By Constitution Staff

The Oklahoma Constitution presents the 43rd annual Oklahoma Conservative Index rating our state legislators. Members of each house of the Oklahoma Legislature were rated on ten key votes. A favorable vote on these issues represents a belief in conservative principles.

After taking suggestions from conservative leaders, proposed bills were reviewed by a joint committee composed of the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper staff and members of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC). The committee then selected the ten key votes to be used for the ratings. The legislators were rated based on their votes on these bills which included such issues as protecting the safety of citizens, protecting constitutional rights, protecting life, obstructing overbearing government regulations, reforming education, opposing government subsidies, avoiding wasteful spending, and reducing taxes.

The average score this year was 63% in the House and 66% in the Senate. The Top Conservative and Top Liberal legislators were selected by their scores on the Index. Making the Top Conservatives list were 27 lawmakers who scored above 80 percent. On the Top Liberals list were 26 lawmakers scoring below 20 percent.

TOP CONSERVATIVES

Five legislators scored a perfect 100% conservative rating this year. Senator Nathan Dahm of Broken Arrow was the only member of the Senate with a perfect score. The four members of the House with a perfect score were Denise Crosswhite Hader of Yukon, Tom Gann of Inola, Jim Olsen of Roland, and Wendi Stearman of Collinsville. Six senators scored 90% including Michael Bergstrom of Big Cabin, George Burns of Pollard, Shane Jett of Shawnee, Cody Rogers of Tulsa, Rob Standridge of Norman, and Zack Taylor of Seminole. Eleven members of the House scored 90% including Steve Bashore of Miami, Brad Boles of Marlow, Jim Gego of Wilburton, Tommy Hardin of Madill, Gerrid Kendrix of Altus, Kenton Patzkowsky of Balko, Eric Roberts of Oklahoma City, Jay Steagall of Yukon, Kevin West of Moore, Rick West of Heavener, and Danny Williams of Seminole. Completing the list of Top Conservatives were five legislators who scored 83 percent. Sen. Paul Rosino of Oklahoma City scored 83%. House members scoring 83% were Sherrie Conley of Newcastle, David Hardin of Stilwell, Stan May of Broken Arrow, and Todd Russ of Cordell.

TOP LIBERALS

An astonishing 18 legislators scored zero conservative this year, taking the liberal position on all ten bills included on this year’s ratings. This is the largest number to score zero in all of the years that we have rated the legislators. Five members of the Senate scored zero including JoAnna Dossett of Tulsa, Senate Minority (Democrat) Leader Kay Floyd of Oklahoma City, Carri Hicks of Oklahoma City, Julia Kirt of Oklahoma City, and George Young of Oklahoma City. The 13 members of the House who scored zero include Forrest Bennett of Oklahoma City, Meloyde Blancett of Tulsa, Jose Cruz of Oklahoma City, Andy Fugate of Del City, Cyndi Munson of Oklahoma City, Monroe Nichols of Tulsa, Melissa Provenzano of Tulsa, Trish Ranson of Stillwater, Jacob Rosecrants of Norman, Mauree Turneer of Oklahoma City, Emily Virgin of Norman, John Waldron of Tulsa, and Collin Walke of Oklahoma City. Two senators, Mary Boren of Norman and Michael Brooks of Oklahoma City, scored 3 percent. Rep. Mickey Dollens of Oklahoma City also scored 3 percent. Two members of the House, Regina Goodwin of Tulsa and Jason Lowe of Oklahoma City, scored 6 percent. Sen. Kevin Matthews of Tulsa and Rep. Ajay Pittman of Oklahoma City scored 9 percent. Finishing out the Top Liberals list was House member Merleyn Bell of Norman who scored 19 percent.

A description of the bills used for this year’s ratings, a list of all the legislators with their vote on each of the ten bills, their score for this year, and their Cumulative Average which includes scores from previous years, is found by clicking the box labeled “How Conservative is your legislator?” in the upper right corner of our home page at: www.oklahomaconstitution.com