State Senate leader Treat faces Dem challenger
The Republican leader of Oklahoma' s state Senate is up for reelection this year and faces a Democratic challenger.
Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat faces Democrat Andrea Stone in the Republican-leaning Senate District 47.
Treat, 42, has represented the district since 2011 and is running for his final, fouryear term in the Senate. He is poised to lead the chamber for at least two more years.
Stone, 46, has volunteered with Mom's Demand Action for Gun Sense in America since shortly after the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Park land, Florida.
A shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City nearly a year ago solidified her decision to run for office.
“I got involved with Mom's Demand Action, and through that, I got the opportunity to see our Legislature in action,” she said. “I had paid attention before, but I hadn't been up there and seen how everything works, and I was very disappointed.”
Stone said she was particularly disappointed in Treat because, like a majority of Oklahoma's Republican legislators, he voted in favor of the 2019 permitless carry bill that allowed most Oklahomans to carry a firearm in public with no training or license.
Treat said his job leading the GOP-majority Senate is to help set a vision for the state and to move Oklahoma forward—a job that is a give-and-take with Gov. Kevin St it ta nd House Speaker Charles McCall, R- Atoka. McCall is also up for reelection this cycle, but is running unopposed.
A big part of that overall vision is trying to diversify Oklahoma's economy so the state is less reliant on oil and natural gas revenues, which often fluctuate, Treat said. He also vowed to prioritize public education funding and protect the teacher pay raises and other education investments the Legislature has made in recent years.
“There was a general sense in Oklahoma, not just among educators, that a significant teacher pay raise was overdue, and we were able to deliver on that, but that was a very painful process to get there,” he said. “I don't think you could have walked through that and lived through that and want to ever see us get in that position again.”
This summer, Treat also got the ball rolling on serious discussions about police reform in Oklahoma, saying the conversations might lead to legislation next year.
He also aims to help restore Oklahomans' trust in the Legislature and the legislative process, which he said involves improving the culture at the state Capitol. The public image of the Legislature has improved in recent years following the departure of several lawmakers who were embroiled in sex scandals.
“It' s still my No .1 goal to restore trust that those people that you elect are actually working for you and taking the job seriously ,” Treat said. “That's something that I try to project and actually do every day.”
The power and political influence that comes with leading the state Senate also comes with a flood of campaign cash. In his mid-August campaign finance report, Treat reported having a campaign war chest of $254,000, or more than 80 times the campaign funding of his opponent.
Stone said it was daunting jumping into a race against such a well-financed opponent. But where s he may be out- fundraised, St one said her campaign is not out-worked.
"I think when you see that your opponent has $250,000 in the bank at the start of a race, and you know that special interests are going to invest in his campaign, it's daunting," she said. "But I've lived in the district for almost 20 years, and I wasn't going to move to dodge the competition. I think people deserve a choice."
Prior to running for office, Treat was a political operative who go this start in politics by interning for former U.S. Rep Tom Coburn in Washington, D.C.
Treat, who strongly opposes abortion, said that was one of the main issues that drove him into politics. He has helped pass several anti-abortion laws, some of which were later struck down by the courts.
“It's something I'm more passionate about than any other issue we talk about, and I'm going to continue to try to advance dignity and respect of life from conception all the way through death,” he said.
Treat is hopeful that the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court will be able to overturn Roe v. Wade — the court's ruling that gave women the right to choose to have an abortion.
Stone supports a women's right to an abortion, but she hopes to see the number of abortions decline. Reducing the number of abortions should be the goal on both sides of the aisle, instead of passing laws the courts will simply strike down, she said.
“I think abortion is a women's health issue,” she said. “It is an issue between a woman a nd her doctor, and government interference in that decision is not necessary.”
Stoneworks at Enable Mid stream Partners, but she previously spent years helping teachers shift to distance learning and improving their ability to teach online. She believes she could use her skills to help improve virtual learning in the state, especially since it has become so commonplace amid the pandemic.
Stone and Treat differ on Medicaid expansion. Treat opposed State Question 802, while Stone supported the question to expand Medicaid.
Oklahoma could have expanded Medicaid years ago if legislative leaders had gotten on board, she said.
“I think Sen. Treat, for a long time, held back Medicaid expansion,” she said. Treat opposed Medicaid expansion, saying he didn't think it was the right move for Oklahoma and expressing concerns that the costs could become unwieldy.
But since Oklahomans approved SQ 802 this summer, Treat said the Legislature will work dili - gently in the 2021 legislative session to fund the expansion.
Stone criticized state leadership for not doing more to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic response is being led by Gov. Kevin Stitt, and legislative leaders don't appear to be directly involved in the dayto-day response.
Treat said he has had regular meetings with health care and business leaders to keep a pulse on how they're faring. He also has kept a close eye on how Stitt is doling out federal CARES Act funds for pandemic relief efforts.
Senate District 47 includes northwest Oklahoma City and parts of Edmond.
For more information, visit gregtreat.com and stoneforok.com.