Oklahoma Democratic Party

Last updated
Oklahoma Democratic Party
Chairperson Alicia Andrews [1]
Senate leader Kay Floyd
House leader Cyndi Munson
Interim Executive DirectorLauren Craig
Founded1907
Headquarters3815 N Santa Fe Ave., Suite 122
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73118
Youth wing Young Democrats of Oklahoma
Membership (2023)Decrease2.svg656,017 [2]
Ideology Modern liberalism
National affiliation Democratic Party
Unofficial colors Blue
Statewide Executive Offices
0 / 12
Seats in the United States Senate
0 / 2
Seats in the United States House of Representatives
0 / 5
Seats in Oklahoma Senate
8 / 48
Seats in Oklahoma House of Representatives
20 / 101
Tribal Chiefs
2 / 5
Website
www.okdemocrats.org

The Oklahoma Democratic Party is an Oklahoma political party affiliated with the Democratic Party. Along with the Oklahoma Republican Party, it is one of the two major parties in the state.

Contents

The party dominated local politics in Oklahoma almost since the days of early statehood in 1907 to 1994. In national politics, the party became a dominant force beginning with the presidential election of 1932 and the Franklin D. Roosevelt political re-alignment. From 1932 to 1994, the majority of members of Congress from Oklahoma have been Democrats, and of the 27 men and women who have been elected to the office of Governor of Oklahoma, 22 have been Democrats. [3]

However, the party has fared poorly since 1994; Democrats lost five out of six congressional races that year. Since then, they have won only a handful of seats, which they no longer hold. In response, the traditionally disorganized Oklahoma Democrats have taken steps to create a more organized state party, hiring a professional executive director in 1995. [4] Even so, Democrats continued to lose ground in the 2000s, losing control of both the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate. In 2008, Oklahoma gave the lowest percentage of any state's vote to national Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential election.

As of January 15, 2021, there are 748,222 registered Democratic voters in Oklahoma. [5]

In 2018, Kendra Horn defeated incumbent Republican congressman Steve Russell, to become the first Democrat elected to Congress from Oklahoma since 2010. She lost reelection to Republican challenger Stephanie Bice in 2020.

History

Statehood and the 20th Century

The Oklahoma Democratic Party once dominated state politics for much of Oklahoma history from with its strength in greatest concentrations in Oklahoma's 5th congressional district and the southeastern part of the state. [4]

Upon statehood, all but one of the Congressional seats was held by Democrats. The Democrats won eighteen of the twenty-one gubernatorial elections since its statehood in 1907. The Democratic Party held on average 81 percent of the seats in the state legislature between 1907 and 1973. [6] With the onset of the Great Depression, the party gained even more influence for several decades

Democratic opposition to deficit spending in the late 1930s marked a growing conservative movement in the party, which led to a 1941 constitutional amendment requiring legislators to pass a balanced budget. [7]

After the federal Voting Rights Act and congressional reapportionment in Oklahoma in the 1960s, black state lawmakers returned to the Oklahoma Legislature, this time many aligning with the Democratic Party and hailing from Tulsa or Oklahoma City. [8]

Since the 1980s the party has seen a decline as Christian fundamentalists have shifted to the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has not attained more than 41 percent of the vote for president.

21st Century

As of 2000 about 55 percent of Oklahoma voters registered as Democrats. [4] The party continues to decline in strength in both the Oklahoma Legislature and executive branch. For the first time since statehood, Republicans held all statewide-elected offices starting in 2011.

In the 2012 general election, the party was successful in defending all incumbents in the Oklahoma Legislature and defeating two Republican House members.

In the 2020 Oklahoma elections, Democrat Mauree Turner became the first Muslim Oklahoma state legislator and the first publicly non-binary U.S. state legislator in the United States. [9]

Electoral history

Election yearNo. of
House seats
+/–GovernorshipNo. of
Senate seats
+/–
1907
85 / 101
Decrease2.svg 16 Charles N. Haskell
42 / 48
Decrease2.svg 6
1908
62 / 101
Decrease2.svg 23
38 / 48
Decrease2.svg 4
1910
75 / 101
Increase2.svg 13 Lee Cruce
35 / 48
Decrease2.svg 3
1912
82 / 101
Increase2.svg 7
38 / 48
Increase2.svg 3
1914
83 / 101
Increase2.svg 1 Robert L. Williams
42 / 48
Increase2.svg 4
1916
75 / 101
Decrease2.svg 6
43 / 48
Increase2.svg 1
1918
71 / 101
Decrease2.svg 4 James B.A. Robertson
38 / 48
Decrease2.svg 6
1920
28 / 101
Decrease2.svg 43
31 / 48
Decrease2.svg 7
1922
87 / 101
Increase2.svg 59 Jack C. Walton
36 / 48
Increase2.svg 5
1924
77 / 101
Decrease2.svg 10 Martin Trapp
42 / 48
Increase2.svg 6
1926
79 / 101
Increase2.svg 2 Henry S. Johnston
39 / 48
Decrease2.svg 3
1928
54 / 101
Decrease2.svg 25
38 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1930
91 / 101
Increase2.svg 37 William H. Murray
36 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
1932
97 / 101
Increase2.svg 6
43 / 48
Increase2.svg 7
1934
94 / 101
Decrease2.svg 3 E.W. Marland
47 / 48
Increase2.svg 4
1936
98 / 101
Increase2.svg 4
48 / 48
Increase2.svg 1
1938
88 / 101
Decrease2.svg 10 Leon C. Phillips
47 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1940
94 / 101
Increase2.svg 6
46 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1942
77 / 101
Decrease2.svg 17 Robert S. Kerr
44 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
1944
79 / 101
Increase2.svg 2
42 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
1946
79 / 101
Steady2.svg 0 Roy J. Turner
42 / 48
Steady2.svg 0
1948
89 / 101
Increase2.svg 10
43 / 48
Increase2.svg 1
1950
81 / 101
Decrease2.svg 8 Johnston Murray
44 / 48
Increase2.svg 1
1952
88 / 101
Increase2.svg 7
42 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
1954
82 / 101
Decrease2.svg 6 Raymond D. Gary
43 / 48
Increase2.svg 1
1956
81 / 101
Decrease2.svg 1
45 / 48
Increase2.svg 2
1958
91 / 101
Increase2.svg 10 J. Howard Edmondson
45 / 48
Steady2.svg 0
1960
88 / 101
Decrease2.svg 3
44 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1962
77 / 101
Decrease2.svg 11 Henry Bellmon
42 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
1964
79 / 101
Increase2.svg 2
41 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1966
78 / 101
Decrease2.svg 1 Dewey F. Bartlett
39 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
1968
79 / 101
Increase2.svg 1
38 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1970
79 / 101
Steady2.svg 0 David Hall
39 / 48
Increase2.svg 1
1972
78 / 101
Decrease2.svg 1
38 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1974
78 / 101
Steady2.svg 0 David L. Boren
38 / 48
Steady2.svg 0
1976
81 / 101
Increase2.svg 3
38 / 48
Steady2.svg 0
1978
77 / 101
Decrease2.svg 4 George Nigh
37 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1980
75 / 101
Decrease2.svg 2
36 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1982
75 / 101
Steady2.svg 0
34 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
1984
69 / 101
Decrease2.svg 6
34 / 48
Steady2.svg 0
1986
70 / 101
Increase2.svg 1 Henry Bellmon
31 / 48
Decrease2.svg 3
1988
69 / 101
Decrease2.svg 1
34 / 48
Increase2.svg 3
1990
67 / 101
Decrease2.svg 2 David Walters
36 / 48
Increase2.svg 2
1992
67 / 101
Steady2.svg 0
35 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
1994
60 / 101
Decrease2.svg 7 Frank Keating
31 / 48
Decrease2.svg 4
1996
59 / 101
Decrease2.svg 1
29 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
1998
59 / 101
Steady2.svg 0
29 / 48
Steady2.svg 0
2000
53 / 101
Decrease2.svg 6
27 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
2002
54 / 101
Increase2.svg 1 Brad Henry
26 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1
2004
55 / 101
Increase2.svg 1
26 / 48
Steady2.svg 0
2006
44 / 101
Decrease2.svg 11
24 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
2008
40 / 101
Decrease2.svg 4
22 / 48
Decrease2.svg 2
2010
31 / 101
Decrease2.svg 9 Mary Fallin
16 / 48
Decrease2.svg 6
2012
29 / 101
Decrease2.svg 2
12 / 48
Decrease2.svg 4
2014
29 / 101
Steady2.svg 0
8 / 48
Decrease2.svg 4
2016
26 / 101
Decrease2.svg 3
8 / 48
Steady2.svg 0
2018
25 / 101
Decrease2.svg 1 Kevin Stitt
9 / 48
Increase2.svg 1
2020
20 / 101
Decrease2.svg 5
9 / 48
Steady2.svg 0
2022
21 / 101
Increase2.svg 1
8 / 48
Decrease2.svg 1

Note: Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins provided tie breaking vote in the State Senate following the 2006 elections, giving Democrats a majority

Current structure and composition


The Oklahoma Democratic Party headquarters is located North Santa Fe Avenue in Oklahoma City. [10] They host the biennial state conventions in June of odd-numbered years, in which they elect executive officers and delegates to the Democratic National Committee. The Democratic National Committee is responsible for promoting Democratic campaign activities, overseeing the process of writing the national Democratic Platform, and supervising the Democratic National Convention. Delegates serve four-year terms concurrent with presidential elections.

Alicia Andrews, the first African American and African American Woman chair was re-elected for a third term in June, 2023. Former state Representative of House District 34, Cory Williams was elected vice chair. [11] Former Governor David Walters and Kalyn Free are delegates for the Democratic National Committee. [11]

The state party coordinates campaign activities with Democratic candidates and county parties, and officers who correspond with the state's five Congressional districts. In 2005, the Democratic National Committee began a program called the "50 State Strategy" of using national funds to assist all state parties and pay for full-time professional staffers. [12]

The Young Democrats of Oklahoma is the official age 13-35 division of the Oklahoma Democratic Party. [13]

Officers and Staff

Officers:

Staff:


[16]

Ideology

The Oklahoma Democratic Party is made up of conservative, centrist and liberal members. Less than a third of registered Democratic voters in Oklahoma supported President Barack Obama in 2012, due to the larger proliferation of conservative and centrist members of the party. [17]

Compared to other Democratic factions, Centrist members of the Oklahoma Democratic Party support the use of military force and the use of deadly force in self-defense. They are more willing to reduce government welfare. Many Oklahoma Democrats are socially conservative by supporting the United States pro-life movement and traditional marriage. The Oklahoma Democratic Party tends to support moderate to conservative positions on gun control and open carry.

The Oklahoma Democratic Party held a state convention on May 14, 2011, in which they discussed a number of platform positions. [18] Participants discussed support for public health programs, government-funded embryonic stem cell research, the legalization of medical marijuana, education funding, and opposition to voucher programs that divert tax dollars to private institutions. [18] They also discussed the state party's support of teacher's rights to unionize and policies to protect homeowners from unfair foreclosures. [18] Other party platform positions included support for the elimination of predatory lending practices, support for limitations on credit card interest rates, support for the elimination of the state sales tax on food, support for increasing taxes on the wealthiest citizens of Oklahoma, and support for reforms to the state criminal justice system. [18] The party's position on gun laws was moderate, stating support for limited, but responsible gun laws. [18] The party also supports continued investments in green energies. [18]

Current elected officials

Democrats haven’t won the Oklahoma House of Representatives since 2002 nor the Oklahoma State Senate since 2006, when they last won any statewide election (with the Democratic sweep of all statewide executive offices on the ballot that year). The last Democrat to hold statewide office in Oklahoma is Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, who switched parties from Republican to Democrat in October 2021 and subsequently left office in January 2023, having been term limited and unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Oklahoma in 2022. She was succeeded by Republican Ryan Walters. At least 2 of the current chiefs of the 5 Tribes are Democrats: Chuck Hoskin Jr. (Cherokee Nation), and Bill Anoatubby (Chickasaw Nation). Oklahoma’s congressional delegation has been entirely Republican since 2021 and previously from 2013 to 2019.

State Legislative leadership

Democratic Governors

As of 2022, there have been a total of 22 Democratic Party Governors.

#NamePictureLifespanGubernatorial
start date
Gubernatorial
end date
1 Charles N. Haskell HASKELL, C.N. GOVERNOR LCCN2016858937 (cropped).jpg 1860–1933November 16, 1907January 9, 1911
2 Lee Cruce Lee Cruce.jpg 1863–1933January 9, 1911January 11, 1915
3 Robert L. Williams RobertLWilliams.jpg 1868–1948January 11, 1915January 13, 1919
4 James B. A. Robertson
JBA Robertson 1920.jpg
1871–1938January 13, 1919January 8, 1923
5 Jack C. Walton Jack Walton.jpg 1881–1949January 8, 1923November 19, 1923
6 Martin E. Trapp MartinETrapp.jpg 1877–1951November 19, 1923January 10, 1927
7 Henry S. Johnston 1867–1965January 10, 1927March 20, 1929
8 William J. Holloway Governor William Holloway.jpg 1888–1970March 20, 1929January 12, 1931
9 William H. Murray Murray 3820618984 5cb0d9555b o.jpg 1869–1956January 12, 1931January 14, 1935
10 E. W. Marland E. W. Marland (Oklahoma Governor).jpg 1874–1941January 15, 1935January 9, 1939
11 Leon C. Phillips
Leon Phillips 1938.jpg
1890–1958January 9, 1939January 11, 1943
12 Robert S. Kerr Robert S. Kerr.jpg 1896–1963January 11, 1943January 13, 1947
13 Roy J. Turner Roy J. Turner.jpg 1894–1973January 13, 1947January 8, 1951
14 Johnston Murray Gov Johnston Murray.jpg 1902–1974January 8, 1951January 10, 1955
15 Raymond D. Gary Raymond Gary.jpg 1908–1993January 10, 1955January 12, 1959
16 J. Howard Edmondson JHEdmondson.jpg 1925–1971January 12, 1959January 6, 1963
17 George Nigh
George Nigh 1972.jpg 1927–January 6, 1963January 14, 1963
20 David Hall David Hall (Oklahoma Governor).jpg 1930–2016January 11, 1971January 13, 1975
21 David Boren David Boren (OK).png 1941–January 13, 1975January 8, 1979
22 George Nigh George Nigh (cropped).jpg 1927–January 8, 1979January 12, 1987
24 David Walters David Walters.jpg 1951–January 14, 1991January 9, 1995
26 Brad Henry BradhenryDEA.jpg 1963–January 13, 2003January 10, 2011

See also

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References

  1. "The ODP Makes History Again – Elects First African American Woman Chair". 10 June 2019.
  2. "Voter Registration Statistics" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  3. Oklahoma Government, Oklahoma Historical Society (accessed February 11, 2010).
  4. 1 2 3 Gaddie, Ronald Keith. (2011-11-07). "Democratic Party". Oklahoma Historical Society.
  5. State Election Board Releases Annual Voter Registration Statistics, Oklahoma State Election Board (accessed 21 June 2021)
  6. Carney, George O., "McGuire, George O. (1865-1930)," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture Archived May 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 28, 2010).
  7. Everett, Dianna. Budget-Balancing Amendment Archived 2012-11-19 at the Wayback Machine , Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (accessed May 11, 2013)
  8. Franklin, Jimmie Lewis. African Americans Archived 2012-11-03 at the Wayback Machine , Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture Archived April 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 11, 2013)
  9. Forman, Carmen (16 April 2021). "Rep. Mauree Turner is 'comfortable with being uncomfortable' in Oklahoma's Legislature". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  10. Contact Us, Oklahoma Democratic Party (accessed February 11, 2010).
  11. 1 2 State Central Committee, Oklahoma Democratic Party (accessed February 11, 2010).
  12. Gilgoff, Dan (16 July 2006). "Dean's List". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  13. Ydoklahoma.com (accessed May 11, 2013)
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "State Central Committee".
  15. "OK Democrats Staff".
  16. A, Angela. "Home". Oklahoma Democratic Party 405 427-3366.
  17. 2012 Election Analysis: Obama and Oklahoma Democrats, Soonerpoll.com (accessed May 11, 2013)
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Baggett, James. "Oklahoma Democrats." 2011 Convention: Rules, Resolutions, Affirmative Action Committee members (two men and two women); to consider proposed Minutes from 2009. Oklahoma Democrats, n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2011. <http://www.okdemocrats.org 2011-convention-rules-resolutions-minutes-from-2009>.
  19. "Kay Floyd | Oklahoma Senate".