Hot contests draw Oklahomans’ interest at polls

Published 7:04 pm Tuesday, March 1, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY — Voters shuffled through lines as they waited to cast ballots at polling places throughout the state on Tuesday, as Oklahomans finally had a say in two contentious presidential primaries.

Standing outside a church-turned-polling location in northwest Oklahoma City, Brian Sloan, a registered Republican, said he’d voted for businessman Donald Trump.

The businessman is the only GOP candidate who can beat Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton in the general election come November, Sloan said. He also likes Trump’s “excellent” position on national security.

“I think that’s our No. 1 problem,” he said.

His opinion was in the minority on Tuesday, as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz appeared to carry Oklahoma’s Republican primary, based on early results.

It was a coup for Cruz, who also carried his home state but had been expected to lose to Trump in Oklahoma. The New York businessman won the bulk of a dozen Republican primaries and caucuses across the country on Super Tuesday.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won among Oklahoma Democrats, edging out Clinton, the former secretary of state. Media organizations announced the victory, based on preliminary returns and exit polls, about 8:30 p.m.

Across the state, officials reported a busy election as Oklahomans cast ballots in what has been a hotly contested election on both sides.

Excitement built leading up to the primary. In the first few weeks of the year, nearly 30,000 Oklahomans registered to vote — about 20,000 of whom identified as Republican — said Bryan Dean, a spokesman for the state elections board.

Traditionally the state doesn’t see a bump in voter registrations that large until September or October — just before a general election, Dean said.

Early voting was also up “pretty significantly” — more than double the turnout just four years ago — he said.

In Oklahoma counties, election clerks also reported a brisk business.

Doug Sanderson, secretary of Oklahoma County’s Election Board, said some precincts reported lines, though he wasn’t sure how long voters were waiting to cast ballots.

In Oklahoma County four years ago, early voting drew 1,459 voters to cast ballots in person, he noted. This year, nearly 5,050 voters showed up early.

“It’s an indicator that there’s obviously more interest,” said Sanderson, adding that the number of early, mail-in ballots had nearly doubled, as well.

Dean attributed interest in the election to the amount of money being spent by candidates in the state, as well as their visits to Oklahoma.

In the meantime, the surge of new voters for this election sent Oklahoma past a red-state tipping point.

Tuesday’s election marked the first time that Republican voters outnumbered Democrats heading into a presidential election, Dean said.

About 900,000 Oklahoma voters now identify as Republican, while Democrats, who long represented the state’s largest political group, have about 837,500. Independents represent about 272,000 of the state’s electorate.

In an effort to attract unaffiliated voters, Oklahoma Democrats recently opened primaries to independent voters. The Republican primaries remained closed to unaffiliated voters, however.

Roz Adams, an independent voter who lives in Oklahoma City, cast a ballot in the Democratic primary for Sanders.

“(I) prefer him to Clinton,” said Adams, who stood outside a polling place in central Oklahoma City, just a few miles from the state Capitol.

There was a smattering of campaign signs near his polling location — a stark contrast to the dozens and dozens of Trump signs that crowded the main drag of Lincoln Boulevard leading to the Capitol.

Adams said he preferred anything to a Republican.

“I really don’t want Donald Trump to be the president. It’s terrifying,” he said. “He’s a scary individual.”

Back in northwest Oklahoma City, Sue Wiedeman said she understands why people are attracted to Trump’s message.

“He’s just a different kind of guy. I can understand why people are drawn to that because he’s pretty much mirroring everything that people (are feeling) — the frustration,” she said.

“But I don’t think he’s a true conservative,” she added.

Wiedeman, who described herself as a Baby Boomer who takes seriously her voting responsibility, said she cast a ballot for Cruz.

“I’m a conservative, and he’s a conservative,” she said. “He’s a constitutionalist, and he’s for all the things that I believe in. All those values, all those core values.”

Wiedeman admitted that she hopes Cruz will have enough momentum to beat Trump, who won most early-state contests except Iowa’s.

“I’m hoping because, to me, Trump’s a Mussolini,” she said, referring to former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who lead his county’s National Fascist Party until World War II.

Sloan said he shares some of the anger and hostility that is motivating voters to support Trump.

“The world doesn’t look at us like they used to,” he said, adding that many world powers now consider the United States a joke.

The Democratic primary also brought out voter loyalties, if not the same level of emotion.

Velma Newman, a longtime Democrat who happens to vote at the same central Oklahoma precinct as Gov. Mary Fallin, said she voted for Clinton.

“I’m a female, so that should let you know right there,” she said, adding that Sanders is too old.

Newman’s 66th birthday coincidentally landed on Super Tuesday, and she was excited to celebrate the day by voting.

She said she planned to keep an eye on the results Tuesday night, while keeping her fingers crossed for Clinton.

It would be nice, she added, to finally have a female president.

Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhi.com