A newly released poll reveals new opinion of some Oklahoman Republican voters and their thoughts about the coming election cycle in the state.
Paid for by NonDoc and the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the poll featured responses from 457 people spanning the state.
In short, it indicated that four candidates lead a pack of nine in a statistical dead heat.
More details point to how the polled voters felt specifically about candidates and certain issues, and the Republican primary for State Superintendent.
Oklahoma State University professor of political science, Seth McKee, explained some of the factors feeding into the poll — and this election cycle.
Q: What are you expecting for turnout numbers?
A: “I think it’s become somewhat well documented, at least among us who live in Oklahoma, that we’re not known as a very participatory state. Dead last, when you look at general elections for president, the past couple cycles. So, everything’s relative. Obviously, you had an incumbent Governor who didn’t really have any competition to win the nomination again in 2022. So, at least if we compare to that, certainly you’re going to see higher turnout.”
Q: Is there a correlation between raising and spending by a campaign and where those candidates place in polls?
A: “It’s always a chicken and an egg when it comes to spending. And you got to see where the money’s coming from. And so, one of the things we know as political scientists is you can heavily discount money in two capacities. One: if there’s a bunch of money coming from out of state, then you kind of discount how much that matters, because you really want to see money coming from people in state when you think about the Governor’s contest. But, the other part of that if you think about money, is someone self-financing or are they getting that money from other people?”