Rhetoric Begins in Oklahoma Governor’s Race

It didn’t take long after Labor Day for the political rhetoric to ratchet up in the Oklahoma Governor’s Race. Democrat Drew Edmondson held a press conference on Thursday where former University of Oklahoma President David Boren endorsed Edmondson. Boren also called Republican candidate Kevin Stitt “an amateur,” and Edmondson questioned Libertarian candidate Chris Powell’s stance to abolish the state income tax.

NonDoc’s coverage of the press conference can be found here. A video by the Edmondson for Governor Campaign of the press conference can be viewed below.

The Edmondson press conference evoked reactions from Stitt and Powell.

In response to Edmondson’s attack on Stitt for saying he would not have signed House Bill 1010xx if he were governor, the Republican candidate defended his stance and questioned Edmondson’s call for more tax increases. HB 1010xx raised taxes to fund teacher pay raises and other state government funding issues.

“Since day one, I have called for teachers to be paid competitive wages, a key requirement for Oklahoma to become Top Ten in education. Over the past year, our state revenue has grown by more than $1 billion, and our economy is making a comeback. In the next few weeks, we will also begin to see the impact from tax increases passed earlier this year. Yet, my opponent is already calling for even more taxes on hardworking Oklahomans. In a Stitt administration, we will make it a priority to invest more in education, but it starts by assessing new state revenue at hand, diversifying our economy, and delivering accountability across our state budget,” said Stitt in a statement.

Powell contends Edmondson and Boren don’t understand that the elimination of the state income tax, would first require the cleanup of the mess left behind by Democratic and Republican leadership.

“Mr. Edmondson wants you to believe that I would abolish the income tax if I were Governor.  That has never been my plan.  We have far too many problems created by the Democrats and Republicans that must be fixed before we could tackle such a reform, such as the scandalous mismanagement at the Health Department and the debilitating political control of our schools that handicaps our teachers in their efforts to help students succeed.  Instead of fixing anything, Mr. Edmondson just wants more money to spend,” said Powell in his statement after the Edmondson press conference.

“My plan is to eliminate the standardized testing regimes and the curriculum dictates from the state, along with other means of micromanagement of the classroom by politicians and bureaucrats, so that decisions about the education of any individual child in our state will be made by parents and teachers who know that child, not officials in offices at the state Capitol.  We can better address adequate funding by elimination of corporate welfare, be it Tax Increment Finance districts that rob school districts of local revenue or the nearly half a billion dollars in incentives that continues to be appropriated when we can’t properly support core services.  It’s also the case that tax revenues are increasing, as reported by State Treasurer Ken Miller, indicating that it’s a foolish time to increase taxation even more after the biggest hike in state history this past spring.

“I would also note that it is laughable that Mr. Boren would claim that Drew Edmondson, a public official for thirty of the past forty-four years who first ran for office when Richard Nixon was president, represents change.  If Oklahoma voters want real change they won’t get it from the candidates of those establishment parties, they are the ones who put in place what we have now,” concluded the Libertarian candidate.

The General Election is on November 6.

You can view Edmondson’s press conference in the video below.