The advent of term limits in the Oklahoma state legislature has contributed much to the reduction in the number of career politicians along this the most conservative stretch of old Route 66. It is no longer possible to be a lifelong legislator in this state when you are limited to six two year terms as a state representative or three four year terms as a state senator. It is however possible to keep any given term limited seat in the same party column by nominating and successfully electing the right candidate with the right message. Such is the case in Oklahoma House District 8 (Pryor, Claremore, Chouteau) where a good Democrat by the name of Ben Sherrer is serving his last term due to the aforementioned term limits. His prospective successor kicked off his campaign to keep HD 8 in the Democratic column last evening. Yours truly was able to attend that inaugural function in the town of Pryor, OK. As it turns out I have already met one of the candidates vying for this particular house seat on the GOP ticket. The contrast between the GOP Tea Party candidate I met and the Democratic favorite could not be more stark.
Pryor attorney Darrell Moore retired in 2014 from the Marine Corps at the rank of Major General with thirty-five years of service. It is indeed humbling to see an old Marine that attained the rank of General Officer embody and promote Democratic values in a state where they have been rebuffed, dismissed and even demonized over the past decade.
As Candidate Moore indicated in his stump speech last night, the legislature’s extreme partisan swing to the right has made its completion and the pendulum is moving back toward the middle. The fact of the matter is there are so many issues of state business to address that cannot be couched in terms of “liberal” or “conservative” or “Republican” or “Democrat.” They must be dealt with in terms of what is reasonable or unreasonable. As one who has served this nation in the capacity of a Marine Corps Major General, Candidate Moore offers the voters of HD 8 a known history of favorable results. Let it be duly noted that the one GOP Tea Party candidate vying to be his opponent who I met has no record of ever serving in the Armed Forces.
Election Day 2016 is a mere 51 weeks away and it will take that long for most voters to make up their mind on most down ballot races. I only wish the other 100 state house districts had a selection of candidates as easy as the voters of HD 8 have. Let it be known that having served at a naval hospital aboard a Marine Corps base for nearly three years I developed a soft spot in my heart for the Marines. I do have high hopes for this particular campaign. Can I get an OooRAH!?