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The primary loss of Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Wallace will have long-term effects

The primary loss of Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Wallace will have long-term effects

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For the second time in as many months, a powerful Republican member of the Oklahoma Legislature crashed and burned on election night, a sign that GOP infighting is growing and the party’s far right is now a major voice in state elections. .

The defeat of state Rep. Kevin Wallace, chairman of the powerful Appropriations and Budget Committee, comes after Ada voters ousted state Sen. Greg McCortney, who had been tapped to be the next leader of the Oklahoma Senate.

Both men had plenty of campaign funds, were well organized and held high-profile positions that kept their names in front of voters. McCortney was the Senate majority leader before becoming its leader-apparent.

However, they both still lost.

McCortney fell in a nasty primary battle involving the governor and a dark money cabal tasked with exposing him as a liberal whose only goal was to defund the police. Wallace lost Tuesday in an even uglier primary spillover that brought up issues such as human excrement as fertilizer, land owned by non-U.S. citizens and wind power.

McCortney’s loss in June plunged the Senate into a leadership battle, the echoes of which still reverberate through the Capitol. Wallace’s loss is now reverberating throughout the House of Representatives. Wallace’s race, which could add to the most expensive state legislative race in Oklahoma history, saw more than $1 million spent between both candidates.

Unlike McCortney, who criticized Gov. Kevin Stitt, Wallace was supported by the Republican governor, who came to Wallace’s district and knocked on doors.

This summer, Wallace and other lawmakers were forced to address controversial school superintendent Ryan Walters. And while it’s unclear whether or not Walters is popular in Wallace’s district, Wallace’s loss now clouds the issue of a Legislative Office for Fiscal Transparency investigation into Walters and his agency, the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

So why are strong Republicans like Wallace and McCortney getting the axe?

More: Senate backs LOFT probe into Walters, but will stay neutral if ‘we have to act’

There is no easy answer to why the strong incumbents lost

The answer is not easy.

Understanding the defeat of Wallace and McCourtney involves a lesson on dark money groups, political evolution, the gubernatorial outrage, the personalities of both lawmakers, their relationship to their legislative districts, tax cuts, passing votes on legislation, public fear, redistricting, and types of issues hyperlocals that can change choices.

“This may be the only time in the political history of this state that the pro tempore, the speaker, the floor leaders of both the House and the Senate, the appropriations chairman of both the House and the Senate, all go to same year, so against their will and some because they’re term limited,” said Cal Hobson, a former Senate pro tempore.

The current political climate in Oklahoma, Hobson said, “is a story.

While Hobson said Wallace’s defeat surprised him, he said the loss can’t be pinned on one issue, but several. “There are a lot of local issues,” Hobson said. “Including the spreading of human manure.”

That fertilizer, known as biosolids, has been a hotly contested issue in the district. In a story published by Investigate Midwest, Wallace admitted to using biosolids on his farm. According to the online news publication, Wallace was confronted during a candidate forum in June by some voters who asked why he would not speak out against the fertilizer, which they called “humanism.”

“Biosolids sludge is regulated by the Department of Environmental Quality, we’ve used it twice … it’s been legal to use it in this state for eight years,” Wallace said at the forum. Wallace acknowledged receiving complaints from his neighbors, but “property rights are what they are … (and) I’m not breaking the law,” he told the audience.

Wallace could not be reached for comment for this story.

District issues played a role in Wallace, McCortney’s losses

The poop issue, plus questions about Wallace’s relationship with his district, quickly became issues in the campaign. Other problems also entered.

One of those issues, Iowa Tribal Chairman Jacob Keyes said, was wind turbines.

“Honestly, part of that loss — in Lincoln County — was the battle for turbine farms trying to get in,” he said. “I think people in the county didn’t see him (Wallace) as strong enough against wind turbines.

Wallace also faced criticism from his opponents for what they saw as a lack of pushback against Chinese ownership of Oklahoma land.

Outgoing House Majority Leader Jon Echols said the race highlighted the differences in what government officials and elected leaders think voters are interested in and what voters themselves say they are interested in.

“These differences are stark,” Echols said.

More: Edmond lawmakers are asking the school district to reconsider its policy on displaying American flags

Like others, McCortney, the former Senate majority leader, said there is more than one answer to the question of why voters ousted incumbents. “When you’re on tour, it’s expected to be a fight,” he said.

“I don’t think anyone knows the full answer,” he said. “It’s not ideologically consistent, it’s not just different groups that got in here or lost out there,” McCortney said. “I don’t know that anyone has really figured out the pattern. Except, perhaps, that low-turnout elections are bad for incumbents.”

Since his loss in June, McCortney said he’s been contacted by many voters who didn’t think there was a problem in his race, so he stayed home.

“In my race I’ve had an incredible number of people – the people I’ve worked with, the people who’ve engaged, the people I’ve fought shoulder-to-shoulder on issues with – who, on some level, have recognized me that they didn’t. I think there is some way to lose, so they didn’t vote,” he said.

Low voter turnout continues to be a problem

Hobson, Echols and McCortney all agreed that low voter turnout has been and continues to be a problem in Oklahoma elections. “It affects the election, there’s no doubt about it,” McCortney said.

The data bear this out. Several studies have shown that Oklahoma has some of the lowest voter turnout rates in the country. In 2020, University of Florida political science professor Michael McDonald told Tulsa television station KTUL that Oklahoma was “near the bottom of the pack” for voter turnout.

Solving the problem will be difficult, Echols said. “Primaries are family fights,” he said. “One thing that has become clear is that turnout in many of these races has been abysmally low and that is what decides the races. We need to find a way to increase involvement in the political process.”

Both Wallace’s and McCortney’s races, Echols said, were extremely negative. These types of races need to be analyzed to help prepare for future campaigns, Echols said. “We have to go back and learn lessons from these races about what gets voters out and what doesn’t,” he said. “That’s the only thing left to do.”

And what about next year?

With new leadership assured in both houses of the Legislature, the 2025 session could be contentious. Even though the Senate and House are expected to have GOP supermajorities, not only will they have new leaders, they will have new chairs of what is considered the most powerful legislative committee: Appropriations.

House Democrats say they have their concerns, too. Wallace’s loss raises questions about the recently announced investigation of the Oklahoma Department of Education by the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency, state Rep. Mickey Dollens said.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen there,” Dollens said. “Since 2016, Speaker Wallace has always been the one to present the Democrats’ budget. He was available to answer questions about the budget. Now we have new players”.

House leadership will go to Republican Representative Kyle Hilbert, of Bristow. Dollens said he expects Hilbert to do well, but that the election’s fallout could cause the GOP caucus to double down on culture war issues and possibly shift the caucus further to the right in an effort to avoid future primary showdowns.

More: The Oklahoma GOP names Rep. Kyle Hilbert as the new Speaker of the House next session

“I think that’s another very good reason why we need an open primary in Oklahoma,” he said. “It gives candidates a chance to campaign to a wider electorate and not have to worry about fringe bases to win a primary.”

Open primaries, Dollens said, will eliminate the continued election of far-right candidates who are elected.

In addition to all the legislative changes, Stitt is expected to push for his agenda in his final two years in office. The governor has already made public another call for additional tax cuts and what some lawmakers are calling legacy building legislation.

Still, even with a difficult session expected, both McCortney and Echols say they expect the Legislature to eventually do the right thing, without saying what, exactly, that meant.

“The level of difficulty has increased, but I think there will be strong leadership on both sides,” McCortney said. And even though neither he nor Wallace will be in office next year, McCortney said he remains positive.

“I think everything will be all right,” he said.

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