2016: Senate Races In Tulsa Shaping Up To Be Big This Year
Wayne Greene: 2016 state Senate race shaping up in Tulsa County
By WAYNE GREENE World Editorial Pages Editor
The state Senate’s graduating class of 2016 is a remarkable group.
Eleven state senators will be term-limited after next year’s legislative session: Republicans Patrick Anderson, Don Barrington, Brian Bingman, Brian Crain, John Ford, Clark Jolley, Ron Justice and Mike Mazzei, and Democrats Earl Garrison, Susan Paddack and Charles Wyrick.
That list includes some of the wisest people in the Legislature. It’s also a very big political hit for Tulsa County, which loses a huge chunk of its state Capitol clout — Bingman, Crain and Mazzei.
But with change comes opportunity: 11 Senate posts that have been unassailable for the past decade are opening simultaneously, meaning the 2016 legislative election could be one of the most interesting in a long time.