State Candidate Survey
In anticipation of the 2014Elections, Oklahomans For Life asked the twelve questions below of candidates for statewide officeand for the Oklahoma state Senate and the Oklahoma state House of Representatives. The most important question is No. 1, and the candidates’ answers to that question are written in capital letters. (We asked statewide candidates, who cannot literally “vote for” these measures, to indicate whether they “support” them.) For state House and Senate races, the counties or partial counties (marked by an asterisk) in the district are indicated after the district number. The initial after a candidate’s name represents party affiliation (Republican, Democrat, or Independent). On each question, a “yes” answer indicates agreement with the position of Oklahomans For Life. If no answers are shown following a candidate’s name, the candidate did not return his or her survey to us.
Our candidate survey of congressional candidates, sent in cooperation with National Right to Life, follows the listing of statewide and state-legislative candidates.
1)Upon reversal of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, will you vote for a law that would protect the lives of unborn children and prohibit abortion except to prevent the death of the mother?
Yes____No____
2)If efforts to enact such a law failed, will you vote for a law that would prohibit abortion except when necessary to prevent the death of the mother, or when the pregnancy is the result of forcible rape (reported to law enforcement authorities within seven days), or when the pregnancy resulted from an act of incest committed against a minor (with the perpetrator reported to law enforcement authorities)?
Yes____No____
3)Recently, there have been attempts in several states to pass a state Equal Rights Amendment which would amend the state Constitution to invalidate any law or government policy that discriminates “on account of sex.” In some of the states that have already added this or similar provisions to their state constitutions, courts have used them to invalidate limits on abortion. The New Mexico Supreme Court, e.g., in 1998 unanimously ruled that the New Mexico ERA required state funding of abortion. We oppose the ERA unless an “abortion neutralization” amendment is added to ensure that the ERA will not change abortion policy in any way. The amendment would read: “Nothing in this article [the ERA] shall be construed to grant, secure, or deny any right relating to abortion or the funding thereof.” Would you vote against any proposed ERA if it does not contain this “abortion neutralization” amendment?
Yes____No____
4)Will you oppose the establishing or funding of school-based “health” clinics, unless they are explicitly prohibited from doing abortion counseling or making abortion referrals or referring students to any other entity which counsels for, refers for, or performs abortions?
Yes____No____
5)There is currently an aggressive drive underway to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide across the United States. Causing the starvation or dehydration deaths of persons with disabilities and of incompetent patients who are deemed to be a burden on others or to have a diminished “quality of life” is the euthanasia movement’s interim goal while they seek eventual public acceptance of killing by lethal injection or by lethal overdose of controlled substances/dangerous drugs. Oklahoma’s Hydration and Nutrition for Incompetent Patients Act protects incompetent persons who have not directed that they be deprived of food and water so they will not be victims of death by starvation or dehydration. Will you oppose any attempt to repeal or weaken this protective law?
Yes____No____
6)Oklahoma’s Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act requires that a health care provider shall not deny to a patient a life-preserving health care service the provider provides to other patients, and the provision of which is directed by the patient or a person authorized to make health care decisions for the patient: 1)On the basis of a view that treats extending the life of an elderly, disabled, or terminally ill individual as of lower value than extending the life of an individual who is younger, nondisabled, or not terminally ill; or 2)On the basis of disagreement with how the patient or person authorized to make health care decisions for the patient values the tradeoff between extending the length of the patient’s life and the risk of disability. Will you oppose any attempt to repeal or weaken this protective law?
Yes____No____
7)Oklahoma law protects against the involuntary denial of life-saving medical treatment by requiring that if a health-care provider’s refusal to comply with a decision made by or on behalf of a patient to receive life-saving medical treatment would, in reasonable medical judgment, be likely to result in the patient’s death, then the health-care provider must provide the life-saving treatment pending transfer of the patient to a willing provider. Will you oppose any attempt to repeal or weaken this protective law?
Yes____No____
8)Oklahoma’s advance directive (living will) law recognizes the particular importance of food and water. In order to ensure truly informed consent, our law requires a separately-initialed paragraph in an advance directive in order for artificial administration of food and water to be rejected. Some proposals have been made that would, instead, combine food and water with “medical treatment” such as respirators or surgery, so that choosing to forego life-sustaining medical treatment would be assumed to mean the individual wanted to die by starvation and dehydration. In order to avoid confusion and protect individuals who expect to die from their underlying illness or injury, not from starvation or dehydration, will you vote against any bill that would repeal or weaken the existing requirement for a separately-initialed provision in an advance directive to indicate the rejection of food and water?
Yes____No____
9)Will you oppose the legalization of lethal prescriptions or lethal injections to intentionally kill an innocent person or to “assist” someone in committing suicide (“active euthanasia”)?
Yes____No____
10) Oklahoma’s Supreme Court has arbitrarily struck down as “unconstitutional” several pro-life laws, including laws which in other states have survived federal court challenges. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has become so hostile to the right to life that, when the abortion industry challenges Oklahoma’s pro-life laws, they no longer file suit in federal court, where they would most likely lose, but rather in state court, to give the Oklahoma Supreme Court the opportunity to strike down the laws. A primary reason that the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s rulings are so pro-abortion is that the Judicial Nominating Commission, which is responsible for nominating Supreme Court justices, is dominated by the Oklahoma Bar Association, the lawyers’ special interest group, which is a member of thepro-abortion American Bar Association. Oklahoma’s State Constitution permits the Legislature, by statute, to remove the authority of the Oklahoma Bar Association to choose members of the Judicial Nominating Commission. Will you support a law which would remove the authority of the Oklahoma Bar Association to choose members of the Judicial Nominating Commission, and give that authority, instead, to the Governor, the Speaker of the State House of Representatives, and/or the President Pro Tempore of the State Senate?
Yes____No____
11) Given the background on the courts described in the previous question, and given the fact that the state Constitution authorizes the Legislatureto limit, by statute, the tenure of currentstate Supreme Court justices by enacting a mandatory retirement age, and given the fact that 32 other states impose a mandatory retirement age on their states’ Supreme Court justices, will you support a law to establish a mandatory retirement age for Oklahoma Supreme Court justices?
Yes____No____
12) Given the background on the courts described in the previous two questions, would you support sending to a vote of the people a state Constitutional referendum to change the procedure by which state Supreme Court justices are chosen, by making that procedure similar to the way U. S. Supreme Court justices are chosen? (This would mean having the Governor nominate a state Supreme Court justice, and having the state Senate and/or state House of Representatives vote on whether to confirm the Governor’s nominee.)
Yes____No____
Oklahoma Statewide Candidates
Question numbers / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12GOVERNOR
Mary Fallin / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesJoe Dorman / D / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / no / no / no
Richard Prawdzienski / I
Kimberly Willis / I
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Todd G. Lamb / RCathy Cummings / D
STATE AUDITOR AND INSPECTOR
Gary A. Jones / RATTORNEY GENERAL
Scott Pruitt / R /STATE TREASURER
Ken Miller / R /SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Joy Hofmeister / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesJohn Cox / D
COMMISSIONER OF LABOR
Mark Costello / RMike Workman / D
INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
John Doak / RCORPORATION COMMISSIONER
Todd Hiett / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesIf no answers are shown following a candidate’s name, the candidate did not return his or her survey to us.
Oklahoma State Senate Candidates
(To learn your Senate District number, go to our website and click on “Find Your Legislators,” then enter your address and scroll down to State Senator. The district number appears just below “District Info.” Or you could phone your County Election Board and tell them your address.)
Question numbers / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12DISTRICT 2–*Mayes, *Rogers
Marty L. Quinn / RDISTRICT 4–*Leflore, Sequoyah
Mark Allen / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesAnn Weaver / D
DISTRICT 5 - *Atoka, Choctaw, *LeFlore, McCurtain, Pushmataha
Joseph W. Silk / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesCurtis McDaniel / D
DISTRICT 6 – *Atoka, Bryan, Coal, *Johnston, Marshall
Josh Brecheen / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesJoe B. Hill / D
Vicki J. Gaylor / I
DISTRICT 8 – McIntosh, *Muskogee, *Okfuskee, Okmulgee
Roger Thompson / RSelina Jayne-Dornan / D / - / - / - / no / yes / yes / yes / yes / - / - / yes / yes
DISTRICT 10 – *Kay, *Osage
Eddie Fields / RDISTRICT 12 – Creek, *Tulsa
Brian Bingman / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesDISTRICT 14 – Carter, *Johnston, Love, Murray
Frank Simpson / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesChequita Williams / D
DISTRICT 16 – *Cleveland
John Sparks / DDISTRICT 18 – *Cherokee, *Mayes, *Muskogee, *Tulsa, *Wagoner
Kim David / RCharles R. Arnall / D
DISTRICT 20 –*Kingfisher, Logan, Noble, Pawnee
AJ Griffin / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesDISTRICT 22 –*Canadian, *Oklahoma
Stephanie Bice / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesDISTRICT 24 –*Cleveland
Anthony Sykes / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesDISTRICT 26 -- Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, *Custer, *Kingfisher, Roger Mills
Darcy A. Jech / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesKevin Black / D
DISTRICT 28 – Lincoln, *Pottawatomie, *Seminole
Jason Smalley / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesMarilyn Rainwater / D
DISTRICT 30 – *Oklahoma
David Holt / RDISTRICT 32 – *Comanche
Randy Bass / DDISTRICT 34 –*Tulsa
Rick Brinkley / RDISTRICT 36 – *Tulsa, *Wagoner
Bill Brown / RDISTRICT 38 – *Custer, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa, Washita
Mike Schulz / RDISTRICT 40 – *Oklahoma
Ervin Yen / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesJohn Handy Edwards / D
DISTRICT 42 –*Oklahoma
Jack Fry / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesHiawatha N. Bouldin, Jr / D / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes
Charles Thompson / I
DISTRICT 44 – *Canadian, *Oklahoma
Ralph Shortey / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesMichael Brooks-Jimenez / D
Constance Fawcett / I
DISTRICT 46 – *Oklahoma
Kay Floyd / DDISTRICT 48 – *Oklahoma
Duane Crumbacher / RAnastasia A. Pittman / D
If no answers are shown following a candidate’s name, the candidate did not return his or her survey to us.
Oklahoma State House of
Representatives Candidates
(To learn your House District number, go to our website and click on “Find Your Legislators,” then enter your address and scroll down to State Representative. The district number appears just below “District Info.” Or you could phone your County Election Board and tell them your address.)
Question numbers / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12DISTRICT 1 – *LeFlore, McCurtain
J.P. Longacre / RJohnnyTadlock / D
DISTRICT 2 - *Sequoyah
John R. Bennett / R / YES / no / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesDISTRICT 3 - *LeFlore
Traci Barnes / RJames H. Lockhart / D / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes
DISTRICT 4 - *Cherokee
Mike Brown / DDISTRICT 5 - *Delaware, *Mayes
Doug Cox / RDISTRICT 6 – Craig, *Mayes, *Rogers
Marshall Scott McGuireChuck Hoskin / R
D / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes
DISTRICT 7 - *Delaware, Ottawa
Ben Loring / D /DISTRICT 8 - *Mayes, *Rogers, *Wagoner
Ben Sherrer / DDISTRICT 9 - *Rogers
Mark Paul Lepak / RDISTRICT 10 – Nowata, *Osage, *Washington
Travis Dunlap / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesAnthony Tucker / D / NO / no / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes
DISTRICT 11 - *Rogers, *Tulsa, *Washington
Earl Sears / RDISTRICT 12 - *Wagoner
David Tackett / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / no / no / noWade Rousselot / D / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes
DISTRICT 13 - *McIntosh, *Muskogee
Jerry McPeak / DDISTRICT 14 - *Cherokee, *Muskogee
George FaughtJack A. Reavis / R
D / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes
DISTRICT 15 - *Haskell, *LeFlore, *McIntosh, *Muskogee, *Pittsburg,
*Sequoyah
Ed Cannaday / DDISTRICT 16 - *Muskogee, *Okmulgee, *Tulsa, *Wagoner
James BoDelso / RJerry Shoemake / D / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / - / no / no / no
DISTRICT 17 - Latimer, *LeFlore, *Pittsburg
Micah ThompsonBrian Renegar / R
D /
DISTRICT 18 - Coal, *Hughes, *McIntosh, *Pittsburg
Donnie Condit / DDISTRICT 19 – *Atoka, *Bryan, Choctaw, Pushmataha
R.C. Pruett / DDISTRICT 20 – *Cleveland, *Garvin, *McClain, *Pottawatomie
Bobby Cleveland / RJoni Johnson / D
DISTRICT 21 - *Bryan
Dustin Roberts / RDISTRICT 22 - *Atoka, *Garvin, Johnston, *Murray
Charles A. McCall / RDISTRICT 23 - *Rogers, *Tulsa, *Wagoner
Terry O'Donnell / RDISTRICT 24 - *Hughes, Okfuskee, *Okmulgee
Steve Kouplen / DDISTRICT 25 - Pontotoc
Todd Thomsen / RDISTRICT 26 - *Pottawatomie
Justin Freeland Wood / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesPamela Snider Stephens / D
DISTRICT 27 - *Cleveland, *Pottawatomie
Josh Cockroft / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesDISTRICT 28 - *Pottawatomie, Seminole
Tom Newell / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesJason Leonard / D
DISTRICT 29 - *Creek, *Tulsa
James Leewright / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesRobert Bobby Talley / D / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes
DISTRICT 30 - *Creek, *Tulsa
Mark E. McCullough / RDISTRICT 31 - *Logan, *Oklahoma
Jason W. Murphey / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesDISTRICT 32 – Lincoln, *Logan
Kevin Wallace / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesMichial Poteet / D
DISTRICT 33 - *Logan, *Payne
Lee R. Denney / R /DISTRICT 34 - *Payne
Cory T. Williams / D /DISTRICT 35 - *Creek, *Noble, *Osage, Pawnee, *Payne
Dennis CaseyWannetta A. Cloyd / R
D /
NO / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes
DISTRICT 36 - *Osage, *Tulsa
Sean Roberts / RJim Massey / D
DISTRICT 37 - *Kay, *Osage
Steven E. Vaughan / RDISTRICT 38 - *Garfield, Grant, *Kay, *Logan, *Noble
John Pfeiffer / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesDISTRICT 39 - *Oklahoma
Marian Cooksey / RDISTRICT 40 - *Garfield
Chad Caldwell / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / - / yes / yesPierce Jones / D /
DISTRICT 41 - *Canadian, *Garfield, *Kingfisher, *Oklahoma
John T. Enns / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / - / - / yesDISTRICT 42 - *Garvin, *McClain
Lisa J. Billy / R /DISTRICT 43 - *Canadian
John Paul Jordan / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesSarah Baker / D
DISTRICT 44 - *Cleveland
Emily Virgin / D /DISTRICT 45 - *Cleveland
Aaron Stiles / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesClaudia Griffith / D /
DISTRICT 46 - *Cleveland
Scott MartinScott Brockman / R
I / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / no / no / no
DISTRICT 47 - *Canadian, *Grady
Leslie Osborn / RDISTRICT 48 - *Carter, *Garvin, *Murray
Patrick Ownbey / RDISTRICT 49 - *Carter, Love, Marshall
Tommy C. Hardin / RJessica Pfau / D
DISTRICT 50 - Jefferson, *Stephens
Dennis Johnson / RDISTRICT 51 - *Grady, *McClain, *Stephens
Scott R. Biggs / RDISTRICT 52 - *Greer, Harmon, Jackson, *Kiowa
Charles Ortega / RDISTRICT 53 - *Cleveland
Mark McBride / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / no / yes / noDISTRICT 54 - *Cleveland, *Oklahoma
Paul Wesselhoft / R / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yesDISTRICT 55 - *Beckham, *Greer, *Kiowa, Roger Mills, Washita
Todd Russ / R /DISTRICT 56 - *Caddo, *Grady, *Kiowa
Chuck Utsler / RDavid Perryman / D / YES / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / yes / no / no / no
DISTRICT 57 - *Beckham, *Blaine, *Caddo, *Canadian, Custer