Oklahoma House of Representatives
The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U. S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, help to craft the state's budget; the upper house of the Oklahoma Legislature is the Oklahoma Senate. The Oklahoma Constitution established the powers of the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1907. Voters further amended those powers through constitutional referenda. One referendum required legislators to balance the annual state budget. Others specified the length and dates of the legislative session. Today, there are 101 House members. District boundaries are redrawn every decade to ensure districts of equal population. One must be 21 years of age at the time of election and a qualified elector and resident of the legislative district to serve in the Oklahoma House of Representatives; the state holds district elections every two years coincident with federal elections and special elections to fill vacant seats.
The House meets from early February until the last Friday in May. Members elect a Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives as the presiding officer and a Speaker Pro Tempore, who serves as the presiding officer in his or her absence. Members organize in political party-based caucuses to develop partisan policy agendas. After the 2018 election, Republicans hold a supermajority of the House seats; the Oklahoma Constitution established both the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate in 1907. It met in Guthrie until 1910. William H. Murray was the first Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Less than 50 legislative employees aided lawmakers in the first year. A weakening of the Democratic coalition leading up to the 1908 election allowed Republicans to make gains in the Oklahoma House. Republicans gained an third of the legislative seats; the largest gains came in Holdenville and Guthrie, each of which had a sizable African-American population. The Oklahoma Democratic lawmakers of the early 1900s opposed integration.
The first legislature passed legislation that made it impossible for African-Americans to vote. The legislature's first African-American member, A. C. Hamlin, served only one term, though he did gain the support of his fellow lawmakers to fund an African-American school in his district and create more equal accommodations for black and white railroad passengers; the Democratic Party pushed to make Oklahoma City the capital over Guthrie, a Republican and African-American voting stronghold. In 1913, a House investigative committee forced the resignation of the state auditor and impeached the state printer and insurance commissioner; the legislature at the time included Democratic members who were angry at Governor Lee Cruce over his veto of a redistricting plan that would have gerrymandered Congressional districts and his attempt to remove public institutions established by earlier legislatures. Cruce escaped an impeachment trial by one vote of the House investigative committee. Women earned the right to vote in Oklahoma in 1918 through a constitutional amendment approved by voters.
In 1920, Bessie McColgin became the first woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. A Republican, McColgin and her female colleague in the Oklahoma Senate, focused on the passage of public health bills, but failed in many of their efforts. After eight Democratic-controlled Legislatures, Republicans took the majority from 1921-1922 and elected George B. Schwabe as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives; the Republican-dominated House brought impeachment charges against Lieutenant Governor Martin Trapp and narrowly failed to approve impeachment charges against both the state treasurer and Oklahoma Governor James Roberts. The Democratic-dominated Senate did not sustain the impeachment charges against Trapp. Members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives voted eleven articles of impeachment against Governor Henry S. Johnston, which led to his expulsion from office. A severe drought beginning in 1932 in western Oklahoma combined with land consolidation and mechanization in eastern Oklahoma drove farmers out of the state and left others in economic distress.
Legislatures of the 1930s battled with governors William H. Murray and Ernest W. Marland, targeting Murray's efforts to generate relief for farmers and Marland's proposals to create a state public works program, reform the tax code and create unemployment insurance. Lawmakers did enact an old age pension system funded by a dedicated sales tax; the rejection of providing state matching funds for New Deal projects resulted in fewer projects. A conservative reaction developed in Oklahoma in the late 1930s and rejected further New Deal programs. In 1941, Governor Leon C. Phillips pushed the state legislature to send a constitutional amendment to voters to force the Oklahoma House of Representatives to approve a balanced budget each year. Since voters approved the state question, the state legislature has been constitutionally required to pass a balanced budget; the number of Republican Party seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives plummeted in the 1930s. The legislative sessions held by the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate changed due to two key legislative reforms in 1966 and 1989.
In 1966, Oklahomans voted to institute 90-day annual sessions. An initiative petition championed by Governor Henry Bellmon in 1989 further required the legislative sessions to end by 5 p.m. on the last Friday in May. After earlier attempts to raise legislative pay failed, voters approved a state question in 1968 to create a board to set legislative compensation, it set compensation at $8,400 that year. State legislators enacted Oklahoma's open meeting and open records laws in 1977, but made the Okl
Governor of Oklahoma
The governor of the State of Oklahoma is the head of state for the U. S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor is the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma; the governor is the ex officio Commander-in-Chief of the Oklahoma National Guard when not called into federal use. Despite being an executive branch official, the governor holds legislative and judicial powers; the governor's responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the Oklahoma Legislature, submitting the annual state budget, ensuring that state laws are enforced, that the peace is preserved. The governor's term is four years in length; the office was created in 1907 when Oklahoma was admitted to the United States as the 46th state. Prior to statehood in 1907, the office was preceded by a Presidential appointed Governor of Oklahoma Territory with similar powers; the 28th and current Governor of Oklahoma is Republican Kevin Stitt.
Before statehood in 1907, modern day Oklahoma was composed of Indian territories. While Indian Territory was semi-independent of the federal government as Indian nations land, Oklahoma Territory was an organized territory under the supervision of the United States Congress. Within the Oklahoma Territory, a tripartite government existed, including a territorial legislature, a territorial supreme court, a territorial governor; the President of the United States appointed territorial governors to four-year terms. Despite a set term, the governor served at the pleasure of the U. S. president, meaning was up. The governor was the head of the territorial government, he had the power to veto legislation proposed by the territorial legislature and the power to appoint members to his cabinet, who in turn had to be ratified by territorial lawmakers. The governor had the power to appoint justices to the territorial high court; the governor was responsible to the U. S. president on addressing issues in the territory and served as the representative as the federal government of the United States.
He was the Commander in Chief of the territorial militia. George Washington Steele served as the first governor of Oklahoma Territory, he vetoed the territorial legislature's attempts to move the state capital from Guthrie to Oklahoma City or Kingfisher. He was instrumental in the establishment of two universities that would become the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. After only seventeen months in office, Steele resigned effective October 18, 1891. In his place, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Abraham Jefferson Seay to the governorship. Robert Martin, Secretary of Oklahoma Territory, served as acting governor from October 18, 1891, until February 1892, when Seay took the oath of office. Frank Frantz served as the final governor of Oklahoma Territory, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in the first state gubernatorial election. After the Oklahoma Constitution was written and accepted in 1907, the Oklahoma and Indian territories joined to form the U. S. state of Oklahoma.
The office of the governor of Oklahoma replaced the office of territorial governor. The new office was similar, but designed with new restrictions and legislative and judicial oversight, it was crafted as a "weak governor system" to defend the state against abuses of power that had occurred under the territorial government. Oklahoma's first governor, Charles N. Haskell, wielded executive power but in the first 20 years after he left office in 1911, the Oklahoma Legislature further limited the governor's office of its powers and impeached governors John C. Walton and Henry S. Johnston, it was. In 1927, the state legislature appropriated $75,000 for the construction of a governor's mansion and $25,000 for furnishings. In 1928, the governor and his family moved in; as Oklahoma grew and the state government expanded, the office of the governor became more powerful. As more agencies were introduced, the governor gained greater indirect influence through the power of appointment; the governor was not eligible to succeed himself.
It was not until 1966 that Oklahoma amended the state constitution to allow the governor to serve two consecutive terms. The governor of Oklahoma is elected directly by the voters of Oklahoma during gubernatorial elections held in November during the final year of each four-year gubernatorial term; the candidate with the highest number of votes becomes governor following the election. The Oklahoma Constitution requires the Oklahoma Legislature to choose the governor in the case of a tie vote. Section Three of Article VI of the Oklahoma Constitution establishes that gubernatorial candidates must be citizens of the United States, at least 31 years old, residents of Oklahoma for at least ten years prior to their candidacy. Under Section Four in Article VI of the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves a four-year term in office beginning on the second Monday in January. Section Four states that no person may hold the office for more than two consecutive terms. On November 2, 2010, voters passed a ballot initiative to limit governors to only eight years in office in a lifetime.
The initiative set the gubernatorial term of a lieutenant governor who becomes governor upon the death of the previous governor. "I......... Do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, that I will not, receive, directly or i
Upper house
An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is smaller and has more restricted power than the lower house. Examples of upper houses in countries include the Australian Senate, Brazil's Senado Federal, the Canadian Senate, France's Sénat, Germany's Bundesrat, India's Rajya Sabha, Ireland's Seanad, Malaysia's Dewan Negara, the Netherlands' Eerste Kamer, Pakistan's Senate of Pakistan, Russia's Federation Council, Switzerland's Council of States, United Kingdom's House of Lords and the United States Senate. A legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral. An upper house is different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects: Powers: In a parliamentary system, it has much less power than the lower house. Therefore, in certain countries the Upper House votes on only limited legislative matters, such as constitutional amendments, cannot initiate most kinds of legislation those pertaining to supply/money, cannot vote a motion of no confidence against the government, while the lower house always can.
In a presidential system: It may have nearly equal power with the lower house. It may have specific powers not granted to the lower house. For example: It may give consent to some executive decisions, it may have the sole power to try impeachment cases against officials of the executive or judicial branch, following enabling resolutions passed by the lower house. It may have the sole power to ratify treaties. In a semi-presidential system, like France It may have less power than the lower house: in France, the Government can decide to legislate a normal law without the Sénat's agreement, but It may have equal power to the lower house regarding the constitution or the territorial collectivities, it may not vote a motion of no confidence against the government, but it may investigate State cases. It may make proposals of laws to the lower house. Status: In some countries, its members are not popularly elected, its members may be elected with a different voting system than that used to elect the lower house.
Less populated states, provinces, or administrative divisions may be better represented in the upper house than in the lower house. Members' terms may be for life. Members may be elected in portions, for staggered terms, rather than all at one time. In some countries, the upper house cannot be dissolved at all, or can be dissolved only in more limited circumstances than the lower house, it has fewer members or seats than the lower house. It has a higher age of candidacy than the lower house. In parliamentary systems the upper house is seen as an advisory or "revising" chamber; some or all of the following restrictions are placed on upper houses: Lack of control over the executive branch. No absolute veto of proposed legislation, though suspensive vetoes are permitted in some states. In countries where it can veto legislation, it may not be able to amend the proposals. A reduced or absent role in initiating legislation. No power to block supply, or budget measures In parliamentary democracies and among European upper houses the Italian Senate is a notable exception to these general rules, in that it has the same powers as its lower counterpart: any law can be initiated in either house and must be approved in the same form by both houses.
Additionally, a Government must have the consent of both to remain in office, a position, known as "perfect bicameralism" or "equal bicameralism". The role of a revising chamber is to scrutinise legislation that may have been drafted over-hastily in the lower house and to suggest amendments that the lower house may reject if it wishes to. An example is the British House of Lords. Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the House of Lords can no longer prevent the passage of most bills, but it must be given an opportunity to debate them and propose amendments, can thereby delay the passage of a bill with which it disagrees. Bills can only be delayed for up to one year before the Commons can use the Parliament Act, although economic bills can only be delayed for one month, it is sometimes seen as having a special role of safeguarding the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom and important civil liberties against ill-considered change. The British House of Lords has a number of ways to block legislation and to reject it, the House of Commons can use the Parliament Act to force something through.
The Commons will bargain and negotiate with the Lords such as wh
Oklahoma Legislature
The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U. S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 state representatives, each serving a two-year term, 48 state senators, who serve four-year terms that are staggered so only half of the Oklahoma Senate districts are eligible in each election year. Legislators are elected directly by the people from single member districts of equal population; the Oklahoma Legislature meets annually in the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Constitution vests all legislative powers of the state government in the state legislature, which exercises legislative power by enacting Oklahoma law; the legislature may legislate on any subject and has certain "necessary and proper" powers as may be required for carrying into effect the provisions of the Oklahoma Constitution. The powers of the legislature are only limited by the powers reserved to the people, namely initiative and referendum.
The Oklahoma Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives are co-equal houses, but each chamber has exclusive powers. The Oklahoma Senate's advice and consent is required for gubernatorial appointments to high-level executive positions. Bills for raising revenue may only originate in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Bills approved by the legislature must be sent to the Governor of Oklahoma for approval. Prior to 1907 statehood, Oklahoma Territory had the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature that met in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Upon statehood, the Oklahoma Constitution established the Oklahoma Legislature; the 1st Oklahoma Legislature met in the Guthrie City Hall Building and elected William H. Murray as the first Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives; the first three staff members appointed by Murray were a Union veteran, a Confederate veteran, an African-American man, Jim Noble. The 2nd Oklahoma Legislature included Oklahoma's first black member, A. C. Hamlin, but passed legislation that made it nearly impossible for African-Americans to seek elective office, which limited him to one term.
The meeting place of the Oklahoma Legislature was moved to Oklahoma City in 1910. The Democratic Party held the majority of seats in the legislature until the Ninth Legislature from 1921-1922, when a Republican Party majority took over; the 1921 session was notable because it included Oklahoma's first female state legislators, Representative Bessie McColgin and Senator Lamar Loomey. This occurred shortly after women earned the right to vote in Oklahoma in 1918 through a constitutional amendment approved by voters. Legislators voted in 1923 to impeach Governor Jack C. Walton for trying to block the legislature from holding special session and administrative practices that included payroll padding, removal of college administrators, a large increase in the governor's salary. Governor Henry S. Johnston became the second governor to be impeached by legislators, with members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives voting eleven articles of impeachment against him, which led to his expulsion from office.
In the 1930s, traditionally Republican counties shifted towards Democrats, giving Democrats a large majority in the Legislature. Bipartisan opposition to deficit spending in the late 1930s led to a 1941 constitutional amendment requiring legislators to pass a balanced budget. In 1964, three black men, Archibald Hill, E. Melvin Porter, Curtis Lawson, were elected to the Oklahoma Legislature, the first since A. C. Hamlin left office in 1910. In 1966, voters approved a ballot question. In 1989 another ballot question further limited session by designating the sine die adjournment day, or last day of session, as the last Friday in May. Combined with the 90-day requirement, this moved the session start day to February, leaving the original start day in January as an organizational day. Beginning in the 1960s, the Republican party made gains in voter registration and state legislative seats. By 1990, the party counted about a third of voters by registration and had similar representation in the Legislature.
In 2010, Republicans gained a large majority of 32 seats in the Oklahoma Senate and 70 seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Republicans have a supermajority in both chambers. To serve in the Oklahoma Senate, an individual must be at least 25 years of age, to serve in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, an individual must be at least 21 years of age. State legislators must be qualified electors and residents in the district they represent during their time in office. To file as a candidate for legislative office, a person must have been a registered voter and a resident residing within the district for at least six months preceding the filing period prescribed by law; the Oklahoma Constitution prohibits state legislators from serving as another officer of the United States or Oklahoma state government. A felony conviction disqualifies election to the Oklahoma Legislature. A constitutional amendment approved by voters implemented a 12-year term limit, restricting legislators to a total of 12 years in the Oklahoma Legislature.
The 12-year term limit is a cumulative term limit of service in either chamber, consecutive or non-consecutive. The 12-year limit does not include any service prior to adoption of the amendment. In addition, the limit does not include those years of an unexpired term served by a member elected or appointed to fill a vacancy in office, but no member who has completed 12 years in office is thereafter eligible to serve an unexpired term; the Oklahoma Legislature is constitutionally required to enact laws barrin
Mike Schulz
Mike Schulz is a Republican United States politician from the U. S. is the President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate. He was the Majority Floor Leader of the Oklahoma Senate. A farmer from Southwestern Oklahoma, Schulz was first elected to office in 2006, he will be term limited in 2018. Mike Schulz received a bachelor's degree in Agriculture, he has worked with several agricultural organizations in Oklahoma, including the Young Farmer and Rancher Committee and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau. Mike Schulz first entered Oklahoma politics in May 2006, when he won a Senate seat in a special election, he is serving as the President pro tempore in the Oklahoma Senate. He was the Majority Floor Leader in the Oklahoma Senate. In his position, he serves as an ex-officio member of all Senate committees. In the Senate, he has voted to repeal the state's income tax, restrict abortions, prohibit federal health care mandates. Schulz authored legislation meant to protect Oklahoma agriculture by having the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture regulate livestock as he explained in a 2009 guest column to The Oklahoman
Oklahoma Republican Party
The Oklahoma Republican Party is a political party affiliated with the United States Republican Party. Along with the Oklahoma Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties in Oklahoma politics; as of the November 2012 elections, Republicans have a supermajority in both the Oklahoma Senate and Oklahoma House of Representatives, hold all statewide offices, all Congressional seats in both the House and Senate. This accomplishment is notwithstanding that the Republicans have fewer registered voters in the state than the Democrats; the current chair of the state party is Pam Pollard. The Oklahoma Republican Party headquarters is located on North Lincoln Boulevard in Oklahoma City. Additionally, the state party has a Tulsa office on East 51st Street, they host the biennial state conventions in odd-numbered years, in which they elect executive officers and delegates to the Republican National Committee. The state party coordinates campaign activities with Republican candidates and county parties and receives some funding from the national GOP organizations.
The Oklahoma Republican Party takes its roots from the territorial period, gaining a larger portion of its support from the Northwestern part of the state, where migrants from the state of Kansas brought with them Republican political leanings of the time. For most of Oklahoma history, the Oklahoma Republican Party has the fewest members in the old Indian Territory or the area located in the Southeast. Republicans held the American presidency during most of the territorial period, resulting in the appointments of Republican territorial governors. Despite the dominance of Republicans as governor and delegate, the two main parties had reached parity in the territorial legislature by statehood; the Republican at the time of statehood in 1907 was not the party of most Oklahomans, but was the party of most African-Americans. Republican A. C. Hamlin was Oklahoma's first black legislator. Republicans experienced a short-lived resurgence in the early 1920s, with the election of John W. Harreld in 1920 as the first Republican United States senator for the state of Oklahoma.
During this time the Republican Party had gained a majority of the state's seats in United States Congress, attaining five of the nine seats available. The Oklahoma House of Representatives saw their first Republican majority and first Republican Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1921 to 1923; the first female member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives was a Republican. In the 1928 election, Republicans gained 26 new seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives due in part to the low popularity of the time of presidential candidate Al Smith and the incumbent governor's stumping on his behalf. With a total of forty-seven seats, they were only five seats from having a majority. With thirteen Democratic members, they elected a coalition Democratic Speaker over the incumbent speaker, but it was the 1930s or The Great Depression that would prove to be the most troublesome for Republicans in Oklahoma. It was during this time that Republican voters had shifted their support to the revitalized Democratic Party.
Beginning in the 1960s, the Oklahoma Republican party made gains in voter registration and state legislative seats. Henry Bellmon won election as Oklahoma's first Republican governor in 1962, by appealing to Democratic voters and as an anti-corruption candidate. Only 18 percent of Oklahomans were registered as Republicans at the time. Bellmon's term helped increase the image of Republicans in Oklahoma. Under his administration, total highway projects increased 46 percent over the previous administration and the first retirement system for state employees was created. Bellmon oversaw the racial integration of Oklahoma schools and the court-ordered reapportionment of the state electoral districts. Bellmon won election to the United States Senate in 1968. Republican Don Nickles succeeded Bellmon in 1980. In 1990, black Republican J. C. Watts was elected as Oklahoma's first black statewide officeholder, serving on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, serving as a member of the commission from 1990 to 1995 and as chairman from 1993 to 1995.
After the 2004 Presidential Election, Republicans gained control of the Oklahoma House of Representatives for the first time since 1921. In 2010, Republicans increased their gains in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and took majority control of the Oklahoma Senate. Furthermore, Republicans captured every statewide office and came within six percentage points of capturing the 2nd District. In 2015, the number of registered Republican voters overtook the number of registered Democratic voters for the first time in the state's history. A. C. Hamlin, Oklahoma's first black state legislator after statehood George B. Schwabe, first Republican Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Bessie McColgin, one of Oklahoma's first female state legislators John W. Harreld, Oklahoma's first Republican U. S. Senator Governor Henry Bellmon, Oklahoma's first Republican governor Governor Dewey F. Bartlett Governor Frank Keating U. S. Senator Don Nickles Bud Wilkinson, legendary University of Oklahoma football coach U.
S. Representative J. C. Watts, Oklahoma's first black U. S. Representative U. S. Representative and U. S. Sen
Oklahoma Democratic Party
The Oklahoma Democratic Party is an Oklahoma political party affiliated with the United States Democratic Party. Along with the Oklahoma Republican Party, it is one of the two major parties in Oklahoma politics; the party dominated local politics in Oklahoma since the days of early statehood in 1907 to 1994. In national politics, the party became a dominant force beginning with the presidential election of 1932 and the Franklin D. Roosevelt political re-alignment. From 1932 to 1994, the majority of members of Congress from Oklahoma have been Democrats, of the 27 men and women who have been elected to the office of Governor of Oklahoma, 22 have been Democrats. However, the party has fared poorly since 1994. Democrats lost five out of six congressional races that year and since have only won a single seat back, only to lose it again in the 2012 election. In response, the traditionally disorganized Oklahoma Democrats have taken steps to create a more organized state party, hiring a professional executive director in 1995.
So, Democrats continued to lose ground in the 2000s, losing control of both the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate. In 2008, Oklahoma gave the lowest percentage of any state's vote to national Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential election; as of January 15, 2013, there are 962,072 registered Democratic voters in Oklahoma. In the 2012 general election, the party was successful in defending all incumbents in the Oklahoma Legislature and defeating two Republican House members; the Oklahoma Democratic Party once dominated state politics for much of Oklahoma history from 1907 to 1994, with its strength in greatest concentrations in the southeastern part of the state, known as "Little Dixie" because of the post-Reconstruction migration of people from southern states such as Mississippi and Arkansas. Upon statehood, all but one of the Congressional seats was held by Democrats; the Democrats won eighteen of the twenty-one gubernatorial elections since its statehood in 1907.
The Democratic Party held on average 81 percent of the seats in the state legislature between 1907 and 1973. With the onset of the Great Depression, the party gained more influence for several decades; the first legislature, dominated by Democratic party members, passed legislation that made it nearly impossible for African-Americans to seek elective office. Democratic opposition to deficit spending in the late 1930s marked a growing conservative movement in the party, which led to a 1941 constitutional amendment requiring legislators to pass a balanced budget; the growing conservative movement in the party led to the rejection of many New Deal programs after initial acceptance in the early 1930s. After the federal Voting Rights Act and congressional reapportionment in Oklahoma in the 1960s, black state lawmakers returned to the Oklahoma Legislature, this time many aligning with the Democratic Party and hailing from Tulsa or Oklahoma City. Since the 1980s the party has seen a decline as Christian fundamentalists have shifted to the Republican Party.
The Democratic Party has not attained more than 41 percent of the vote for president. As of 2000 about 55 percent of Oklahoma voters registered as Democrats; the party continues to decline in strength in both executive branch. For the first time since statehood, Republicans hold all statewide-elected offices starting in 2011; the Oklahoma Democratic Party headquarters is located North Classen Boulevard in Oklahoma City. They host the biennial state conventions in May of odd-numbered years, in which they elect executive officers and delegates to the Democratic National Committee; the Democratic National Committee is responsible for promoting Democratic campaign activities, overseeing the process of writing the national Democratic Platform, supervising the Democratic National Convention. Delegates serve four-year terms concurrent with presidential elections. Anna Langthorn became the newly elected chair of the party May 20, 2017. Brian Jones was elected vice chair that year. Jim Frasier and Betty McElderry are delegates for the Democratic National Committee.
The state party coordinates campaign activities with Democratic candidates and county parties, officers who correspond with the state's five Congressional districts. In 2005, the Democratic National Committee began a program called the "50 State Strategy" of using national funds to assist all state parties and pay for full-time professional staffers; the Young Democrats of Oklahoma is the official age 13-35 division of the Oklahoma Democratic Party. Officers: Chair, Anna Langthorn Vice Chair, Brian Jones Secretary, Dave Ratcliff Treasurer, Rachel HunsuckerStaff: Executive Director, Anna Langthorn Communications Director, Angela Allmond Political Outreach Director, Christine Byrd Data/IT Director, Andrew Rickel The Oklahoma Democratic Party is made up of conservative and liberal members. Less than a third of registered Democratic voters in Oklahoma supported President Barack Obama in 2012, due to the larger proliferation of conservative and centrist members of the party. Compared to other Democratic factions, Centrist members of the Oklahoma Democratic Party support the use of military force and the use of deadly force in self-defense.
They are more willing to reduce government welfare. Many Oklahoma Democrats are conservative by supporting the United States pro-life movement and traditional marriage; the Oklahoma Democratic Party tends to support moderate to conservative positions on gun control and open carry. The Oklahoma Democratic Party held a state convention on May 14, 2011, in which they discussed a number of platform positions. Participants discussed support for public health programs, government-funded embryonic stem cell research, the legalization of medical marijuana, education funding, and
