KTOK Morning Host Reid Mullins: “Mary Fallin 1st woman and 3rd GOP Gov inaugurated. GOP sweep of House/Senate/Exec.”
Pollster Pat McFerron: “Might not be the biggest — but one that is overlooked…I would cast a vote for the repudiation of the Al Gerhart Tea Party extremists in the OKC City Council races. The unholy alliance of firefighters and Tea Party extremists not only were soundly defeated by Meg Salyer, but their one anti-MAPs III voice was unseated by a first time candidate, David Greenwell.”
Mike McCarville: “Republicans taking control of state government for the first time in history. Second: Ultra-Right Wing vs. Speaker Kris Steele. Third: State Rep. David Dank’s tax credit reform crusade. Fourth: What Pat McFerron said. Fifth: Mary Fallin first woman elected governor.”
Consultant Trebor Worthen: “It’s always hard to pick just ONE ‘top story,’ because it seems like so many deserve mention. But far and away the top political story, in my opinion, is the GOP’s rise to comprehensive control of Oklahoma Government for the first time in the history of our state. Never before has the Republican Party controlled both the legislature and the Governor’s office, and never before have we controlled literally every single statewide elected office. In the 100-plus years Oklahoma has been a state, never has the influence of the Republican Party been so significant. To me, stories that focus on individuals are sub-heads to one singular headline: GOP Sweep.”
Pollster, Pundit, Commentator Keith Gaddie: “My top Oklahoma political story? The demise of the viable Democrats in Oklahoma. Rep. Dan Boren is stepping aside to go to the private sector; Kenneth Corn foregoing a run for the seat, in order to stay in the private sector; and the departure of Andrew Rice for Tennessee, in order to follow his wife’s career. All of the prominent Democratic leadership in the state under the age of 40 just took itself out of politics. The Democrats will be back, someday, but they have to go out and grow some leaders.”
Consultant Fount Holland: 1 The election of the first African-American speaker-designate (T. W. Shannon, pictured) for the Oklahoma
House!; 2 Announcement by Dan Boren that he won’t seek reelection; 3 The sweeping change of the Tulsa City Council; 4 The inauguration of the first female governor, Mary Fallin; 5 An all-Republican state government coming to power; 6 Passage of the first-ever Republican controlled redistricting plans in the House and Senate; 7 The rise of Sooner Tea Party’s bully influence of the Legislature and state government; 8. The resignation of Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud and Fallin’s subsequent appointment of Patrice Douglas; 9. The influx of 527s into City Council races in both Tulsa and OKC; 10. The defeat of far right anti-Maps OKC Councilor Brian Walters; 11. The appointment of longtime political operatives to key government slots: Denise Northrup as chief of staff for Governor Fallin, former Senate leader Glen Coffee as Secretary of State, the appointment of 28-year-old Jarred Brejcha as chief of staff to Mayor Dewey Bartlett; 12 the death of Apppropriations Chairman David Meyers, and subsequently the naming of Clark Jolley as Senate Appropriations Chairman.
Anonymous Capitol Insider: “1) Republican control of all statewide offices and supermajorities in the Oklahoma Legislature. For the first time in state history, the GOP truly dominated state government. However, the results to date have not matched the potential that exists. So far, most of the touted reforms enacted have only nibbled at the edges. The workers’ comp reform, if I am not mistaken, was so ‘major’ that every Democrat trial lawyer in the state Senate voted for its passage. In some corners, that’s seen as a Red Flag. And parts of that law have already been struck down. The lawsuit reforms enacted still leave Oklahoma lagging behind Texas. This year’s budget appeared to prioritize spending on welfare programs over schools. Medicaid and the notoriously underperforming and chronically inept Department of Human Services were protected from cuts while 75 cents of every dollar cut in state government came from education. And lawmakers approved a defacto tax on health care to boost Medicaid funding. I doubt most citizens voted for the GOP hoping Republicans would protect a government-run health care program from cuts while whacking schools and indirectly shifting additional costs onto the backs of people with private health insurance.
“The current rumblings on tax reform show there is still time for Gov. Fallin and GOP lawmakers to get their act together, but the results of the 2011 session are disappointing at best, especially compared to 2005-2006, when Republicans controlled only the House and still managed to enact significant tax cuts and pro-life reforms, and approved significant new, long-term investment in road funding for the first time in 20 years.
“In 2011, the truly significant policy reforms came in the areas of education and corrections, and the jury is still out on whether the corrections reforms were a good idea. There’s already some blow back and there may be reason to worry that so-called ‘non-violent offenders’ won’t remain non-violent once they return to the streets. Time will tell.
“2) The ongoing trial of Terrill/Leftwich and the associated fracture in the House GOP caucus. The repercussions of the felony bribery charges filed against Terrill were felt in the House GOP, where Kris Steele’s leadership was challenged at every turn by Terrill and his allies. Throughout session, Terrill and a handful of his associates routinely voted with liberal Democrats in opposing major conservative initiatives. While Terrill’s antics won him no new friends, Steele’s failure to obtain passage of the emergency clauses on major bills hurt him as well. Put simply, past Speakers would have used the powers of their office to obtain the final votes needed, and Steele did not.
“3) The battle over education policy. Even before Janet Barresi took office, it was clear that Democrats and the education establishment were going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at her. In spite of a nonstop barrage of criticism and harassment from the left, Barresi has succeeded in advancing several major education reforms that could ultimately be the biggest in a generation. The fight will continue next year now that school administrators have announced they will push to roll back the basic graduation requirements enacted under former Gov. Brad Henry because, apparently, seven years wasn’t long enough for them to start teaching kids math, science and English.
“To some extent, you can measure how effective an elected official is by how much fire he or she draws from opponents. By that measure, Superintendent Barresi is clearly the one statewide officeholder who most threatens the liberal status quo.
“4) The fast rise of James Lankford. The former Christian camp counselor’s rise has been rapid and he’s 
become a go-to guy for many national media outlets seeking a ‘freshman’ voice or ‘Tea Party’ perspective and it appears House leadership leans on his talents as well. While his supporters knew he was extremely capable, I doubt many anticipated Lankford would become such a prominent lawmaker in such a short amount of time.”
Dave Bond, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs ~ “From a state perspective, I’d think the top story of 2011 would be that Republicans in Oklahoma controlled the Governor’s office, the state Senate and the state House at the same time for the first time in state history, plus had a monopoly on all statewide elected offices. Our populist roots had held this change back for quite some time, despite our state’s clearly conservative preferences on the federal level. If Obama loses the White House next November, it will be interesting to then see if the 2014 elections in Oklahoma become a referendum on the Republicans’ performance governing the state and increasing economic opportunity within our borders. At the very least, in that scenario, it will be surprising if Republicans keep all of the legislative seats they gained in Little Dixie in 2010 and if one or two of the down-ticket statewide officeholders don’t also fall. If Obama wins re-election, however, the Republican dominance in Oklahoma could very well continue. “
