2008 Vote

Most Oklahomans are now rock-ribbed Republicans.  We were the only state in the union in which McCain won every single county.  Contrast that to a world map in which almost every nation, including the U.S. as a whole of course, supported Obama over McCain.  McCain was swept aside in Obama’s landslide victory in the U.S. Electoral College, earning only 163 votes to Obama’s 349.

More importantly to public education in our state, voters gave Republicans control of both the state House and the state Senate for the first time in history.  That will undoubtedly mean significant policy changes for public education, although Democratic governor Brad Henry will still have his veto if he can convince the legislature’s Democrats to back him.  But don’t expect much, since Henry allowed the legislature to squander high energy revenues on income tax reductions, further impoverishing our already woefully underfunded schools.

There seems a good chance for a tectonic shift in 2011 when Henry is forced from office by term limits.  If a Republican governor is elected and that party retains control of the legislature, public education will undergo a sea change.