Bartlesville voter frustration rises after negative Oklahoma runoff election race

Bartlesville residents were barraged with mailers, flyers, and print, radio and TV ads for the Republican runoff between Josh Brecheen and Avery Frix runoff.

The candidates seemed to double down on their campaigns in Bartlesville and Washington County just before the election. leaving voters fatigued from the negativity and mixed messages.

The E-E spoke with several voters after leaving the polls and at a local coffee shop.

"We have civil wars now with our coworkers in the next cubicle," said local resident Jay Webster, adding the constant bombardment was indicative of a more significant issue.

He pointed to outside influences that dump millions of dollars to stoke the fears of the community to sway voters to one side.

Oklahoma runoff election:Brecheen tops Frix for GOP nomination for Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District

"After it's over, we all have to pretend like nothing happened and we are back on the same team," Webster said. "Only thing it accomplishes is further dividing us."

Jonathan Bolding, who recently ran for the Bartlesville school board, said he spoke with multiple community members who wanted help navigating the complexities of outside influence.

"You get these large full-page full-color ads on card stock in the mail and people think, 'This must be true. Look at the quality,' " he said. "But you can't trust it."

Bolding said the chaos distracts voters from the real issues. Instead of focusing on where they stand on issues, candidates are too busy trying to set the record straight from misinformation.

Most voters said their ire is aimed toward outside influences, not the candidates themselves.

Brecheen, who won the runoff race, agreed about the distractions. He admitted he spent an unprecedented amount of energy explaining whether or not he was a Trump supporter rather than actual issues such as inflation and runaway federal spending.

Oklahoma runoff election results:Find key state races here.

Bartlesville resident Gary Rix said he had forgotten about the intensity of combat the candidates could engage in and said he was frustrated with the overall negativity and conflicting ads he saw during this race.

"Our arms were tired from carrying all the ads to the trash can," he said.

The hostility also saddened Jannett Rix, who said she felt she couldn't trust anything she received in the mail. Many voters said they didn't vote for either candidate because of the negativity and felt neither deserved their votes.

As for the next election to come in November, several voters gave this advice: Do your homework, check sources and don't take anything at face value.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Local voter frustration rises after negative runoff race