The polls have closed in Oklahoma Senate District 34 (Owasso, Northeast Tulsa, Sperry, Skiatook, Turley, Collinsville) and the final vote tally in the Special Election went to the Democrat in the race, Owasso teacher and football coach J.J. Dossett! In a district that has been a GOP bastion since 1990, Senator-elect Dossett proved that a Democrat can win with by being the right candidate with the right message. I do not yet have access to the stats showing how much money each candidate spent but the final vote tally was Dossett 2173 (56.31%) and his GOP opponent David L. McClain 1686 (43.69%).
This bodes well going forward for Oklahoma Democrats in an election year. It remains to be seen if this is a bellwether trend along with success a few months ago being the first Democrat to win in an Oklahoma City GOP stronghold or a mere aberration in state that is still overwhelmingly Republican.
State Senator-elect J.J. DossettThis was welcomed news backdrop while watching President Obama’s final State of the Union Address. I will say this again, RESULTS MATTER. It was noted by MSNBC talking head Chris Matthews that the body the President was addressing had a collective approval rating of 9%. Most available polling data rate Congress slightly higher than Mr. Matthews’ assertion but not by much: RealClearPolitics Congressional Job Approval
In the run-up to another historic election and especially at a time when our beloved home state is faced with problems and issues to which there are going no easy solutions, we have to pick our battles and we have to pick them well. The Dossett campaign was well ran and his victory was well deserved. I would like to see that success duplicated come this November.
Stan, I too am delighted by Dossett’s election to the state senate. I have not popped a bottle of champagne, yet. Although Dossett is a popular coach and teacher in Owasso, less than 10% of the registered voters in SD 34 actually were interested in the election enough to turn out and vote. Another relevant fact is that his opponent drew significantly more absentee votes than Dossett.
I wouldn’t say his victory is an abboration or anamoly, but I wouldn’t take a ride in a victory laps either.
In depth numbers will be available next Monday.