Republican nominee was a Dem for a few days
NORMAN — A quirk in Oklahoma's voter registration laws allowed a Senate candidate to run on the Republican ballot, even though she registered with the Democratic Party before filing for office.
Becki Maldonado is the Republican nominee for Senate District 16, which covers parts of Norman and rural Cleveland County.
The lifelong Republican joined the Democratic Party during the first week of the teacher walkout in April, several days before she filed for office. Her new registration was put on hold because of Oklahoma's party change blackout period, however, meaning it wouldn't take effect until Sept. 1. Because of the delay, she appeared on the Republican primary ballot.
After her Democratic Party registration became active last week, she re-registered with the GOP and will officially be a Republican again for the
November general election.
Like many other teachers and education advocates running for office, Maldonado launched her legislative campaign during the walkout.
“I was very frustrated with the Republican legislators there and so I thought enough is enough, I don’t even want to be associated with them,” said Maldonado, who teaches English at Emerson Alternative High School in Oklahoma City.
Maldonado considers herself a moderate and said she doesn’t want to place much emphasis on political labels.
“I am in the middle of the spectrum on my beliefs. I wasn’t really concerned with how I was filing,” she said. “I am so bipartisan by nature, and we’re really at a point that we need to start working together instead of worrying about what party (you’re in).”
Since filing for office, Maldonado said she’s been impressed by Republican voters across the state who rejected incumbents, many of whom voted against new tax revenue that was earmarked for the teacher salary hike.
“I think the Republicans in Oklahoma have really proved to me where their heart is. We got rid of almost all of the antieducation Republicans that were in the Legislature, and I’ve talked with a lot of Republicans who are still in leadership; it’s definitely something I look forward to being a part of,” she said.
After she finished in second place in the primary election, Maldonado was bound for a runoff in August. However, her opponent, Ed Crocker, bowed out of the race, telling the Norman Transcript that he did not see a path to victory against the Democratic nominee in November. The Democratic contest featured Mary Boren and Claudia Griffith, a state representative who died before the runoff election but remained on the ballot. Boren won and will face Maldonado on Nov. 6.
Boren said she agreed that a lot of teachers felt betrayed by the Republican Party, but criticized Maldonado for switching parties.
“It’s disappointing that the voters in Senate District 16 were believing Becki that she was a Republican, but she knew she was in fact a registered Democrat at the time,” said Boren. “It adds to the distrust and disillusionment that voters feel in our politicians, elected leaders and candidates.”
On Tuesday, the Oklahoma State Election Board reported that it processed more than 18,600 party affiliation designations since the blackout ended. The data show nearly half of those were Democrats switching to the GOP.
More than 3,500 independent voters became Republican, as well, with about 3,000 independent and Republican voters switching to the Democratic Party. Libertarians picked up 618 current voters according to the tally, which does not include new voter registrations.