We have some good news and bad news to report if you're not a fan of grifters who want to sabotage and destroy public education in Oklahoma!
First, let's get to the good news.
Earlier this week, poll results came out that show the races for Governor and State School Superintendent are very close for a deep red right-wing state like Oklahoma.
In the gubernatorial race, scandal-ridden Republican incumbent Kevin Stitt leads his Republican turned Democrat rival Joy Hofmeister by only one-percentage point, while anti-public school super-grifter extraordinaire Ryan Walters trails kind and gentle "woke indoctrinator" Jena Nelson by 5% in the quest for State Public School Superintendant.
New @SoonerPoll poll shows @GovStitt with just a one point lease over @joy4ok
— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) September 13, 2022
Stitt: 43.7%
Hofmeister: 42.7%
Yen (I): 3.9%
Bruno (L): 2.6%
Undecided: 7%https://t.co/ELjjRs3QzO
New @SoonerPoll poll shows @Jena4OK leading @sec_walters by 5 points
— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) September 13, 2022
Nelson: 48.1%
Walters: 43.1%
Undecided: 8.8%https://t.co/C0ISCchsix
That's badass!
Considering we live in Oklahoma – and everyone just assumes Stitt and Walters will win their races because they have Rs by their name – the polling results took many people by surprise and were wildly celebrated across various social media echo chambers, with everyone from ethical moderate Republicans to whiny far-left Democrats cheering the results.
That being said, I'm not as pumped about the results as everyone else. This is thanks to that thing I alluded to in the first sentence of this post – the bad news.
We're still in September, Stitt and Walters are sitting on a lot of campaign cash, and perhaps most alarmingly, the polling results were courtesy of SoonerPoll and the Mr. Magoo of Oklahoma pollsters – Bill Shapard.
SoonerPoll leans Democrat, has a C+ rating from FiveThirtyEight, and is about as accurate as an Oklahoma winter weather forecast. They also have articles like this from September of 2018 on their website that should give every optimistic Oklahoman pause:
Tight race continues between Republican Kevin Stitt and Democrat Drew Edmondson for Oklahoma Governor
A tight general election race for governor continues according to the most recent SoonerPoll commissioned by News 9 and Newson6 in Tulsa.
Republican Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt, a newcomer to politics, leads former Democrat Attorney General Drew Edmondson by just 2 points, the slimmest of margins of any statewide race in the poll. These results are within the poll's margin of error of 4.8 percent.
For what it's worth, Kevin Stitt would handily win that election by a 52% to 42% margin.
Anyway, I think Hoffmeister will perform better than Edmondson – and like the former Democratic nominee for Governor, will also vote for some Republicans on the ballot – but I'm still not super excited about her and Nelson's chances.
Betting on them to win their races would be like picking OSU to beat OU in Bedlam football. Sure, it can happen, and OSU may even be favored and leading in the polls, but if your life depends on choosing the winner, you're likely going to play things safe and pick OU to win.
And don't get me wrong.
Although victories by Stitt and Walters would be great for our business, I'm still pulling for Joy and Jenna to sneak out wins. Call me sane and old-fashioned, but I'd much rather our state government not be run by right-wing grifter politicians who want to use their offices to destroy public education and enrich their BBQ and for-profit charter school buddies.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.
