June 21, 2026

Friends,

Happy Father’s Day everyone — somewhere, somehow, someway there’s a dad in all of our lives.  Special shout out to two of my faves and most loyal readers, my dad Don and my husband Tony!

 

I hope everyone’s summer is off to a great start.  I am definitely enjoying the slower pace and being around Tulsa.  Politics is never far away though, my oldest son is home for summer and we went and voted together Tuesday.  That’s my kind of fun!

 

 

Elections: Good News, Bad News and Data

As a lover of good governance, I was watching Tuesday night very closely, especially the Oklahoma State Senate races.  That body needs more alignment — meaning fewer Freedom Caucus members who aren’t really for anything except extremism and obstruction — and they are really good at both.  Outcomes on Tuesday night weaken that caucus and I’m probably most happy about that result.

 

On the other hand, I’m not happy about the voter turnout.  It is just so disappointing, even more disappointing than usual.  Only one in four registered voters cast a ballot.  Randy Krehbiel of the Tulsa World wrote a good article on it.  Here’s a snippet:

“About 270,000 fewer votes were cast Tuesday on a state question that would have raised the state’s minimum wage than were eight years ago on a state question to legalize medical marijuana.  That vote, too, fell on the primary election.  And here’s another stat.  A third fewer votes were counted in Tuesday’s Republican and Democratic primaries than in similar primaries eight years ago.”

 

On a personal election note, I did not have a primary challenger this year, and no one filed to run against me in November either.  I’m very grateful to have the chance to continue representing HD 70 and you.  Thank you for trusting me with this work – it is an absolute honor to serve you.

 

So with my race out of the way, let’s look at how HD 70 voted on a variety of issues:

 

GOP Primary, Governor: It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a map like this!  Five different parts of the state went for five different candidates.  State Senator and Tulsa native Mike Mazzei carried Tulsa County with 35% of the vote.  However, in HD 70, every precinct but two went for General Gentner Drummond.

Democratic Primary, Governor: HD 70, like every other precinct in the state, voted for Cyndi Munson.

 

GOP Primary, Attorney General: HD 70 was largely split on this race, including two precincts in dead ties for both candidates.  There were only five precincts with ties in Tulsa County in this race and two of them were in our district.

 

State Question 832: While the state rejected raising the minimum wage (55.4% to 44.6%), HD 70 overwhelmingly voted yes on SQ 832, with every precinct in our district supporting it.

 

GOP Primary, Congressional District 1: Tulsa County as a whole went for State Senator Mark Tedford, as did HD 70, with the exception of one tiny precinct that voted for Jackson Lahmeyer, who is now out of the race.

 

GOP Primary, District Attorney: DA Steve Kunzweiler had a dominating victory across the county and HD 70 agreed, every precinct voted for him.

 

State Senate Races: A group of hardline Freedom Caucus conservatives had targeted several incumbent Republican senators who they called the “Swamp 7” (basically members they thought were too aligned with Senate leadership and not extreme enough).  Those races mattered because the Senate has been pulled between people trying to govern and a Freedom Caucus wing that is often more interested in obstruction than solutions.  I was encouraged to see hardline efforts to knock off incumbent Republicans mostly fall short.  The so-called “Swamp 7” held their seats, including appropriations chair Sen. Chuck Hall in SD 20, and the results weaken the Freedom Caucus wing.  The Senate is still plenty conservative, of course, but Tuesday was a good night for people who would rather govern than obstruct.

More Data

I also want to make sure you have the Legislative Service Bureau’s annual summary of all legislation passed last session.  A total of 465 bills – about 35 fewer than last year.  Even though I was there to vote on it all live and in person, I still can’t believe everything in the document.

 

I also notice how bananas some of it is! For example, thanks to SB 2065 Oklahoma now has official state insects.  The European honeybee is the state agricultural pollinator, the American bumblebee is the state native insect, the Carolina mantis is the state predator insect, and the rainbow scarab is the state soil conservation insect. We also have a new monthly limit on how much raw milk an individual may sell directly to consumers — a dramatic jump from 100 gallons per month to 1,500 gallons per month!  And the Governor vetoed a bill that would have legalized human composting, writing that “human beings are made in God’s image, and our laws should reflect that dignity even in death.”  So much for dust to dust! Finally some outcomes of past legislation.  The Oklahoma Tax Commission just released the most up-to-date data on how Oklahoma’s private school tax credit is being used.  I continue to have concerns about the credit for many reasons, but one of the biggest concerns is that it isn’t driving any change for students.  The data shows 90% of these students were already in private school.

Interim Study Time The deadline to suggest interim studies is Friday.  Interim studies allow legislators to build a factual record on complex or emerging issues.  They’re often used to evaluate existing programs, surface unintended consequences of recent legislation, or raise awareness and lay the groundwork for future bills. I will be looking at childcare issues, of course.  Check out this article where I discuss the childcare problem in a nutshell:  the demand is there, but families cannot pay what it actually costs to build, staff, and sustain quality care.  Per constituent request we will also study, Lindsey Nicole Henry scholarship, and in conjunction with Senator Julie Daniels (R-Bartlesville) a study of the sex offender statutes.  If you have additional ideas or suggestions for studies or even policy, please, please let me know.  I’d love to discuss, explore, evaluate, and maybe propose a solution to a problem. Until Next Time That’s about a wrap.  I’m headed to Nashville later this week for a policy conference on early childhood with the Hunt Institute.  I’ll be driving, so if anyone has podcasts, articles or books I should listen to while I drive, send them my way! Reach out if I can be of help, if you have questions, concerns, ideas, or if you would like me to come visit with a group, a business or program.  And everyone do something more fun than worry about state politics.  I will worry about it for you!   Let’s Keep Going!