Special Elections to Fill Vacancies in Legislature
Because the redistricting act approved by the legislature and signed by the governor repealed the old legislative district lines effective November 1, 2011, questions arose as to who was entitled to run or vote in the elections to fill the vacancies. Should the new or the old districts be used for the upcoming special legislative elections? State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax posed the question to the Attorney General's Office in November. In a letter responding to Ziriax, Assistant Attorney General Janis W. Preslar instructed that the Legislature intended that the 2012 special elections be conducted using the new district boundaries.
Current legislators will continue in office until the next regular election. All seats in the Oklahoma House will be up for election in 2012. Since members of Oklahoma Senate serve four-year staggered terms, only half will stand for election in 2012, with the remaining seats not up until 2014. The odd-numbered Senate seats are up for election in 2012 and the even-numbered districts are up in 2014. However, any special elections necessary to fill vacancies before those regular elections will be conducted using the new state legislative districts lines.
HOUSE DISTRICT 1
One Special Election to be held in 2012, will still be based on the old district lines since the vacancy occurred and candidates filed for office prior to the November 1, 2011effective date for the new districts. The February Special General Election to fill the vacant State Representative District 1 seat which covers the far southeast corner of Oklahoma will follow the old boundary. Rep. Rusty Farley (R-Haworth) died on July 4 after suffering a pulmonary aneurysm. A Special Primary election was conducted on November 8, 2011, and the winners of the respective Democrat and Republican primaries, along with two independent candidates, will square off in the February 14 Special General Election.
Curtis McDaniel, 59, was the winner of the Democratic primary and Joe Silk, 53, was the winner of the Republican primary for the seat. McDaniel is the Smithville High School principal and Silk is owner of a Broken Bow bed and breakfast. The independents include Farley's daughter, Bethany Farley, 28, who works at an Idabel law firm, and James Skipper, 20, a Smithville construction worker.
Three Special Elections will be based on the new districts: State Senator District 46 (Oklahoma County), State Senator District 20 (Kingfisher, Logan, Noble and Pawnee counties), and State Representative District 71 (Tulsa County). All three seats were assigned the same election schedule. The Special Primary Election for those seats was set for February 14 and the Special General Election was set for April 3. To win a Special Primary Election, a candidate just has to receive the most votes, unlike in regular primary elections where a candidate must win over 50 percent of the votes or face a runoff with the candidate who came in second. In the event the primary election is not necessary, the general election would advance to February 14.
SENATE DISTRICT 46
Senate Minority Leader Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City) resigned the District 46 seat effective January 15, 2012. The district covers part of the northern Oklahoma City metro area. Rice, who is moving out of state, was elected to the post in 2006, and was reelected in 2010. The seat was not up for election again until 2014. Since only two candidates filed, one Democrat and one Republican, the Primary Election will not be necessary and the winner of the February 14 Special General Election will fill the seat for the remainder of Rice's term. State Rep. Al McAffrey (D-Oklahoma City), 63, is seeking the seat. He was elected to the House District 88 post in 2006. The Republican is Jason Reese, 33, who ran for state Labor Commissioner last year, but lost in the Republican primary. Sen. Rice had a cumulative average score of 16% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index, Rep. McAffrey's score is 11%.
SENATE DISTRICT 20
Sen. David Myers (R-Ponca City) died November 11 after battling pneumonia. He was 73. Sen. Myers had a cumulative average score of 63% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. Since Myers was term-limited and could not have run for reelection, it became one of the districts selected to be relocated during redistricting. The new Senate District 20 covers Logan, Noble and Pawnee counties and parts of Kingfisher County. It used to cover Grant and Kay counties, and parts of Alfalfa, Garfield and Woods counties. Those areas were absorbed by three adjoining Senate districts. Four Republicans and a Democrat filed for the relocated district.
The lone Democrat, Magnus Scott Sr., 58, of Langston, will face the winner of the February 14 Republican primary. Phil Berkenbile, 61, of Morrison is a director with the state Career Tech system. Ann A.J. Griffin, 43, of Guthrie, is executive director of Logan Community Services, a nonprofit agency. Chris Humphreys, 57, is pastor of Heartland Baptist Church in Warr Acres, but lives in Guthrie. He also does inventory and auditing work for several retailers. Wayne Murphey, 55, of Guthrie is a Logan County deputy county commissioner and the father of state Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie).
HOUSE DISTRICT 71
The House District 71 seat in Tulsa became vacant when House Floor Leader Dan Sullivan (R-Tulsa) resigned at the end of November to become chief executive officer of the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA). Sullivan was first elected in 2004 and had a cumulative average score of 61% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. The new House District 71boundary includes a portion of the old House District 69.
Sullivan's former wife, Janet Sullivan, filed for the GOP nomination but later withdrew. Also, the State Election Board voted unanimously to strike Jacqualyn Moss, 57, from the ballot. Moss failed to appear at the hearing, resulting in a default ruling from the board. While Moss filed as a Republican and provided a Tulsa address, a voter registration document from April 26, 2011, showed her listed as a Democrat living in Broken Arrow. Since there are multiple Republicans and Democrats running, the nominee of each party will be determined in the February 14 Special Primary Election .
There will be five Republicans on the ballot. Lydia M. D'Ross, 48, is a director for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, an evangelical group. Katie Henke, 31, is a teacher at Riverfield Country Day School in Tulsa. Bonnie Huffines, 60, is a singer, songwriter and psalmist with the Victory Christian Center. Gerald J. Lovoi, 51, is an attorney. Evelyn Rogers, 59, is a librarian at Tulsa Community College and has been a perennial candidate. She unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn in 2010. Her late mother, Tennie Rogers, filed to run for president in 1992 and in 2000.
Democrat Robert Walpole, 57, is an attorney who unsuccessfully sought the House District 71 seat in 1994. The other Democrat is Dan Arthrell, 65, an executive with a non-profit group.
Since the House District 1and Senate District 46 will be filled by the February 14 election, the new legislators will be sworn into office near the beginning of the 2012 legislative session. Since the other two seats will not be filled until the April 3 election, those new legislators will come in after the session is well underway.
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