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 48th edition of the ratings.

Prior to initiating the Oklahoma Conservative Index, many 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 bills. As these legislators run for reelection, or for higher office, you can evaluate if they deserve your vote.

Each year I use this space to provide a 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 51% in the House and 52% in the Senate. So, viewed as a whole, the Oklahoma Legislature is nearly evenly divided between conservatives and liberals. Last year, the members of the Oklahoma Legislature scored more conservative, with a record number making the Top Conservative list. Perhaps that was 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 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 26 lawmakers who scored 80% or higher. On the Top Liberals list were the 18 lawmakers scoring 20% or lower. All of the Top Conservatives are Republicans. All of the Top Liberals are Democrats.

The average score for the 81 Republicans in the Oklahoma House was 58%, while the 18 Democrats (two seats previously held by Democrats are currently vacant due to resignations) averaged only 18 percent. Sixteen Republicans scored 80% or above and made the Top Conservative list, with five of the Republicans scoring a perfect 100 percent. The lowest score for a Republican in the House was 28 percent. Meanwhile, the highest score among the Democrats in the House was 30 percent. Thirteen House Democrats scored 20% or below and made the Top Liberal list this year.

In the Oklahoma Senate, the average score of the 40 Republicans was 52 percent. Nine Republicans scored a perfect 100%, while the lowest score for a Republican (two tied) in the Senate was 33 percent. The highest score for a Democrat was 30 percent. The average score of the eight Democrats in the Senate was just 14 percent. Six Democrats in the Senate scored 20% or below and made the Top Liberal list this year.

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. In the Oklahoma Legislature, Democrats hold only 26 seats (not including the two vacancies) out of 149. This year, 18 of the Democrat legislators made the Top Liberals list. Clearly, they are not in step with most Oklahoma voters, and perhaps not even the voters in their own legislative districts.

While Democrats in the Legislature are going the way of the dinosaurs, the elephant in the room is the Republican In Name Only (RINO) members of the majority party. They make up the largest segment of the Republicans in the Legislature. In the past, these liberal-leaning Republicans would probably have been registered Democrats. Today, they masquerade as Republicans because they could not get elected otherwise. Nearly every Republican candidate claims to be a conservative at election time. It is worthy to note that of the 121 Republicans in the Oklahoma Legislature, only 26 made the Top Conservatives list. So, only about a quarter can truly claim to be conservatives. Meanwhile, there were 74 Republicans scoring below 60 percent – RINO territory. Amazingly, the top leadership position in both chambers of the Legislature are held by RINOs – Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton scored 33 percent, while House Speaker Kyle Hilbert scored 40 percent.

So, in Oklahoma, the battle is between liberals and conservatives within the Republican Party.