Stitt vs. Treat: Inside the fight between the governor and the Senate pro tempore

Editor's Note: This is the first in a two-part series about the ongoing feud between Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat.

A couple of months ago, shortly after the 2024 legislative session began, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt made several political moves that, even now, could come back to haunt him.

Stitt’s actions weren’t about policy or economic development. They had nothing to do with education or public safety. This was a raw, bare-knuckle game of politics, played by the governor and directed at a one-time ally.

So far, the governor hasn't been successful — but he hasn’t stopped either.

The fight for a new pro tempore

Just days after the second session of the 59^th Oklahoma Legislature convened, members of the Senate’s Republican Caucus began to plan for 2025. Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat would be leaving his leadership position at the end of the session, forced out by term limits. The 2024 session would be Treat’s last.

The 2024 session already was set to be difficult. Not only was the leadership in both houses of the Legislature exiting stage left, but 2024 is also an election year. Every member of the House of Representatives and half of the Oklahoma Senate would be up for reelection. On top of that, the country chooses a new president in November.

Election-year politics in Oklahoma has always been difficult.

The GOP caucus needed someone who could handle the job. And that decision had to be made early in the session, to give the Senate’s next leader time to prepare.

Treat would prove difficult to replace.

More: Gov. Stitt's pushback against the Senate is personal, leader Greg Treat says

A skilled politician, and an adviser in several election campaigns, Treat didn’t mind a political fight. Smart, articulate and surrounded by a top-flight staff, he went toe-to-toe with opponents when necessary. At the same time, he remained approachable, didn’t mind civil disagreements and, often, carved a centrist approach to public policy.

“Greg Treat is skilled at governing,” retired University of Oklahoma political scientist Keith Gaddie said. “He understands the need for politics, but once the campaign is over, Greg Treat is all about governing.”

Though Treat’s tenure as the Senate’s leader has been rocky at times, the Senate remained focused on conservative principles, and it was productive: passing legislation on school choice, a cut in the state’s portion of the grocery sales tax, restrictions on abortion — all issues that both Treat and Stitt have embraced.

A successor for Treat, who would be supported by most of the Senate’s caucus, would need a similar focus, and that person had to have some political savvy and, at the same time, had to be accessible.

Enter Ada Republican Greg McCortney.

Currently the Senate’s Majority Floor Leader, McCortney is a solid echo of Treat: intelligent, focused and stubborn. Like Treat, McCortney is easy to talk to, and like Treat he’s a skilled politician. A former mayor, he has a deep understanding of Oklahoma politics. It also helped his case that he had Treat’s support.

More: Budget summit highlights divisions, priorities between Legislature and governor's office

By February a majority of the Senate’s GOP caucus was ready to embrace McCortney. And Treat was ready to help. He lobbied members and worked hard on McCortney’s behalf.

McCortney also had support from several members of the Senate’s GOP caucus – but not everyone.

In fact, it wasn’t long before McCortney became a target. And it was at that moment that the governor played his first card: a quiet, behind-the-scenes lobbying effort, leveraging the small group of senators opposed to McCortney and Treat.

The governor’s goal was simple — shoot down McCortney’s effort to become the next pro tempore.

Stitt, several sources told The Oklahoman, began phoning members of the GOP caucus and urging them to vote against McCortney.

“He kept saying that Treat was a Republican in Name Only — a RINO,” said one source, who asked not to be identified because he feared retribution. “He was direct and to the point and wanted someone other than McCortney. He injected himself into the race.”

Treat confirmed those claims.

Tension at the Capitol increased. On the afternoon that the Senate’s GOP caucus met to choose its next leader, Stitt pushed hard — against McCortney.

“I don’t think he thought he could influence me, so I didn’t hear from him,” Treat said. “But a number of my colleagues came to me trying to figure out what to do because he was trying to wade in heavily against Senator McCortney. He really tried the heavy hand … to get people to support someone other than the person our caucus chose.”

More: Stitt signs hundreds of bills Into law as budget negotiations continue

While Stitt has remained mostly silent about McCortney’s choice as the Senate’s new leader, his spokesperson, Abegail Cave, told The Oklahoman the governor “isn’t actively campaigning against Senator McCortney,” in a carefully worded email.

“He has said ‘send me someone I can work with,'” Cave wrote. “Regardless of who is elected as the pro tempore, Governor Stitt will continue to work on behalf of all four million Oklahomans.”

Cave didn’t respond to questions that asked if Stitt had campaigned previously against McCortney's selection as pro tempore or to questions about whether Stitt worked for McCortney's defeat because he was supported by Treat.

Others, however, were more public in their opposition to Treat and McCortney.

Broken Arrow Republican Sen. Nathan Dahm — who is also the head of the Oklahoma Republican Party — and the newly elected senator from Elgin, Dusty Deevers, both went after the Senate’s leadership on social media, questioning Treat and McCortney’s Republican credentials.

The Stitt faction worked hard, but Treat, aware of what was going on, fought back. After a tense, all-morning meeting, the Senate’s 40-member strong Republican Caucus elected McCortney as its next pro tempore.

McCortney, located at ground zero of the political fight, took the high road.

“I appreciate the members of the Senate Republican Caucus who voted for me, and even those who didn’t,” McCortney said. “I want to continue to unite our party and work toward our common goals. While I know there will be challenges and difficulties ahead, we all want the same thing — what is best for all Oklahomans.”

For his part, Treat praised McCortney after the caucus meeting and promised to help him succeed. "I’ll continue to work closely with him to help him prepare for this role,” Treat said in a media announcement after the Senate’s caucus meeting. “I am forever grateful that former Pro Tem Mike Schulz set a great example and did that for me.”

Round One in the battle of Treat versus Stitt went to Treat.

The Treat, Stitt clash began about 2020

The tension between the governor and the leader of the Oklahoma Senate goes back to 2020 when both men locked horns over two of the governor’s executive nominations: Gary Cox as commissioner of health and Brandt Vawter as the head of the Commissioners of the Land Office.

Just before the 2020 legislative session ended, the Senate voted "no" on the confirmations of Cox and Vawter. Treat, meeting with reporters, afterward said neither man was qualified for their posts.

“The chief executive decided to hire someone for a position [who] was not statutorily qualified, and he did that with the Department of Health and also did that with the Commissioners of the Land Office,” Treat said. “And (the governor) did not even think to talk to legislative leaders, much less any legislator whatsoever.”

The pair eventually would meet and talk, but even after that meeting, Treat said the governor still didn’t get the Senate’s role in Oklahoma government.

“We had a Festivus. We had an airing of grievances,” Treat told the media outlet, NonDoc, referencing the fictional holiday from the television show "Seinfeld." “I enjoyed my conversation with the governor. He and I philosophically see things a lot the same. (But) I have not appreciated some of the veto messages and some of the language about the Legislature. I wish we could have worked more closely this year, but we didn’t.”

Stitt tried to play down the debate, telling NonDoc that he wasn’t being malicious.

“What you have to understand is, everything is not malicious. There are so many appointments. I am so busy trying to move things forward, I don’t stop to kind of think of some of the small things,” Stitt said. “I didn’t think of that. I apologized to them. I said, ‘Listen, I’m sorry, I’ll make it up next time. I didn’t realize I was supposed to do that. I’m a new governor.'”

The executive branch is supposed to run those state agencies — and is doing a great job — and the Senate is supposed to confirm appointments to them, the governor said.

“That’s their job. But it just feels a little bit like politics that you’re not going to confirm some guy that has done a great job leading us through this during the middle of a pandemic,” Stitt said. “Let’s confirm him for a year, let’s do something to get me through this.”

Over the next couple of years, the Legislature and Stitt would accomplish several goals in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the relationship between Stitt and Treat would remain strained. Treat and Stitt weren't the only Republicans to clash. Across the country infighting among Republican office holders has grown on both the state and national level.

And while the back-and-forth between Stitt and Treat seemed to die down for a while during COVID, it didn't completely go away.

Last year the tension resurfaced.

This year, it's boiled over.

Special session and a serious lack of communication

Last fall, Stitt called the Legislature into a special session. The goal, the governor said, was to cut taxes. Put the personal income tax on a path to zero, the governor said. And, while you’re at it, reduce the state’s portion of the grocery sales tax.

Stitt has pushed for additional tax cuts throughout his tenure as governor. Last year he increased the pressure and, during the fall, called the special session. Treat and most of his Senate brethren weren’t thrilled.

“The governor didn’t consult us about his idea for a special session,” the pro tempore said at the time. “We didn’t know until right before it happened.”

After the Senate convened — and quickly adjourned — the session, Stitt paused and then just before the end of the year made another special session call — this one just before the beginning of the regular legislative session in February.

The governor pointed to the December meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Equalization as good news. He said there was enough growth in state revenue finance a quarter-percent cut in the personal income tax rate and fund a big cut in grocery taxes.

This time the eyerolling in the Legislature became visible frustration.

Treat said the Senate would wait to decide on tax cuts until it got the final, mid-February numbers from the Equalization Board.

Stitt pretty much ignored the Senate and gave executive branch agency heads their marching orders: Don’t ask for budget increases. Request "flat budgets." Remember — I need a tax cut, he told them.

The governor said he doesn’t want to make government bigger. He said tax cuts, once implemented, will bring in more taxpayers, which, in turn, will bring in more revenue. To sell his point, the governor used a collection of colorful charts and graphs. But although Stitt continued to talk about tax cuts, he didn’t discuss them much with Treat.

During his State of the State address, Stitt stood in the well of the House of Representatives and repeated his tax cut message. He talked about conservative policies, suggested he would send troops to the Texas border and criticized some tribal nations.

He said little about the Legislature.

Treat said the governor didn’t run the idea of either special session past the Legislature’s Republican leadership before he issued his first call last year. While there had been rumors, Treat’s office only found out about the special session call just minutes before it happened.

As for the session in January, the governor’s office gave Senate leadership a one-day heads-up.

Neither was well received.

Consequently, both of the governor’s special sessions quickly became the equivalent of a bad Off-Broadway production — a short run, lackluster audience and no visible impact.

For his part, Treat was direct. In several meetings with the Capitol press corps, Treat said the governor never consulted with Senate leadership. Treat said he heard rumors, but, as with the January session, he knew little in advance.

Treat’s reluctance on big tax cuts wasn’t because he opposed them. He said he supported reducing taxes. A fiscal conservative, Treat was on record in support of cutting taxes. But Treat is also pragmatic, and he said he wanted state government to have enough cash to pay its bills.

So, Treat drew a philosophical line in the red dirt. He said he wanted to wait to decide what to do on tax cuts until he saw the final revenue projects from the state Equalization Board.

Despite intense rhetoric from the governor’s office and a hard push from the House of Representatives, Treat didn’t budge. Shortly after the Legislature convened in special session last fall, the Senate promptly adjourned.

Treat was unapologetic. He said the Senate would wait until mid-February when the Equalization Board released its final numbers. And so, the Senate did the same thing it had done last fall, the session opened, and the Senate said, ‘thanks but no thanks’ and adjourned.

Even now, Treat continues to remain true to his word. So far, the Senate has yet to hear legislation that would reduce the personal income tax rate.

It was here, at this point, the relationship between the Senate and Stitt went off the rails.

Some governors are successful with the Legislature

In Oklahoma, the governor serves as the state’s chief executive. The governor is part of a three-pronged group that develops and signs off on the state’s budget. The governor also has appointive authority, can issue executive orders, can approve or veto legislation, can influence many boards and commissions and has a platform to push for legislation or policy.

On the political side, the governor also serves as the de facto head of his or her political party. In the past, Republican governors have campaigned for incumbent Republicans and those Republicans who are challenging Democrats.

For example, during the tenure of then-Gov. Frank Keating, Keating traveled across the state campaigning for Republican incumbents and for Republican challengers to Democratic incumbents.

Treat said Keating’s success on the campaign trail generated a great deal of goodwill with Republicans in the Legislature, which paid off during the next session of the Legislature.

“Frank Keating was the real model of leadership,” Treat said. “I worked for the House minority. If it weren’t for Frank Keating, we would not have taken the majority when we did. He was a workhorse in trying to help build the team and not tear down the team and not a purity test that ‘you have to agree with me 100 percent of the time.’"

The resulting unity with Keating, Treat said, kept the House GOP in Keating’s camp. “None of his vetoes were ever overridden,” Treat said. “Because we had such a solid unity with the governor.”

One of the unwritten rules — going back to even before the tenure of then-President Ronald Reagan —was simple: Don’t speak ill of a fellow Republican. That also meant that Republicans didn’t try to defeat fellow incumbent Republicans in office.

Stitt, however, didn’t follow those rules.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why Oklahoma's GOP governor and Senate leader are at odds