Conservative Heroes of Oklahoma: Bill Graves
Editor's Note: With this installment, we begin a new series in The Oklahoma Constitution, honoring some of the great conservative heroes of Oklahoma. This issue we cover a man, that if one were making a short list of greatest conservative legislators in state history, Bill Graves would, without doubt, be on the list.
This fall, they will hand you a ballot when you go into vote at your polling place. If the Republican Party, or the Libertarian Party, is on top, instead of the Democratic Party, the man you can thank for that is Bill Graves.
Following the 1994 election, Bill Graves and Tim Green were the attorneys representing several Republican candidates (including Oklahoma Constitution editor Steve Byas) in a lawsuit against the Oklahoma State Election Board. In something that is like a story out of Ripley's Believe or Not, since statehood, the Democratic Party candidates, by law, were first on the ballot.
Not because they were the majority party, but because they were the Democratic Party. According to state law, the positioning on the ballot, with the Democrats taking the first spot, was determined not by a random process, or by which party had the most registered voters, or by which party sold the most Girl Scout Cookies, but it was decreed under state statutes that the Democratic Party would be first on the ballot.
The Democratic Party, of course, opposed the lawsuit, which simply requested that the ballots be rotated, with an equal number of ballots having each party taking the top slot. Against all reasoning, the Democrats took the position that the ballot position did not give them an unfair advantage, but that they should keep that first ballot position, anyway.
Finally, Graves and Green won the case, insofar as stripping the Democrats of their favored spot on the ballot. Instead of rotating the ballots, however, the decision was reached that a coin toss would determine the positioning in each election. In delicious irony, not only did the Democrats lose the case, they lost the coin flip. As it turned out, the Libertarian Party got the first position in 1996, followed by the Republican, and finally the Democrats.
This is a little-known case that has made a big difference in Oklahoma politics. When political junkies discuss the reasons that the Republican Party overtook the Democratic Party in the state legislature, several reasons are offered, such as term limits, Bill Clinton, the Republican trend in the state, and redistricting.
Bill Graves is better known for the 24 years he spent in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where he set the gold standard for conservatism. During almost a quarter of a century, Graves racked up perfect 100% Conservative Index scores on the Oklahoma Constitution's scorecard of the Oklahoma Legislature. As the years passed, and Graves continued to score 100%, other legislators began to complain that "Graves picked the votes." Graves certainly offered suggestions, but the truth is that regardless of which votes we selected, Bill Graves continued to score 100%. One year he was absent for a vote and it knocked him down to a 99% lifetime average for a few years. He wasn't very happy about it.
Graves was born in Sweeny, Texas, on October 4, 1937. Fourteen months later, he made the move to Oklahoma City, and he spent much of the rest of his life in the Sooner State. He was raised mostly by his aunt and uncle, Glenna and Bill Hargis. Bill Hargis was a barber, who did not have a lot of money, but Bill was raised in s strong Christian (church of Christ) household.
Bill graduated from Putnam City High School, where he ran track and played football. A quarterback, he injured his ankle during his junior year, ending his football days.
What caused Bill Graves to be a conservative Republican? He recalled that his aunt and uncle were conservative Democrats, and even as a youth he took to conservative political principles. He generally liked what the Republicans were saying (they usually sound good, anyway) better than the Democrats (they usually sound bad, anyway).
After high school, Graves went to the University of Oklahoma on a track scholarship, where he lettered. He started out in art school, but soon switched to journalism, and became the sports editor of the Oklahoma Daily, and later their advertising manager. Following college, he worked for the Norman Transcript and the Daily Oklahoman, but developed an interest in going to law school about three years later.
He obtained his law degree from the Oklahoma City University Law School, and was admitted to the bar in September 1968. Landing a job in the city attorney's office in Oklahoma City, he handled various jury trial cases, including DUI's and the like.
Wanting to advance conservative beliefs, Graves ran for the state senate in 1972, but lost, and went into a private general law practice. In 1978, he tried again to win a seat in the Legislature.
This time, his Republican primary opponents were Ralph Harvey and Bob Godwin. Harvey, a wealthy oil man, outspent Graves better than 10-1, but he did not outwork Bill. Graves knocked on every door three times, and won the election.
After eight years in the House, Graves decided to try for attorney general in 1986. This time, his opponents in the primary were a fellow state representative, Jim Williamson of Tulsa, and a Harvard-trained lawyer, Brian Griffin. Griffin had deep establishment ties, including membership in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and it is thought he was being groomed for higher office.
Griffin outspent Graves about 10-1, but Graves virtually tied Griffin in the primary vote. Williamson's totals forced Graves and Griffin into a run-off primary. In the run-off, Griffin sent out a last-minute post card, claiming that Republicans needed to get out and vote, or his opponent, who had voted for the state's largest tax increase ever, might win instead.
Of course, Graves had never voted for any tax increase, much less the state's largest tax increase ever. Griffin protested, when challenged, that he was referring to his general election opponent, Democrat Robert Henry (a relative of future Democrat Governor Brad Henry). Nevertheless, Graves lost the run-off and was now out of public office.
He returned to a private law practice, but two years later filed to regain his old seat in the Legislature. Amazingly, no one else filed, so Graves won without opposition in 1988. No political opponent was going to ever defeat Graves again, and he was reelected repeatedly until 2004, when term limits forced his retirement.
A couple years later, after two years in private law practice again, Graves returned to public office, this time as a district judge in Oklahoma City.
In 1983, Bill Graves married Connie Martin, and they raised several children together. He and Connie are members of Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.
Indeed, it is difficult to imagine the history of Oklahoma's politics since 1978, without the presence of Bill Graves. Conservative activists often express exasperation at legislators who do not understand basic constitutional principles. With Bill Graves, however, not only did conservatives not have to worry about whether he would understand the right way forward, it was Graves who kept conservative activists informed about the battles against the forces of the Left that needed to be fought. A scholarly man, who has actually read deep conservative philosophy, Graves has been published in law journals and in more "popular" publications.
Conservatives have had no greater friend in Oklahoma history than Bill Graves.
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