Monthly Archives: August 2013

RJ Harris Announces Intent To Run For Governor As Democratic Candidate

by

RJ HarrisEarlier today, RJ Harris announced his intent to run for governor as the Democratic candidate. News reports had been circulating stating that the Democratic Party has not put forth a candidate for Governor as of yet. In response to an article in the Washington Post about Libertarian Democrats, RJ Harris wrote on Facebook:

I will rise to this challenge and I hope you will rise with me. It is official; I am forming a campaign to run for the Oklahoma Democrat Party’s nomination for Governor. Oklahoma Constitutional Conservatives; it is time to put our principles for freedom ahead of party politics, it’s time to fight for LIBERTY. Continue reading →

NewsOK Gets The Law Wrong On Party Status

by

Oklahoma Democratic PartyWow. It is amazing that News OK would get the basic law so wrong. NewsOK claims that ifthe Democratic Party fails to field a candidate for Governor, it could end with the party losing official recognition. There is no threat to Democratic Party status if it fails to place a candidate on the ballot. The law is written in such a manner which could prevent either the Republicans or Democrats from ever losing party status.

A state law that took effect in 1975 requires any recognized political party whose nominee for governor or for presidential and vice presidential electors fails to receive at least 10 percent of the votes cast in a November general election shall cease to be a recognized political party.

While §26-1-109 of the Oklahoma Statutes reads does read that way:

Any recognized political party whose nominee for Governor or nominees for electors for President and Vice President fail to receive at least ten percent (10%) of the total votes cast for said offices in any General Election shall cease to be a recognized political party.

That is potentially overridden by §26 1 107 which reads:

Recognized political parties shall include parties whose candidates’ names appeared on the General Election ballot in 1974, and those parties which shall be formed according to law.

That would mean that in Oklahoma the only parties which could potentially never lose ballot access would be the Democratic and Republican parties since they are the only ones on the ballot in 1974.

Now, this may receive a different interpretation in court, and I would love to see this challenged by an establishment party. But as it stands now, this is a strong legal “get out of jail free card” for the Democratic Party if it doesn’t field a candidate.

Lack Of Challengers To Incumbents Bad For Oklahoma And Ballot Access

by

Governor Mary FallinRecently, an Associated Press article circulated among various state news outlets which reports there to be extremely few Democrats looking to challenge Oklahoma’s Republican incumbents. This story reports that as of the end of the last reporting period only one statewide office has any challengers, that of State Superintendent. It is no surprise to see that position being challenged, but it is a shame to see no movement on any other office.

We have already reported that incumbent Republican Governor Mary Fallin will be seeking reelection, although she has not made it official. It has also come to our attention that State Attorney General Scott Pruitt will also seek reelection. Despite these very clear moves to seek office once again, there are no challengers to be had.

While it is still early, there are usually indication about now to who might be running for elected office for many of the highest seats in the state. The fact that no one from the other established party has made motions to seek the Governor or Lt. Governor seat is very surprising. One would suspect that such motions will be announced in the coming months. Continue reading →