Articles
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma restaurant owner warns SQ 832 will kill jobs, businesses
Restaurant owner and state Sen. Kristen Thompson warns that SQ 832 would devastate independent restaurants, pointing to California’s recent wage hike that led to job losses, reduced hours, higher menu prices, and increased automation.Ray Carter | January 6, 2026
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Law & Principles
OKC mayor urges ‘top two’ primaries, but California’s track record undercuts the pitch
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt is urging Oklahomans to adopt a California-style “top two” election system, arguing it produces more pragmatic officeholders. But California’s real-world results tell a different story.Jonathan Small | December 29, 2025
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Law & Principles
‘Top Two’ jungle primaries would be death knell for Independent, alternative-party candidates in Oklahoma
Independent and alternative-party candidates have played a meaningful role in Oklahoma statewide elections for decades. State Question 836, with its California-style “Top Two” primary, would make it nearly impossible for alternative parties to survive, reducing voter choice and silencing non-establishment voices.Chris Powell | December 22, 2025
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Education, Law & Principles
New Oklahoma law closes loophole allowing abusive school employees to hop districts
A new Oklahoma law aims to end the practice known as “passing the trash,” in which school employees accused of abusing students resign and quietly move to another district without their misconduct being disclosed.Ray Carter | December 22, 2025
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Law & Principles
Holt calls state leaders ‘bitterly unpopular’—but they outpoll him
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, who promotes “Pride Month” celebrating transgenderism and other sexual identities, recently dismissed Oklahoma statewide elected officials as “bitterly unpopular.” Holt says a California-style election system will produce superior governance.Ray Carter | December 17, 2025
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Law & Principles
With California election system, no Governors Bellmon, Bartlett, Keating, or Stitt
A review of Oklahoma’s past elections shows that the California-style “top two” system proposed in State Question 836 would have kept nearly every Republican governor in Oklahoma history off the November ballot the year they were first elected.Ray Carter | December 10, 2025
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Law & Principles
New York group seeks to overhaul Oklahoma election system
Supporters of State Question 836 portray their push for a California-style “top two” election system as a local, grassroots movement. But one of its drivers is a New York–based activist group that boasts of “10 years of conversations and organizing in the Sooner State.”Ray Carter | December 9, 2025
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Law & Principles
Among states that have reported data, Oklahoma leads the nation in food-stamp fraud
As part of a federal crackdown on food-stamp fraud, states were asked to submit data on duplicate beneficiaries, dead enrollees, and stolen benefits. So far, Oklahoma stands out with the highest per-capita fraud rate of any reporting state.Ray Carter | December 5, 2025
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Law & Principles
Eric Swalwell touted as open-primary success
Activists pushing State Question 836 claim a California-style “top two” primary will give Oklahoma more moderate candidates, yet their own flagship report praising that system held up one of Congress’s most aggressively partisan Democrats—Eric Swalwell—as a model success.Ray Carter | December 2, 2025
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Law & Principles
A flawed election system, or flawed ideas?
SQ 836 isn’t real reform—it’s a scheme that would limit voter choice, favor liberal outcomes, and let activists rig the system when their ideas can’t win.Michael Wright | November 20, 2025