Another Democrat governor in a red state?
When Oklahomans first had the chance, they didn’t pick Donald Trump.
The year was 2016. In the presidential primary, Oklahoma Republicans picked Sen. Ted Cruz over Trump. Cruz led the field with 157,941 votes. Trump came in second at 130,141 with then-Sen. Marco Rubio was third with 119,562 votes.
In Tulsa County, Trump actually came in third after Rubio.
This would be the same election where 174,054 Oklahoma Democrats voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton came in second in that race. She only won two counties out of 77 in that election.
I bring this up on election day today for this reason: You probably wouldn’t have guessed any of that ever happened in Oklahoma.
So, I’m saying there is a better chance than ever that Oklahoma’s next governor is a Democrat.
Just a year earlier in 2015, Cyndi Munson pulled off a political upset when she won her state House seat in a special election. She beat a well-connected and heavily-funded Republican. She was the first Democrat to take that seat, which used to be Mary Fallin’s, in a long time. Then she beat another Republican favorite. An additional victory in 2018 represented a shift in voting preference for the once-secure Republican stronghold in Oklahoma City that includes Nichols Hills. She went on to beat three more Republicans in elections who wanted her job in the House.
This is what we know: A majority of Republicans in Oklahoma didn’t show up to vote between Mike Mazzei and Gentner Drummond in the run-off election in August. They punted. The result was that Mazzei won 38 counties to Drummond’s 39. It wasn’t a dominant win.
What we also know: About 35% of Oklahomans vote straight ticket, meaning they check one box and vote all one political party.
And one more: With three independent candidates running for governor, NonDoc reports that Munson’s path to victory could require only 48 percent support.
So that maybe means what? So we have a Republican governor candidate who didn’t win his primary. He barely won the run-off election. He doesn’t have a huge fan base supporting his campaign. And enough Republicans seem to be too busy to care much about the races on this ballot.
When I saw Monday’s announcement from the State Election Board reporting a record number of Oklahomans are registered to vote in this election, I thought that might be another sign of what might come. It’s a net change of almost 50,000 voters, about 9,110 since Sept. 30.
Who on the top of the ballot might have inspired them?
Quotable quotes
On seeing
“We’re living in this extraordinary time where there’s an abundance of images, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re seeing more deeply. I think there is a lot of value in slowing down and making looking feel meaningful.”
– Eve Lyons, the director of photography for the resurrected Life magazine. A new issue will come out on Nov. 23 as a large-format, 250-page print magazine retailing for $45, combining news photography with long-form journalism. There are no traditional print ads. As this unlocked New York Times story says, Life’s founder Henry Luce wanted to create a magazine “to see and to take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed.”
On kicks
“I think what happened is people started to realize how absurd it was.”
– Kellen James, owner of Silhouette Sneakers & Art, to The Oklahoma Eagle’s Ismael Lele about the decrease of reselling high-end footwear. The store in Greenwood closed last week after seven years.
On homelessness
“Our goal through Safe Move is to get 1,300 people to a place where they’re exiting homelessness, both through our encampment work and our rapid exit program. When you add those two programs together, the full breadth of the Safe Move initiative, 820 people have exited homelessness in the last year.”
– Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols last week during a press conference about Save Move Tulsa, which is the city’s initiative to reduce chronic homelessness. The Tulsa World’s Kevin Canfield reports that the 820 figure includes 282 homeless who moved from encampments to housing, and 538 who were part of the rapid-exit-from-shelter initiative.
On class size
“A good third-grade reader is not going to end up in prison. And so we’re either going to invest now, or we’re going to be throwing money in other ways.”
– Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada, a former teacher and principal, during an interim study about school class sizes. Oklahoma Voice’s Nuria Martinez-Keel covered what else was said during the discussion.
Notable numbers
$6.5 trillion
– The amount of revenue created by businesses who have owners who are older than 55 in America. This NYT op-ed talks about what life might be like if private equity firms keep buying up the small businesses of baby boomers aging into retirement.
$78 billion
– The value of DoorDash, which delivers about anything from anywhere, as it buys Instacart for $17 billion so it can get more into groceries. This WSJ unlocked story says 80% of grocery shopping is still done in person (not in our house except for Trader Joe’s runs).
$220 million
– The amount paid by General Motors to settle allegations that it illegally sold drivers’ private behavior and location data to brokers, who then sold the information to insurers that used it to set and sometimes increase rates. This is the second settlement for GM on the same allegations.
4.1 billion years
– How old the reddish rocks found in the Sahara four years turned out to be. That’s older than almost anything on Earth. They came from Mars, according to this unlocked New York Times story.
Twice
– The number of times in the last three years that the OU football team has fired its offensive coordinator right after losing to South Carolina. The latest, Ben Arbuckle, will still be paid more than $1.6 million over the months remaining on his contract, reports the Tulsa World’s Mason Young. Replacing him is future NFL Hall of Famer Jason Witten. His only experience calling plays is as a high school coach.
A new pizza place enters my rankings
The hype was high as we walked up to the little window on the patio of Nothing’s Left Brewing Co. on Sixth Street.
Friends had raved about Tortoise, which had served its sourdough pizza from a food truck on the property for three years.
The hype was right. We shared the Bacon & Fig Jam and the Hornet, which is three cheeses, pepperoni, jalapenos, and honey.
So this is how I ended up on my rankings of Tulsa pizza.
An app to check out
If you would like to earn full price on the stuff you don’t want, check out Vinted, which boasts it’s “on a mission to make second-hand first choice.”
It lets you sell your stuff without any fees. It’s easy to use and good stuff sells pretty quick. The number of deals, many with tags still on, makes it also a shopping destination. The prices are worth a look. And it’s not just clothes. There’s even collectables.
Thank you for reading this movement I am on toward truth and understanding in Tulsa. Remember, there is no cavalry. It’s up to us. All together now. jc
P.S. Two events to invite you to.
What is OU going to do next in Tulsa?
I will sit down with University of Oklahoma Tulsa Vice President Susan Carlson Bynum on Friday, Nov. 13, at a Tulsa Press Club event.
Join Tulsa Press Club members and friends at the next Morning Edition coffee networking event, brought to you by Honeymoon.
We will serve a light breakfast and coffee. There’s no cost to attend, but would appreciate your RSVP to get you through security quickly.
Thanks to News on 6 for hosting us at its downtown studio. LeAnne Taylor will welcome us.
When: 8:30-10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18
Where: News on 6, 303 N. Boston Ave.
RSVP: andrea.myers@wearehoneymoon.com
The Collington Index is a free weekly news summary written by Jason Collington that explains quickly what’s important and interesting, shared in weekly wraps, popular lists, conversations and cheat sheets. Skim or go deep. A movement toward truth and understanding in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Subscribe for free on Substack to get an email newsletter each Tuesday morning. See the archive at collingtonindex.com.
