Author Archives: The Senator's Wife

About The Senator's Wife

I started this blog on a whim thinking it would be fun to write about politics while my husband served in the OK State Senate. The jury's still out on that, but having a front row seat on the sideline of Oklahoma politics has been one big adventure.

Election Night Coverage

The Senator and I attended several election night watch parties last week for political candidates whose names were on the ballot this time around. We would have done this even if the Senator’s opponent had not dropped out that day because the Senator did not have a primary election and…..it is kind of our tradition. Well, tradition since the Senator has been a public official. Prior to that, we would have holed up in front of the t.v. and watched the returns….which, actually can sometimes be a bit more interesting, for lack of a better word.

It reminds me of when our kids were little, the Senator and I used to get a babysitter, grab dinner and go to his office where we would watch the state of the union address and/or election returns. I suppose we have always been engaged in our democratic process in some form or fashion…

Anyway, last week we headed out west to congratulate one of the newest state senators. He had it easy….only one opponent in a heated primary with no general election. You don’t see that very often.

Then we stopped by another party where a good friend lost his race for Attorney General. I have no photos from that event. I was too busy watching the returns and hoping for the best.

Then we ran over to a watch party for the Governor’s race. The candidate whose sign you see below had won the primary and a big celebration was under way.

The Senator saw a lot of friends and he was celebrating as well. In this photo wearing the suit is the new darling of the Oklahoma Republican Party. The new Party Chairman had been speaking to the media about the record breaking voter turn out that day and all of the big wins for his party. He is ooh, sooo good at what he does and a big breath of fresh air!

Here, I captured the Senator and a friend from the Capitol as they were talking about his race…

This cute young thing is actually a constituent of the Senator’s and helped work on his campaign. He has the greatest smile and looks like he is all of about 18 years old.

And, yet with another friend who runs AT&T and loves to play golf. I’m sure they were talking about their golf games…..

This fine young speciciment of a former House Rep had just won his parties nomination for State Treasurer. Seriously, can’t you see him on the cover of a magazine as opposed to behind a desk crunching numbers?

This is where it got interesting. After a while I tired of all the political talk and began watching the people in the very crowded room. It had been a long time since I had seen Republicans have this much fun….when I noticed the girl in the purple dress pictured below texting on her cell phone. She and her male friend to the right appeared somewhat out of place. I had observed them for quite some time as they were young, attractive, very professional like and oh, so serious….more importantly, they were all about their business and did not seem to know anyone or speak to anyone there. Not a soul….they simply studied the crowd and took pictures on their cell phones….Did they just stumble in off the street? Had they walked in from the restaurant next door? Or, were they operatives from the “other” party…..
Let’s call them Michaele and Tareq Salahi just for fun…..because every good party needs some crashers.

If anyone who trolls here knows any different, please enlighten me.

SW

Speechless

Tuesday was an extraordinary day for Oklahoma politics.

Extraordinary, in that Oklahomans will elect their first female Governor in November.

Extraordinary, because voters went to the polls in record breaking numbers.

Extraordinary, because my Senator’s opponent decided to withdraw from the race for State senate leaving him unopposed and consequently re-elected.

Yes, you read that correctly. And you can also read about it here and here.

We were shocked. We are still shocked. I could never adequately describe to you how we feel after working tirelessly all summer on the campaign trail. In fact, that is where the Senator was when he received a phone call Monday afternoon.

He was out knocking on doors in a neighborhood when his phone rang. It was a volunteer for his opponent asking for a good number where the Senator could be reached. The volunteer promised no ill will and the Senator believed him.

My Senator continued knocking on doors and was cooling off in his truck when his cell phone rang. It was his opponent. They exchanged awkward pleasantries and then she informed him she was withdrawing her name from the race and would file the appropriate paperwork on Tuesday.

Like, really? I mean, surely you jest. Has anything like this ever happened before? I know some candidates file to run and then immediately file to have their name removed, but has anyone ever filed, raised money, campaigned…knocked doors….and then just bailed out? I guess they have now.

I can only speak from my own personal experience on the campaign trail, but I can not imagine just jumping out like that once you are so heavily invested and committed to a campaign. I can’t fathom this on so many different levels.

Anyway… the Senator called and shared with me what had just transpired and he re-played their conversation, word for word.

Then, he told me we were not going to say anything about this to anyone until she filed the appropriate paperwork with the state and his re-election was official.

I told the Senator I would have a hard time with that and he would have to seal my mouth shut with duck tape.

Just kidding….about the duck tape part.

Anyway, the Senator received a copy of her official intent to withdraw from the State Election Board around 2:00 PM on Tuesday afternoon.

And, I am still speechless.

Relieved, but in utter disbelief….

And, excited.

Excited for our children.

Excited, because we have so much more free time to spend on things not campaign related!

Excited about the family vacation we just-in-this-past-twenty-four-hours planned.

Excited, because there are so many little projects around the house that we have desperately needed to complete but were always trumped by the campaign. Really, you have no idea how many!

Excited that the Senator can continue to work hard to build an environment where individuals and businesses can succeed.

Excited, because I have more time to write about being a Senator’s wife.

Truly, I could continue on and on with this selfish little “excited” for me list, but at the end of the day, I am super excited for my Senator. He works so hard for our family, for his constituents, for our great state of Oklahoma…..he is so genuine and sincere in his efforts and I am thrilled for him.

P.S. The photo up top was taken on election night. Does it look like we had been up all night? Because we had….stayed up late talking, waiting and wondering what the day would hold.

Primary Election Day

It is 5:00 am on the day of the primary election in my great state. Thank goodness the Senator does not have a primary opponent, for if he did, I would not be in front of the computer. In fact, if he did, I would not be home at all. You see, on the morning of any election day a candidate’s work begins in the wee hours of the morning.

During the Senator’s first ever campaign eight years ago, on the eve of what had turned into a heated six way primary, the Senator and I had assembled our friends, a.k.a. political rookies like us, to put up signs near the polling locations in his district. Yes, don’t say it. I know what you’re thinking and I agree. These signs clutter the landscape, drive people nuts, and irritate the city who eventually sweeps them up, but I assure you they are vitally important for political candidates in obtaining some election day name identification with the casual voter. Trust me, if they weren’t significant, the vast amount of time and money would not be wasted on them. T-R-U-S-T me.

Signs speak, and putting up those last minute, election day signs is an important part of the political game.

So, what we learned on the morning of August 27th, 2002, was that we had put up our signs…..WAY too early. How do I know this? Because the Senator and I drove around the key polling places between 5:00 and 6:00 am to check on our signs, and they were all GONE. Vanished. Disappeared…..Just like that.

No, they were not swept up by the City…..

No, they did not blow away………

Yes, there were lots of signs up…other people’s signs.

Yes, we had put these signs up the night before…..which was plenty of time for them to be quickly and quietly removed by our opposition…

This is true….and, I am still searching for the photo we took when we discovered several of our large signs all wadded up in a public dumpster….which made me want to go home and cry, but you can’t. You simply have to laugh it off because at that point, what can you do?

Seriously, a healthy perspective and good sense of humor are key in playing the political sign game or it can easily take your campaign off message. The other side plays dirty regardless of who it is and your signs will still magically disappear. Which is why, if the Senator was on the ballot today, we would be driving around guarding our signs and ensuring their strategic placement….until the polls open at 7:00 am.

More election day stories to follow…..