COVID-19 pandemic changes campaigning
Patty Cohenour was frustrated when she opened her front door and saw Jessica Garvin, a candidate for the Oklahoma Senate.
"She's going doorto- door, and I felt like she might be exposing me to something,” said Cohenour, 61, who lives in Newcastle and considers herself high-risk for COVID-19. “She was very kind and apologized about it, but I still feel like it was incorrect of her to do so."
Garvin has been knocking doors for her campaign since last year, and she stopped when the pandemic first began. But with Gov. Kevin Stitt reopening the state and a contested June 30 primary against the incumbent, Garvin wanted to get back out.
Garvin is running for Senate District 43, which encompasses parts of Grady, Stephens, Garvin and McClain counties.
“It was not something that we just jumped back into,” said Garvin, a Republican who also works as a health care professional in the Marlow area. “I spoke with several physicians to make sure we had a procedure that was safe.”
Before she started knocking doors, Garvin and her family were tested for COVID- 19. Armed with hand sanitizer, Garvin keeps a mask with her, though she isn't usually wearing it, and she keeps several feet away from the front door once someone answers.
One of the nursing homes she works at was also recently tested for the virus, and all tests were negative, she said.
“It's something that we really had to navigate,” Garvin said. “All the other campaigns ( in the area) have been knocking doors for a few weeks now, so it is a little ironic that I'm the one being publicly shamed for it.”
Candidates for public office across Oklahoma say campaigning during the era of COVID- 19 is difficult and looks nothing like they expected when they decided to run.
Social media has become an invaluable resource for campaigns, and Zoom town halls or digital fundraising events are common.
With the June 30 primary on the horizon, candidates said they are being creative to get in touch with as many constituents as possible.
Rep. Mark Lawson, R- Sapulpa, is up for reelection, and he's been knocking doors, as well.
“Our biggest challenge is that older folks are most likely to vote, but they are less likely to have a social media profile,” he said.
“And so that has been the million-dollar question — do you go knock on these doors knowing they are the at-risk population but it is the best way to get in touch with them? The last thing I want to do is show up and make someone think that I don't care about their health and only care about their vote.”
His campaign has put a heavy emphasis on phone calls and directly mailing information, and Facebook Live events have drawn double the number of followers compared to Lawson's last campaign.
For those running for office for the first time, not being able to build connections through face-to-face interactions at events or other gatherings has been difficult, said Mauree Turner, candidate for House District 88 in Oklahoma City.
Turner decided not to knock doors, which she said was heartbreaking but, as a Black woman, it was the right choice to keep her community safe.
Instead, she's sending out hand- written postcards and hosting live video talks every week. And though she didn't have a large social media footprint previously, she's learned how to translate her message online effectively.
“I would still not call myself a social- media guru,” Turner said with a laugh. "But I absolutely am still excited about this race for so many reasons. ... People see themselves in this campaign, so they are coming and helping.”
Incumbents may still have an advantage because of name recognition and previous connections, but the workload of public officials increased dramatically during the pandemic.
Current Oklahoma County Sheriff P. D. Taylor said he has spent all of his time responding to COVID-19.
“I've been extremely busy just getting through COVID- 19, spending 16 hours at the jail most days,” Taylor said, noting that multiple fundraising events had to be canceled along the way. “But experience does count.”
As Oklahoma's number of virus cases continues to rise as the state reopens — a record 450 cases were reported on Thursday — that pressure won't let up.
"One way or another, the election is going to happen," Lawson said. "So we want to make sure we're doing everything to get the message out."