(Update: On Tuesday, June 16, GOP candidates Gentner Drummond and Mike Mazzei advanced to an Aug. 25 gubernatorial runoff election.)
KSWO-TV and NonDoc hosted a debate among Oklahoma’s top Republican gubernatorial candidates on May 28 at Cameron University in Lawton, but five other GOP candidates did not meet the polling threshold required for participation. As an alternative, NonDoc offered those candidates a chance to answer questions about their campaigns and policy ideas for publication online.
As stated when the debate was announced, candidates were required to reach 12 percent or higher in a publicly available poll to qualify for the May 28 debate. In a poll released in January — and again in a poll commissioned by NonDoc to determine debate eligibility — only Gentner Drummond, Chip Keating, Charles McCall and Mike Mazzei met the 12 percent threshold.
Following the debate, NonDoc sent questionnaires to Jake Merrick, Leisa Mitchell Haynes, Kenneth Sturgell, Jennifer Domenico and Calup Anthony Taylor. Only three of those candidates responded, and their answers appear below with only light editing for punctuation and clarity. While Haynes said she had written her answers, she cited computer problems as an impediment for returning them. Domenico also did not return answers.
On May 28 in Lawton, Merrick held a Facebook live rebuttal event outside the auditorium during the 90-minute debate, answering the questions asked inside.
To read a recap of the May 28 debate with the full video embedded at the end, click here.
1Jake Merrick
What is the top issue facing the state of Oklahoma?
Across the state, the issue most often asked about is education reform. Since being ranked 50th in the nation, people are ready for real change to a broken education system. While making it clear that the governor cannot unilaterally change education (probably the most significant contribution would be the state school board appointments), I have proposed a series of recommendations: 1.) Address administrative bloat by moving to a county superintendent model. 2.) Empower teachers: move away from over dependence on standardized testing and toward local assessments. 3.) Integrate more Vo Tech and Career Tech in our high schools to prepare students with practical skills by graduation. 4.) IEP Reform — Ensure stricter parameters so that IEPs are not handed out and used as an excuse to shuffle kids to the next level without achieving grade-level proficiency. 5.) Move school board elections to November to ensure greater parental representation on local school boards.
What specifically in your biography and background has most prepared you to be governor of Oklahoma?
My time in the Oklahoma Senate gave me first-hand insight into the political process and the pressure often applied to elected officials by outside interests. I proved that I was willing to stand against this pressure and vote on principle even when it was not popular. My life dedicated to ministry has instilled in me a love for people and a deep conviction to serve. This is the most important element of our political system that has been lost. We must return back to a servant leadership model where the voices of the people are prioritized over special interests.
What is something you heard a candidate say during the May 28 debate in Lawton that you would have responded to?
When a governor candidate says that they will reduce taxes, it is laughable. No candidate for governor should declare or promise this because they do not have the authority or power to do so. Any tax reform will depend on the Legislature to act, and until we get serious about reducing the size and scope of government, any talk about tax reform is mere rhetoric. The critical first step is to remove the fraud, waste and abuse before true tax reform is possible.
Do you believe the state should have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute tribal citizens across the affirmed Indian Country reservations in eastern Oklahoma?
I do believe the state should have concurrent jurisdiction, but I believe this starts with a healthy relationship with the tribes. I will work to repair this relationship and earn the tribes’ trust again so that we can work together to establish justice across the state.
When you speak with the 15 percent of Oklahomans living in poverty — and those who feel it coming on — what is a specific policy you support other than a tax cut that can help Oklahomans economically?
The answer is not more government. Remove bureaucratic red tape that makes it hard to do business in Oklahoma, and more jobs with great pay will be available to people ready and willing to work. In addition, we need greater investment in our Career Techs and Vo Techs — integrating these more into our high schools so that the next generation can graduate with skills that can easily and readily be applied to earn a great income.
What is the one thing you would like to say about not being offered a space on the May 28 debate stage, and what is the best one-liner you would have delivered had you been there?
An overreliance on faulty polls that do not accurately represent the voters across the state has resulted in favoritism toward the candidates who appear to be leading the race. If I had been on stage, I would have reminded the people that I remain the candidate who has refused all lobbyist, PAC and special interest money so that the people can have a candidate they can trust. Money is the corrupting factor, and it starts in the campaign. People can trust me because I am not bought and will only be obligated to the people themselves, not big money interests, when elected.
2Kenneth Sturgell
What is the top issue facing the state of Oklahoma?
We have to protect Oklahoma’s greatest resource. I’m talking about our youth, our kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. They are counting on us to get this right for their future. We have allowed every temptation in the world to come into our state, and in most cases, we believed that they were the answer to our problems. We believe that they would generate enough tax dollars so that we would not have to pay taxes. We have been looking in all the wrong places for the Solutions that Oklahoma needs. We have to wake up and get back to our roots. The Bible says that “if my people that are called by my name,” I believe that this passage in the Bible is talking about his people, Christians. So the rest of this is talking to God’s people. Christians “will humble themselves and Seek my face, I will hear and heal their land,” Chronicles 7:14. So, I’m talking to the church. If we will do this, God will do his part, and we will see the future for Oklahoma brighter than ever for our greatest resource: our kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. Oklahoma will become a leader in the United States and become the bright and shiny light in a very dark world. The original 56 men started this country by God’s providence to guide them to founding a country like we’ve never seen before. We need to ask for God’s providence to guide us to make Oklahoma unstoppable.
What specifically in your biography and background has most prepared you to be governor of Oklahoma?
I believe that I am just what are founding fathers wanted “for the people by the people of the people.” In the business that I have been in for the last 27 years, I get paid to take problems and come up with the best solution to make the problem go away in the best interest of the customer. That is the mindset we need. To take Oklahoma into the future.
What is something you heard a candidate say during the May 28 debate in Lawton that you would have responded to?
We must find the candidates in every position that are led by God to run for that position, vote for them and hold them to a Godly standard on every decision they make in our behalf.
Do you believe the state should have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute tribal citizens across the affirmed Indian Country reservations in eastern Oklahoma?
The tribes are our neighbors, and we need to be good neighbors to them. They need to be good neighbors back to us. We’re all family here in Oklahoma and we need to act that way.
When you speak with the 15 percent of Oklahomans living in poverty — and those who feel it coming on — what is a specific policy you support other than a tax cut that can help Oklahomans economically?
I will build our technical schools here in Oklahoma. There are hundreds of high-paid jobs that go unfilled every year. We need to make room for them in the classroom and promote the trades in our schools. In some cases, these classes are even free if you are under the age of 22.
What is the one thing you would like to say about not being offered a space on the May 28 debate stage, and what is the best one-liner you would have delivered had you been there?
Sturgell did not answer.
3Calup Anthony Taylor
What is the top issue facing the state of Oklahoma?
The Economy; we have to get money in people’s pockets because of the everyday living expenses, groceries, gas, and rent or mortgage payments.
