Candidate interviews

Four candidates talk reform ahead of the Nov. 6 midterms

On Nov. 6, Oklahomans will head to the polls during the 2018 midterm elections. For a state battered by revenue shortfalls, world-record incarceration rates, shuttered rural hospitals, poor health outcomes, and infamously low pay for public school teachers, support staff, and public employees, the stakes simply couldn’t be higher.

Here you’ll find interviews with a selection of candidates who have placed reform at the top of their campaign platforms. You’ll hear from Ashley Nicole McCray, who’s leading an insurgent campaign to bring environmental justice to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. You’ll also hear from gubernatorial candidate Drew Edmondson, Tulsa district attorney hopeful Jenny Proehl-Day, and district judge candidate Blake Shipley.

We hope you’ll read up on these candidates and their platforms, and that you’ll head to the voting booth on Nov. 6 better equipped to make the important decisions that impact your life and the lives of your most vulnerable neighbors. For more information, check out the 2018 Oklahoma State Questions and Elections featured report at okpolicy.org.

While the TTV editorial staff has determined these candidates to be Oklahoma’s best shot at reversing the state’s most disturbing trends, our view is not necessarily shared by the individual contributors who interviewed these candidates, and their participation in this feature should not be considered a personal endorsement.

The end of the party

Drew Edmondson is running against the GOP whether he likes it or not

By Barry Friedman

‘True Okie’

Outsider Ashley McCray wants to shake up the Oklahoma Corporation Commission

By Deon Osborne

Fixing Tulsa’s courts from within

District judge candidate Blake Shipley on the city’s path to better justice

By Damion Shade

‘I’m here to listen’

Jenny Proehl-Day centers criminal justice reform in her run for district attorney

By Blayklee Freed