Those advocating to replace Oklahoma’s election process with a California-style “open primary” include campaign contributors to the Democratic presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, as well as a range of other left-wing candidates in Oklahoma, records show.

Oklahoma’s current election system allows Republican voters to pick Republican nominees in party primaries while Democratic voters do the same in their party’s primaries, with the two parties’ candidates then facing off in the November general election along with any independent candidates who file for an office.

But under the proposed State Question 836, all Oklahoma candidates—Democrats, Republicans, and independents—would be placed on a single ballot with all voters participating. The two candidates receiving the most votes would then proceed to the November general election, even if they are both members of the same political party.

That would largely mirror California elections, where voters’ November choices are often limited to two members of the same party, and even statewide races have involved only two Democratic candidates.

An initiative-petition effort is underway to collect 172,993 valid signatures to place SQ 836 on the ballot in Oklahoma.

Proponents are now planning a “cocktail reception for open primaries in support of Vote Yes 836” to help bankroll the effort. The event will be held on Nov. 18 at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club.

The invitation lists several hosts, many of whom are prominent campaign contributors to Democratic candidates or supporters of left-wing causes.

Hosts Support Left-Wing Candidates

One of the most prominent backers of SQ 836, Sue Ann Arnall, contributed to Joe Biden’s 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, and the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, according to public records.

Arnall also contributed to the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial campaign of Drew Edmondson and the 2020 Oklahoma U.S. Senate campaign of Democrat Abby Broyles. Arnall has also contributed to the campaigns of Democratic legislative leaders in Oklahoma, such as Oklahoma Senate Democratic Leader Julia Kirt of Oklahoma City, former Oklahoma Senate Democratic Leader Kay Floyd of Oklahoma City, and House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson of Oklahoma City (who has announced she is running for Oklahoma governor next year), among others.

Other individuals hosting the fundraiser for “open primaries” in Oklahoma also funded Democratic presidential campaigns.

Steven Agee financially contributed to the Democratic presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden’s Democratic presidential campaign in 2020.

Agee also gave money to the Democratic gubernatorial campaign of Joy Hofmeister in 2022 and Edmondson’s 2010 Democratic gubernatorial campaign, according to campaign-finance records. He also gave to Edmondson’s 2018 Democratic gubernatorial campaign and to Broyles’ 2020 U.S. Senate campaign. Agee is also listed as a donor to the campaigns of former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, Floyd, and Kirt.

John Kennedy also contributed to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, as well as Hofmeister’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign, Horn’s 2020 congressional campaign, and Munson’s legislative campaign. He financially supported the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial campaigns of Edmonson and Jari Askins.

Larry Trachtenberg contributed to the campaigns of both Biden in 2020 and Broyles in 2020, and gave money to Horn for her 2018 and 2020 U.S. House campaigns.

While some other advocates of SQ 836 do not appear to be direct campaign funders of recent Democratic presidential campaigns, one provided support in a different fashion.

David Holt Tried to Damage Trump in Swing State

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, who is promoting SQ 836, authored a column last year in a swing-state (Pennsylvania) media outlet indicating he would not support Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and would instead “vote for virtue.”

The column was touted as a “Republican” endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.  The website Raw Story reported on Holt’s column, stating, “Voters in a strong red state have received a dire warning from their capital's Republican mayor not to elect former President Donald Trump.”

Other supporters of SQ 836 have been active in efforts to shift political control of Oklahoma from conservatives to liberals.

“Open primaries” backer Amy Gray contributed to Hofmeister’s 2022 Democratic gubernatorial campaign.

Similarly, Chuck Wiggin contributed to Edmondson’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign and also gave to the campaigns of Kirt and Floyd.

Some hosts for the SQ 836 fundraiser are listed as having contributed to the campaigns of some Republicans. However, several of those donations were to candidates like Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn, who has openly opposed the policy goals of Republicans on everything from tax cuts to preventing males from accessing women’s prisons. Osborn has even called on voters to oust Republican lawmakers.

In a public meeting, a recording of which remains available online, Osborn said, “Have you pulled up the voting records of your state rep and senator? Are they the ones running anti-trans bills, gay-bashing bills, abortion bills, gun bills? If that’s what you want, great. That’s not what I want out of government. Are they the ones always voting for a tax cut? We have to get to the point where we educate ourselves and start putting people in that have the same priorities we do, unless we want to stay stagnantly exactly where we are.”

By December 2023, members of the Oklahoma City Republican Women’s Club called on Osborn to switch parties and become a Democrat, stating, “We are asking her to change her party affiliation as her current actions and apparent values to the protection of children and families are contrary to the principles of the Republican Party.”

SQ 836 Backer Wants Men in Women’s Prisons

Another host of the SQ 836 fundraiser has also decried state efforts to keep men out of women’s prisons, despite documented cases of males claiming to be “transgender” women and then raping actual female inmates while incarcerated in women’s prisons.

In August 2023, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a “Women’s Bill of Rights” executive order that barred males from female-only facilities and events in Oklahoma. The order was issued as a growing number of men claimed to identify as female to access everything from women’s bathrooms to women’s domestic-abuse shelters to women’s prisons.

“We are making sure that women’s spaces are safe for women,” Stitt said. “No men are going to go into women’s prisons in the state of Oklahoma. No men in women’s domestic shelters in the state of Oklahoma. No men in women’s locker rooms. No men in women’s bathrooms. No men in women’s sports.”

Liz McLaughlin, one of the hosts of the SQ 836 fundraiser, issued a statement on behalf of the organization, “We are Rising,” that denounced Stitt’s executive order. “We are Rising” is a pro-abortion organization opposed to Oklahoma state regulations that prohibit abortion in many instances.

Had SQ 836’s California-style primary system been in place in Oklahoma in 2018, voters’ choices would have been limited to two liberal Democrats in that year’s governor’s race.In Oklahoma’s 2018 gubernatorial race, 10 candidates filed to run as Republicans and two filed to run as Democrats. In the June 2018 primary, 452,606 Oklahomans cast a vote for a Republican gubernatorial candidate compared to just 395,494 votes cast for a Democrat.

But under SQ 836’s California model, the November ballot that year would have pitted Democrat Drew Edmondson against Democrat Connie Johnson with no Republican option for Oklahoma voters. Because the Republican vote was split 10 ways in the primary, no GOP candidate received more votes than the second-place finisher in the Democratic primary during the initial round of voting.

Photo credit: Associated Press