Randy Krehbiel
Tulsa World
Republican state schools superintendent candidates Janet Barresi and Joy Hofmeister take a water break after their debate and before taking questions from reporters at the KTUL studios in Tulsa, OK, June 19, 2014. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World
Tulsa challenger Joy Hofmeister holds a 13-point lead over State Superintendent Janet Barresi in the latest Oklahoma Poll.
Perhaps the most surprising number, though, is that nearly three in 10 of those surveyed June 14-18 had not made up their minds despite the unusual attention give the race.
Hofmeister was the choice of 35 percent of the 415 likely voters in Tuesday’s Republican primary surveyed statewide. Twenty-two percent went for Barresi, and 14 percent for Brian S. Kelly, a former football coach from Edmond who has campaigned very little.
Barresi and Hofmeister, on the other hand, have engaged in a sharp exchange that has sometimes bordered on the personal. Each has accused the other of dishonesty and possible illegal activity.
Hofmeister resigned from the state board of education two years ago after a series of disagreements with Barresi.
“My wife is dead-set against Barresi,” said Larry Bell of Tahlequah. “The only thing I’ve heard is each one’s television ads talking about how bad the other is. That doesn’t attract me to either one.”
Asked if he might skip that slot on his ballot, Bell said probably not.
“I’ll probably go with what my wife says,” he said.
The aggressive campaigns have also put off Wanda Ellzey of rural Mayes County, but she has a different view of them.
“Janet Barresi, I thought she was fine,” Ellzey said. “All the mudslinging that Joy whatever-her-name-is really confused me. I wouldn’t vote for her.”
Hofmeister outpolled Barresi more than 2-to-1 among women, and almost 2-to-1 in the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts.
Nevertheless, Barresi was a slightly closer second in the seven-county Tulsa metropolitan statistical area than she was in the Oklahoma City area. She was particularly weak in the rural areas of the state. Barresi did best among low- and high-income households.
In a separate series of questions about the job performance of elected officials, 48 percent of Republicans said they had an unfavorable view of Barresi.
I don’t believe in local polls. Too easy to play games with.