OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Despite talk of widespread dissatisfaction with the Oklahoma Legislature, three quarters of the House members running for re-election have yet to draw a challenge.
Among those who don’t have opponents are the people who run the House: Speaker Charles McCall and the top three members of his Republican leadership team.
In all, 40 of the 57 House Republicans seeking another term do not have an opponent who has registered with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, the Oklahoman reported . Candidates must register when they have raised or spent $1,000.
Democrats, the minority party in the House, have it even easier, proportionately. Of the 21 Democratic incumbents running this year, only three have drawn opposition. Even a couple Democratic incumbents who narrowly flipped Republican-held districts in recent years have no challenger.
“You’re gonna have more challengers,” said House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, who has yet to draw opposition.
“You’re going to see challenges from the right and left in both primaries - people challenging from the extremes and the middle.”
Echols, R-Oklahoma City, who had no opponent in 2016, said he is in constant contact with his constituents and considers himself in step with their interests.
“I have really strong support inside my district,” he said.
The period for candidates to file for elective office is still almost a month away, and more incumbents are likely to draw opposition. Generally, however, mounting a serious challenge to an incumbent requires many months of fundraising and campaigning.
Pam Pollard, chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, said the “brand-new candidates” in 2016, including a bloc of teachers who ran as Democrats, “thought they could just put their names on the ballots” and win. They all lost.
Besides name recognition, incumbents typically have campaign cash and the means to raise more.
McCall, R-Atoka, had $136,000 in his campaign account when the year began. Rep. Emily Virgin, a Norman Democrat who hasn’t drawn an opponent, had nearly $63,000.
Anna Langthorn, chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, said she is still busy recruiting candidates and hopes to field an opponent for every Republican.
In the past, she would have recommended to challengers or open-seat candidates that they build their campaigns at least 18 months before the election.
This year is different, she said, predicting that many voters will discard the old habit of trusting their own representatives even though they’re angry at the Legislature.
She said, “I think incumbent Republican legislators have a lot to be concerned about because of how dysfunctional things are and because it’s affecting the day-to-day lives of Oklahomans.”
Pollard disagreed, saying polls show an overwhelming number of Oklahomans still want Republicans to lead government.
“I think this election is going to be about who can best solve the problems in the state of Oklahoma,” she said.
“I am very confident we will maintain a healthy majority in the House and Senate.”
Some of the most competitive races will likely come in open seats or in districts flipped by Democrats in the last few years.
Counting recent announcements by House members who have decided not to seek another term, there are 23 open seats: 15 seats currently held by Republicans and eight held by Democrats.
That ensures 23 new faces in the 101-member House, and more incumbents could choose not to seek re-election before filing period begins on April 11.
That doesn’t mean that the ratio of Republicans to Democrats will necessarily change. There are currently 72 Republicans and 28 Democrats; one seat is vacant.
In some of the open Republican seats - such as ones that include solid GOP areas like Edmond and Enid - only Republicans have registered as candidates. Likewise, some open Democratic seats have drawn only Democratic candidates.
There are no indicators that a wave election is nigh.
Langthorn said she’s not expecting Democrats to win back the majority in 2018. The party has a goal of flipping six House seats this year, while successfully defending the ones it now holds.
That would give Democrats 34 seats “so we have a full third of the House and can sustain a veto in the event that we elect a Democratic governor, which we’re hoping to do,” she said.
Larry Bush, a Democrat running for an open House seat in Lawton, said voters are frustrated with the state’s budget woes and are already more engaged than they were two years ago.
“I think teachers are more engaged now,” he said. “It’s hit home with a lot of people, and a lot of people are feeling it firsthand.”
Voting for major tax packages, as many lawmakers have done in the past six months, has not necessarily translated into political challenges.
Many Republicans and Democrats who voted for a revenue package proposed by a coalition of business and community leaders - the Step Up plan - have not drawn opposition.
That includes Echols.
“I think it reflects where my district is,” he said.
Constituents have told him to “stop the never-ending budget process.”
“There was some revenue in Step Up that I would have been a ’no’ on and have been a ’no’ on in the past,” Echols said.
Langthorn said she doesn’t expect general election battles to focus on specific votes.
Average voters, she said, see a host of problems created by budget shortfalls “and they don’t care that one budget deal fell short by four votes or another budget deal fell short by 27 votes.
“They just want it to be fixed. And the reality is that most of the people who have any ability to fix it are Republicans.”
Echols said incumbents would be hurt if they’re not part of the solution.
“I think any Republican or Democrat who thinks not getting a deal done is a win is wrong,” he said. “I believe we get a deal done and we all succeed or we don’t and we all fail.
“The number one thing I hear in my district is: ’Fix it.’”
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Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com
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