Tulsa World: Special Elections Reveal Republican Vulnerabilities
Special elections reveal Republican vulnerabilities
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
It was one race under unusual circumstances, but Democrat J.J. Dossett’s victory in last week’s state Senate District 34 special election hit Oklahoma Republicans like a bucket of ice water.
And it got Oklahoma Democrats thinking maybe they are a factor in state politics again.
Dossett, a 31-year-old teacher and coach, got 56 percent of the vote in a district that in recent years has voted 65 percent and 70 percent Republican. He received almost 2,200 votes, but only 1,300 Democrats (and 189 independents) cast ballots, meaning at least 700 Republicans crossed party lines.
The same thing happened last year in a Republican-heavy Oklahoma City House of Representatives special election. Cyndi Munson, a former Girl Scouts staffer, beat a much better funded and connected Republican for a seat held by the GOP since the House reorganized into districts in the 1960s.