $400 million to oil and gas tax breaks last year, meaning that the GOP essentially paid the industry to make our state have more earthquakes than the rest of the continental US combined in 2015.[2][3] We have school districts closing, we have rotting infrastructure, and we have legislators who think a $28.5 million reflecting pool is a good idea.[4]  Oklahomans are tired, and we have a right to be; but instead of giving up, we need to get energized, and get voting.

[1] “Oklahoma’s 2^nd Congressional District,” last modified June 20^th, 2016, https://ballotpedia.org/Oklahoma%27s_2nd_Congressional_District_election,_2016

[2] “Oklahoma’s oil and gas tax breaks exceed $400 million per year,” last modified May 5^th, 2016, http://okpolicy.org/even-amid-energy-bust-oklahomas-oil-gas-tax-breaks-exceed-400-million-per-year/

[3] “Oklahoma has more earthquakes in 2015 than all of continental US combined,” last modified December 31^st, 2015, http://www.koco.com/weather/oklahoma-ha-more-earthquakes-in-2015-than-all-of-continental-us-combined/37209902

[4] “State Capitol repairs to cost twice what was allocated,” last modified December 4^th, 2015, http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/capitol_report/state-capitol-repairs-to-cost-twice-what-was-allocated-archway/article_a72f9fae-48eb-5ca3-bcc5-e1f0e6161149.html