By Ron McWhirter

We believe the most important product of this publication is our annual Oklahoma Conservative Index which rates members of the Oklahoma Legislature. We published our first scorecard in the summer of 1979, and with this summer issue we present the 47th edition of the ratings.

Oklahoma voters are among the most politically conservative in the Nation. Prior to initiating the Oklahoma Conservative Index, legislators could claim to be a conservative and there was no objective measure to determine if that was true. We base our ratings on ten key bills that were voted on by the legislators in the past legislative session. We describe the bills and publish how each legislator voted on each of the ten pieces of legislation. As these legislators run for reelection, or perhaps higher office, you can evaluate if they share your political philosophy and deserve your vote.

Each year I use this space to provide some deeper analysis of the Oklahoma Conservative Index results. In addition to evaluating individual legislators, the Conservative Index is also a useful tool to examine the Legislature in a broader context.

As reported in the article accompanying this year’s ratings, the average Oklahoma Conservative Index score this year was 65% in the House and 68% in the Senate. So, viewed as a whole, the Oklahoma Legislature is generally conservative. And it is worthy to note that it has been trending more conservative in recent years. Perhaps that is a reaction to the national liberal policies instituted during the Biden Administration, which also helped fuel the Trump MAGA movement.

At the national level there is no dispute that there is a vast chasm between the political philosophy of Republican and Democrat officeholders. But in Oklahoma, it was long claimed that Oklahoma Democrats were different from their national comrades. It was said that a Democrat here would be called a Republican in another state. While that may still be somewhat true of registered Democrat voters, that is not the case for Oklahoma Democrat lawmakers. That difference in philosophy between the two major parties can be tested by using the Oklahoma Conservative Index to evaluate the Oklahoma Legislature.

Breaking out the scores by political party shows a vast difference between the Republicans and the Democrats in the Oklahoma Legislature. Each year we name the Top Conservative and the Top Liberal legislators based upon their scores. Making the Top Conservatives list this year were 79 lawmakers who scored 80% or higher. For comparison, last year there were only 37 to be so honored. On the Top Liberals list are 26 lawmakers scoring 20% or lower. Last year there were 25. All of the Top Conservatives are Republicans. All of the Top Liberals are Democrats.

Now, let us look at each chamber of the Oklahoma Legislature separately.

The average score for the 80 Republicans in the Oklahoma House (one GOP seat was vacant) was 79%, while the 18 Democrats (two seats were vacant) averaged only 4 percent. Seven Republicans scored a perfect 100 percent. The lowest score for a Republican in the House was 38 percent. Meanwhile, the highest score among the Democrats in the House was 10 percent. Eight House Democrats scored zero this year. It is worthy of note that Cyndi Munson of Oklahoma City who is the only announced Democrat running for governor, and John Waldron of Tulsa who was recently elected chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, both scored zero.

In the Oklahoma Senate, the average score of the 39 Republicans (one GOP seat was vacant most of the session) was 79 percent. Five Republicans scored a perfect 100%, while the lowest score for a Republican in the Senate was 59 percent. The average score of the 8 Democrats in the Senate was just 3 percent. Six Democrats in the Senate scored zero. The highest score for a Democrat was 20 percent.

The Democratic Party used to be the majority party in Oklahoma – both in voter registration and in the number offices held – today, neither of those are true. Democrats currently hold only 28 seats out of 149 in the Oklahoma Legislature. This year, all of the Democrat legislators made the Top Liberals list. Clearly, the Democrats are not in step with most voters, and perhaps not even the voters in their own districts.

Of the 121 Republicans in the Legislature, 79 made the Top Conservatives list of the 2025 Oklahoma Conservative Index. This is an improvement over previous years. Meanwhile, the Democrats all made the op Liberals list and appear destined to go the way of the dinosaurs.

Ron McWhirter is one of the founders of the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper and serves as the General Manager. He may be contacted at the newspaper email: okconsti@aol.com