Want to rid Oklahoma GOP of its radical faction? Democrats, it's time to take a bold step

Insanity is often described as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Though the origins of this phrase are murky, its meaning rings true time after time, and our own state politics add greater support to the adage. I have spent my life in a Republican-dominated Oklahoma. The same solutions are tried again and again with results that continue to disappoint. When Kevin Stitt declared for office in 2017, The Associated Press reported that he hoped “to apply the same principles he used to grow his business as chief executive of the state.”

In doing this, Stitt pressed forward on the platform that he would “make Oklahoma top 10” at his inauguration in 2019. He again made the promise when Oklahomans gave him a second term. However, after four years under the leadership of Gov. Stitt, vital sections of the Oklahoma government remained underfunded and continued to belie the governor’s goals.

Education, for instance, remains a thorn in the side of Stitt’s top 10 agenda. In 2023, Oklahoma remained near the bottom of any ranking for school systems in the United States. The U.S. News Rankings Report for this year places Oklahoma at 49th for pre-K through 12th-grade education and 48th for education overall. Amid this performance, Stitt’s then secretary of education, Ryan Walters, decided to accumulate power in his own hands. He ran against and defeated the Democratic candidate, Jena Nelson, by a margin of 14%. In office, Walters went to work on the Republican strategy to make Oklahoma top 10. While invoking Abraham Lincoln as his inspiration, Walters was set on “eliminating critical race theory in classrooms, banning transgender athletes from competing in sports that do not align with their biological sex, and getting indoctrination out of classrooms.”

Although these priorities are important to many Oklahomans, Walters would be hard pressed to explain how any one of his culture warrior stances will help raise the standard of Oklahoma’s public education. As a whistle-blower report outlined his inability to apply for or use federal grant money in schools, he has retained his superintendent position even while being removed from the governor’s Cabinet, notwithstanding the governor being “thrilled” by Walters’ work in the role.

The track followed by Walters is illustrative of the position of Republican lawmakers in the state. Take Nathan Dahm for example; he is the right-wing senator behind such legislation as Oklahoma’s “Constitutional Carry” law of 2019 or the more recent total abortion ban in the state.

Dahm now has been selected to serve as the next Oklahoma Republican Party chairman. His radicalism has propelled him to the heights of party control in a state where the (R) by a candidate’s name all but guarantees their victory. It is time the Republican Party received accountability from within its own ranks, and it is a Democrat’s job to ensure they are held accountable.

While this statement might appear contradictory, it is not. Further right-wing candidates, such as Stitt, defeat their moderate Republican counterparts, like Mick Cornett, while appealing to the more radical base in the primary. However, Stitt just barely defeated the former Oklahoma City mayor by less than 30,000 votes in their 2018 face-off. If less than 8% of the voters in the Democratic primary, which went to the moderate Drew Edmondson, shifted to the Republican primary, the election would have gone in favor of the moderate Cornett. This shift is not so far-fetched, but it must be completed before the registration date of the primaries, Feb. 9, 2024.

Perhaps it is time for Democrats to step up and effect real change in the state government by ridding it of the dominant radical faction. It appears clear to me that Oklahomans have two options before them: Do the uncomfortable, which could put an end to the behavior of politicians who have their sights set only on reelection, or keep trying the same strategies, hoping desperately for different results. If you are struggling with this decision, reread the first half of this article or, better yet, scan any news about Oklahoma and its future, and the decision to register to vote in the Republican primary will be the evident option.

Ryan Bolin, of Lawton, is a senior studying American history at Columbia University.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Is it time for Democrats to effect real change in state government?