A generation ago I was up to my neck in Oklahoma politics for the better part of 10 years. Once upon a time I worked in a lovely, oak paneled office on the ground floor of the West wing of the Oklahoma State Capitol, with a very pleasant view of the Capitol Building’s South lawn. At that time, Republicans in Oklahoma were more of an irritant, than an actual force, in state politics. Democrats pretty much ran everything at the State level and the very thought of any marijuana policy more lenient than mandatory-jail-for-felony-possession, was totally laughable. I know this, in part, because of my experience doing pro bono legal work, back in the day, for the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
How times have changed. These days, Republicans call the shots in Oklahoma. If you throw a rock there, two chances out of three it will bounce off of a MAGA hat. As a matter of habit in Oklahoma, today, Republicans aren’t afraid of Democrats or Democratic voters. But during the current election cycle, it looks like there is something that many Republicans are apprehensive about: Marijuana.
From the Tulsa World Editorial Page:
It will be interesting to see if green voters blame anyone in particular if two proposed state questions to legalize marijuana don’t make the Nov. 6 general election.
Marijuana voters flexed their political muscle in the June 26 primary. An overwhelming turnout pushed State Question 788 to a 56 percent margin. The initiative to legalize medicinal marijuana got the sort of majority that scares elected officials.
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If marijuana was the dominant motive in the June 26 tsunami, things should return to the norm with the Aug. 28 runoff election. With no marijuana question to bring voters to the polls, the primary becomes an outlier, and the conservative incumbents should have a better day.
But maybe not.
By that time, we’ll know if State Question 796 (another version of medical marijuana) and State Question 797 (recreational marijuana) will be on the November general election ballot.
That leads to speculation that marijuana will remain a hot potato in Oklahoma, even if not on the next two ballots, the runoff next month and the general on November 6. The issue will remain capable of driving high turnout for marijuana proponents. In part that is because the question of whether the next two marijuana questions get onto the November ballot lies in the hands of GOP office holders. GOP Secretary of State, James Williamson will have a foreshortened time window in which to process and certify the petition signatures and GOP Attorney General, Mike Hunter must certify a ballot title in time for GOP Governor Mary Fallin to order the measures onto the ballot. There may not be enough time. If these next marijuana propositions don’t make it onto the November ballot, it’s AG Hunter who will have to face the voters over this:
Hunter’s name will be on that runoff ballot, and you can bet he doesn’t want a lot of angry marijuana voters riled up about how he handles the ballot title. He opposed SQ 788, but, in defense of the will of the people, has pushed the state health board to reconsider burdensome rules that would make its implementation harder. Hunter’s predecessor, Scott Pruitt, was blamed for extending the ballot title process on SQ 788 so that it missed the 2016 ballot. Hunter would be foolish to do the same.
Some are suggesting Williamson might be the fall guy on this one. He could string out the counting process and save Hunter the decision.
(Williamson had wanted to be on the November ballot in Tulsa and Pawnee counties, but he came in third in a June 26 district judge primary, making him bullet-proof for the moment.)
In the meantime, Governor Fallin is term limited and popular former Attorney General Drew Edmondson has a strong bid going to replace her with a Democrat. If he wins, he will understandably hope to use this popular issue to drive Democrats to the polls in 2020.
Marijuana. Game Changer. Oklahoma. I didn’t see that coming.