Weekly Opinion/Editorial
HISTORICAL OR HYSTERICAL?by Steve Fair
Last Tuesday evening, the Stephens County GOP held an election night watch party. Over three hundred people showed up to celebrate the midterms. Thanks to Leon and Delois Farris for hosting the event at the Western Property Management Community Room. Leon not only hosted the event, but cooked some tasty hamburgers and hot dogs for the crowd. An 8x8 screen with Fox News playing had most of the attendee’s attention, but as the night wore on, the predictions of a Republican sweep of the Oklahoma statewide races came true.
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Mary Fallin was elected as the state’s first women Governor. U.S. Senator Tom Coburn was re-elected to the Senate with a 45 point margin. Seven other ‘R’s were elected to statewide offices. The closest race among the statewide races was an eight (8) point spread. 2010 was definitely a Republican year. This is the first time in Oklahoma state history Republicans have held all statewide offices at the same time. And it wasn’t just in Oklahoma where Republicans were having a good night. The Republicans picked up sixty (60) seats and took back the U.S. House and came close to taking the U.S. Senate.
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While the GOP expected to pick up seats in the state legislature, Oklahoma Republicans picked up more than what was predicted. Republicans gained eight (8) seats in the State House and six (6) seats in the State Senate. There are now seventy (70) Republicans in the House and thirty one (31) Democrats. In the State Senate, there are thirty two (32) Rs and sixteen (16) Ds. Southeast Oklahoma aka Little Dixie elected three Republican state legislators for the first time in state history. It was just ten (10) years ago, those numbers were reversed. Some of the more conservative Ds should change parties. They will be more effective legislators as Rs. Are you listening R.C.Pruett?
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Voters approved term limits for statewide elected officials. They will now serve eight (8) years and move on. That’s a good thing. Term limits should be applicable to every elective office. Plans are under way to place a SQ on county officer term limits on the ballot in 2012. I love what President Harry Truman said about term limits. “Term limits would cure both senility and seniority– both terrible legislative diseases.”
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Two State Questions authored by Senator Anthony Sykes won approval. English is now the official language of Oklahoma and International and Sharia law can’t be used in court rulings in the state. Both passed overwhelmingly.
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Locally, Duncan resident and Republican candidate Jason Hicks was elected District Attorney. Introduced by State Senator Anthony Sykes, the crowd erupted into a long and sustained ovation for Hicks when he entered the room around 9pm. Standing with his wife, Marla, and his three children, Jason vowed to be a prosecutor that will be tough on crime and work closely with law enforcement in the district. Hicks thanked his family and the army of volunteers that had labored so faithfully for the past year. Jason drove to Chickasha to address a watch party in Grady County, one of the four counties he will represent as DA. Upon his return to Duncan, he thanked some of his key volunteers, Hicks said the campaign had been an experience he will never forget.
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In Stephens County, 14,675 citizens voted. There are 26,064 registered voters in Stephens County, so that means that 56.3% voted. That was about six (6) points more than the turnout statewide- not bad for a rural county.
*****
The first one hundred years of Oklahoma state history, the Democrats ruled. Republicans jokingly say, we want the next one hundred, but one Party rule can be a recipe for disaster. The founding fathers recognized there needed to be a balance of power.
*****
*****
Mary Fallin was elected as the state’s first women Governor. U.S. Senator Tom Coburn was re-elected to the Senate with a 45 point margin. Seven other ‘R’s were elected to statewide offices. The closest race among the statewide races was an eight (8) point spread. 2010 was definitely a Republican year. This is the first time in Oklahoma state history Republicans have held all statewide offices at the same time. And it wasn’t just in Oklahoma where Republicans were having a good night. The Republicans picked up sixty (60) seats and took back the U.S. House and came close to taking the U.S. Senate.
*****
While the GOP expected to pick up seats in the state legislature, Oklahoma Republicans picked up more than what was predicted. Republicans gained eight (8) seats in the State House and six (6) seats in the State Senate. There are now seventy (70) Republicans in the House and thirty one (31) Democrats. In the State Senate, there are thirty two (32) Rs and sixteen (16) Ds. Southeast Oklahoma aka Little Dixie elected three Republican state legislators for the first time in state history. It was just ten (10) years ago, those numbers were reversed. Some of the more conservative Ds should change parties. They will be more effective legislators as Rs. Are you listening R.C.Pruett?
*****
Voters approved term limits for statewide elected officials. They will now serve eight (8) years and move on. That’s a good thing. Term limits should be applicable to every elective office. Plans are under way to place a SQ on county officer term limits on the ballot in 2012. I love what President Harry Truman said about term limits. “Term limits would cure both senility and seniority– both terrible legislative diseases.”
*****
Two State Questions authored by Senator Anthony Sykes won approval. English is now the official language of Oklahoma and International and Sharia law can’t be used in court rulings in the state. Both passed overwhelmingly.
*****
Locally, Duncan resident and Republican candidate Jason Hicks was elected District Attorney. Introduced by State Senator Anthony Sykes, the crowd erupted into a long and sustained ovation for Hicks when he entered the room around 9pm. Standing with his wife, Marla, and his three children, Jason vowed to be a prosecutor that will be tough on crime and work closely with law enforcement in the district. Hicks thanked his family and the army of volunteers that had labored so faithfully for the past year. Jason drove to Chickasha to address a watch party in Grady County, one of the four counties he will represent as DA. Upon his return to Duncan, he thanked some of his key volunteers, Hicks said the campaign had been an experience he will never forget.
*****
In Stephens County, 14,675 citizens voted. There are 26,064 registered voters in Stephens County, so that means that 56.3% voted. That was about six (6) points more than the turnout statewide- not bad for a rural county.
*****
The first one hundred years of Oklahoma state history, the Democrats ruled. Republicans jokingly say, we want the next one hundred, but one Party rule can be a recipe for disaster. The founding fathers recognized there needed to be a balance of power.
*****
Founding father James Madison said, “No political truth is certainly of greater intrinsic value or is stamped with the authority of more enlightened patrons of liberty than that … the accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” William Pitt, the British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778 said, “Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.”
*****
Time will tell whether Republicans can handle the power. It remains to be seen whether Tuesday’s results were historical or hysterical. Republicans have proven they can win elections- now they have to prove they can lead.
Time will tell whether Republicans can handle the power. It remains to be seen whether Tuesday’s results were historical or hysterical. Republicans have proven they can win elections- now they have to prove they can lead.
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