M. Scott CarterThe Oklahoman
The area that makes up Senate District 13 stretches from Wetumka, south to Allen. The district wraps around Ada, Stratford, Pauls Valley, Maysville and Lindsay, and runs all the way down to Sulphur and Roff.
Most voters would consider it rural.
But Senate District 13 is actually ground zero in one of the state's high-profile legislative contests this year — the fight between incumbent Sen. Greg McCortney, the pro tempore-elect, and his opponent, Jonathan Wingard, a 42-year-old member of the Oklahoma Army National Guard.
The fight for SD 13 seat initially had three candidates, but Rob Crowley, an Ada gas station owner, withdrew shortly after filing for the office. The race entered the high-profile category after Gov. Kevin Stitt targeted McCortney and other members of the Senate who opposed his proposals.
“Listen, I’m never going to shy away from limited government, smaller government, the freedoms that we believe in, the free market principles, the school choice, the smaller taxes,” Stitt said in early March. “So, absolutely, I mean, if there’s candidates that I think are going to line up with Oklahoma values, and there’s candidates that don’t, then I 100 percent will play in the primaries and get involved and try to let Oklahomans know what I think.”
The campaign has drawn at least one special interest group, the Advance Right PAC, which has distributed flyers and targeted text messages against McCortney. Federal Election Commission filings show the group lists offices in both Washington, D.C., and Edmond. Campaign reports indicate that McCortney has raised more than $305,000 for the race. Wingard is a distant second, reporting just over $21,000 raised. The Oklahoman could not determine how much Advance Right has spent in the race.
McCortney survived his first fight — a difficult caucus battle to be named the Senate's next leader, but he still had to stand for reelection, and the outcome of that June 18 battle could change the face of the Oklahoma Senate.
Wingard: Time for a change
A longtime employee of the Oklahoma National Guard Wingard, now retired, said federal rules initially prevented him from running for office. He said seeking public office was something he'd wanted to do for a long time.
"I worked full time for the Oklahoma National Guard, and as a government employee I wasn't eligible to run for office," he said. "And this election cycle is the first election cycle I'm eligible to run."
Wingard said he wanted to seek office because he was concerned by some of McCortney's actions as a member of the Legislature. He cited McCortney's work as Senate floor leader as an example.
"He's not allowing bills to be heard on the floor," Wingard said. He also criticized McCortney for voting against Phase Two funding for a new Department of Public Safety Tactical Training Center.
"To me, that's the biggest thing," he said. "Not allowing bills to be heard. I don't feel like it's true representation. We elect representatives across the state. When you have one person who is unilaterally deciding what does and does not get heard, they are more less unilaterally deciding what bills get passed in the state of Oklahoma, and it's not intended that way."
Records show that, over the two-year cycle of the Oklahoma Legislature, several thousand bills and resolutions are filed by lawmakers. Fewer than 10% are sent to the governor's desk, and even fewer become law.
Wingard also criticized McCortney for not supporting Stitt's call for a cut in the personal income tax. From 2022 onward, Stitt called the Legislature into special session three times for tax cuts. And though state lawmakers did finalize and pass a cut to the grocery sales tax this year, a second tax cut — a reduction in the personal income tax rate — has not been taken up in the Senate. Current Senate Leader Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, who is term-limited from running again, said state data showed the second cut would cost too much revenue.
While Wingard, a member of the Choctaw Nation, said he was pleased by term limits and by the fact that lawmakers had held back billions in state revenue for savings, he said more could be done to work with outside groups, including tribal nations.
"We need the tribes," he said. "The Chickasaw Nation is really big; they've done a lot for the area. I like a lot of things that the tribes are doing, but the only thing that I would say is that I don't want to bend over to the tribes at the loss of the state. We need to work together and make a better state. We share this state."
Wingard said he didn't agree with every action taken by Gov. Stitt on tribal matters. He said Stitt should take the approach of working with the tribes. "But the tribes should take the approach of working with the state, too," he said. "I'd love to see us work together."
Wingard said the Legislature should spend more money on infrastructure, but that the money spent should be spent properly.
"My experience in the military, working full time at the warehouse where property came through all the time, you would see poor spending. You would see waste of money," he said.
Wingard said agencies from transportation to education need to be careful how they spend money. He said the education system needs to look at how money is being spent. "Not only fiscally responsible, but in a way that will help students," he said. "We have too many students graduating from high school that can't read, and I don't like that. It's not good for the state."
He said education and a diversified economy are the keys to the state's future.
McCortney: Building on the success of the present
Incumbent state Sen. McCortney said he isn't afraid of the problems associated with community service. He runs toward them. And though McCortney has his share of critics, he said he is seeking office again because, "I've started something, and I want to finish it."
Oklahoma, McCortney said, is in a good spot. And he wants to make the state stronger.
"I understand how to represent my district and how to represent it well, and I don't want to lose that knowledge," he said.
But that doesn't mean this campaign has been easy.
In fact, McCortney said this year's campaign has been incredibly negative — and untrue. "No one ever thinks how the candidate's mom takes that," he said. "I feel like my mom has had to sacrifice a lot, going to her mailbox and seeing what people say about her son. That's not easy on her."
He said the next legislative session presents a chance for lawmakers and the state government. "With the House and the Senate both having new leadership, I think we have an incredible opportunity, but we also are going to have a whole lot of work to do to make sure we get the right people in the right places to be successful as a state."
McCortney said he expected the Senate to have a "pretty large crop of new senators" and that, along with new House members and new leaders in both bodies, the Legislature will have new challenges and the need for new relationships. As an example, he pointed to the governor's difficult relationship with the state's tribal leaders.
"Unfortunately, the relationship between the tribes and the executive branch is near an all-time low, at least for my lifetime," he said. "It's a real difficulty for my district, and it makes my job at the Capitol harder than it ought to be."
McCortney said mending the relationship between the state, the governor and tribal nations was necessary. "I think it's really important to Oklahoma that we all come back together and start pulling on the same rope again."
He said he's hopeful that once the primary election is over, the governor will be willing to "start over and at least start trying to mend fences."
"I hope we don't have to wait two more years until we get another governor," he said. "I think there's been a lot of opportunities for us to start coming back together, and we've missed every one of them."
McCortney, however, remains an optimist.
While quick to praise the Senate's outgoing leader Treat, he's also just as quick to talk about the differences between the two men. Where Treat is a skilled politician, McCortney said he is at his best going deep on a policy issue.
"I'm not the politician he (Treat) is," McCortney said. "But I'm a much bigger spreadsheet nerd than he is. I don't mind wading into the weeds."
He said he's also disappointed by the influx of outside money in the campaign.
"I've been the majority leader of the Oklahoma Senate for three years," he said. "Oklahoma's Legislature is considered the second-most conservative Legislature in the country, and they're painting me to the left of Joe Biden. It's just hogwash. I hope the voters of this district know a falsehood when they see it."
Oklahoma's primary election is set for June 18. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting — at each county's election board office — is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
