Air Force veteran, English teacher in general election race for Senate
EDMOND — Now that a former Air Force captain has soundly defeated a Baptist preacher in a Republican Senate runoff, he gets to take on a popular Edmond high school English teacher in the main event, the Nov. 8 general election.
But the preacher is not going away quietly. The Rev. Paul Blair, a former defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears, emailed supporters after his defeat, expressing astonishment that people didn’t vote for a Christian conservative like himself.
The victorious primary opponent, Adam Pugh, received 4,314 votes, or 54.11 percent, while Blair had 3,658 votes, or 45.89 percent.
With Blair out, Pugh, who now works in the aerospace industry, seems well positioned for the fall general election.
The business community stands behind Pugh, who has a more pragmatic conservative style than the fiery preacher. He would also seem to have a natural advantage in the fall, as he seeks to represent a heavily Republican Senate District 41.
Standing in his way, however, is Democrat Kevin McDonald, who has been knocking on doors for months. He often runs into students, former students or their parents on the campaign trail.
“The Edmond community has been so supportive of the schools,” he said. “The base conversation that our state services are not being funded appropriately and that’s a threat to schools resonates with people,” he said Friday during his lunch break at Edmond Memorial.
Alicia Priest, president of the Oklahoma Education Association, said the group’s political action committee, the Fund for Children and Public Education, is interviewing candidates to determine who it will back in the November election.
McDonald is a member of the OEA and has already received an initial recommendation from the PAC.
Priest said that during the interview process, candidates are asked key questions to gauge whether they align with the organization’s views against school vouchers, in favor of a penny sales tax for schools and in favor of protecting benefits for teachers.
“Occasionally, we get involved in a primary but for the most part, we wait for the general election,” she said.
The Fund for Children and Public Education does have some cash to spend leading up to the general election.
The last quarterly report for the committee shows it with a balance of more than $127,000.
In his email to supporters, Blair wrote: “In a normal world, you would think that a hometown boy who went on to play professional football, built a three decade successful hometown business and successfully pastored a hometown church for 15 years would be a popular candidate.
“When you add to the professional resume a 27-year marriage with no scandals, divorce or DUI’s, plus, being a nationally recognized speaker on the subjects of the Constitution and the founder’s principles of government — you would think that man would be well prepared for office.”
He closed his message with a warning to Oklahoma and a promise.
“As my friend, American War Hero and commander of Delta Force, General Jerry Boykin said last weekend, ‘If there is no place in this Legislature for a guy like Paul Blair, the state of Oklahoma has got no future.’”
“We will not be working from within, but we will continue our work from the outside. Stay on board with our continuing Reclaiming America for Christ and Protect Life and Marriage efforts. Always in the fight. Patriot and Pastor Paul Blair.”
With races for state House and Senate seats now set following last week’s primary runoffs, candidates are navigating changing political demographics, dealing with an unusual presidential election and looking to drum up support among an electorate that has a largely unfavorable view of the Oklahoma Legislature.
But while legislative races are 70 days away, the deep partisan divide between parts of the state means most races between Democrats and Republicans are essentially over, at least based on voter demographics.
“What is really powerful in state races is the power of incumbency and the power of districts drawn to keep power with a specific party,” said Sen. David Holt, an Oklahoma City legislator not up for re-election this year. “You have a lot of people getting engaged in the political process for the first time this year, but I worry they are likely to find out what a lot of people already know, which is that change is hard and the incumbents usually win.”
Not every November race features an incumbent as term limits bring a forced refreshing for a segment of the Legislature. But even in districts where the current representative is ineligible to run, the incumbent’s party likely has a strong voter registration advantage.
Of the 105 state Senate and House seats with contested elections this November, only seven saw a legislator win by less than 10 percentage points in the last election cycle.
The Oklahoma Legislature has a favorability rating of 34 percent as most Oklahomans are dissatisfied with its elected body, according to a SoonerPoll.com survey conducted last month.
But using voter registration data and election history to predict the competitiveness of November races shows no signs of Republicans losing their super majority status at the Capitol.
A few tossups
“People aren’t happy with the government and that’s obvious,” said Bruce Lee Smith, a Republican candidate in House District 87.
Smith said one of the challenges to campaigning for office is the diversity of questions voters have on an assortment of political issues.
“The variety of questions I get from voters is really extreme,” Smith said. “Of course you get questions about education and the budget, but they want to know who you support