Oklahoma Political News

After entering a four-man field and surviving a tight general election cut, Mark Nash has won the Edmond mayoral seat in a runoff against former Ward 1 Councilman Tom Robins, finalizing a new-look city council set to be seated this May. Meanwhile, Edmond Public Schools Board of Education District 5 incumbent Marcus Jones retained his seat as the district moves through its superintendent search.

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The Senate Education Appropriations subcommittee presented its budget recommendation for the Oklahoma State Department of Education Wednesday, which nixed a $3 million request by the agency to place Bibles in classrooms.

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Hot Seat: Oklahoma Democrats outline priorities ahead of Governor's State of the State Address

As Oklahoma's 60th legislature convenes, Democratic leaders Senator Julia Kirt and Representative Cyndi Munson share their expectations for Governor Stitt's upcoming State of the State address, focusing on public education, housing, and the governor's proposal to eliminate the state income tax.

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Rebuffed in its original request, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission voted Thursday to file a subpoena seeking campaign records related to Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ successful 2022 election.

In October, the Ethics Commission authorized a formal investigation of alleged campaign finance rule violations by Walters’ 2022 campaign. Walters, elected state superintendent of public instruction in November 2022 with nearly 60 percent of the vote, served as chairman and treasurer of his own campaign committee. The Ethics Commission’s attorney notified Walters in October that a subpoena would be issued seeking campaign reports and other financial records and information dealing with his campaign if he didn’t turn over the material.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who has at times pushed back against his own party’s governor and other politicians who sought to push religion into public schools, announced Monday his candidacy for governor.

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Since 1990, I have been a South African permanent resident living in Cape Town. Our family of four have voted by Absentee ballot for the Democratic Party presidential candidate, current Vice President Kamala Harris, and her Vice-Presidential running mate, current Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. They were the obvious choice to provide strong and empathic leadership as they both bring many years of dedicated service to both community and country.

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A political action committee that has reported ties to Oklahoma’s Republican governor has joined another group in asking residents to vote against retaining three Oklahoma Supreme Court justices on the Nov. 5 retention ballot.

46 Action has spent at least $239,648 to run ads against Justices Yvonne Kauger, James Edmondson and Noma Gurich, according to a report filed with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.

In paperwork filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Gov. Kevin Stitt’s former campaign manager, Donelle Harder, is listed as treasurer for 46 Action.

But Harder said Thursday that she is no longer affiliated with the group and the vendor is updating the filings.

Read the full article at the Oklahoma Voice

More than 30 Oklahomans – including parents and children, public school teachers and faith leaders – today filed a lawsuit urging the Oklahoma Supreme Court to block state Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ mandate that all public schools incorporate the Bible into their curricula. The lawsuit, Rev. Lori Walke v. Ryan Walters, also asks the court to stop the state from spending millions of taxpayer dollars on Bibles to support the mandate.

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Four civil rights organizations said Thursday they are making a joint open records request to seek the source of $3 million in the Oklahoma State Department of Education budget that state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters has said is available to purchase Bibles for classrooms statewide.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Freedom From Religion Foundation are asking Walters’ agency to provide all records of expenditures during the current fiscal year related to the provision of Bibles for Oklahoma public-school classrooms, including communications, contracts, invoices, receipts and payment records.

Read the full story at The Oklahoman

Just weeks before the November Presidential Election, Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt announced the purges of over 453,000 voters Wednesday in a state with the lowest voter turnout in the nation.

“Thanks to our strict voter list maintenance laws, Oklahoma has removed over 453K ineligible voters from our rolls,” Gov. Stitt posted to X, formerly Twitter.

According to the Governor’s press release, the voter purge includes: 97,065 deceased voters and 143,682 voters who moved out of state. It also includes 5,607 voters with felony convictions, 14,993 duplicate voters, and 194,962 “inactive” voters.

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