The Hope You Can Hold On To

John,

We can't pretend to be the only introspective email in your inbox since Election Day, but what we can offer is a unique insight into our state. 

Democrats in Oklahoma showed true strength in our great state Election night. In our ruby red state, in a year where the statewide turnout was more Republican than in the last two general elections, mobilized Democrats gained thousands of votes. Last time Trump was on the ballot, we lost 5 seats in the Legislature.

This time, all of our incumbents over performed. Strong Democrats assailed by self-funded extremists beat the statewide Republican environment by an average of 2.48 points! This shows that our people-first candidates are resonating with Oklahomans.

We're strengthening our Democrat seats to prevail, no matter who's at the top of the ticket.

Here is what that robust over performance looks like. To the left is a seat won in 2022 by just over 300 votes. This year, the same seat was won by over 1,200 votes resulting in the map to the right.

Challenging Democrats ran tighter races as well, HD 100 went from a deficit of over 1,000 votes in ‘22 to just 287 votes. In Lawton, Democrats swung a house race by over 6 points! In a historic, groundbreaking win for the night, Tulsa elected its first black Mayor! Rep. Nichols ran a proudly Democratic campaign showing the power of Oklahomans united for change.

None of this is enough good news to offset a nationwide loss. The coming right wing extremism from Washington will test our communities. But we know that the best path to resist the excesses of a Trump Administration is through strong local organization. We know that we are on the right path. 

That's why we are looking forward; to building this party bottom up, so we can continue to build and grow. Oklahoma Democrats didn't hold our ground by chance -- we fought for it. That fight continues in each of us.

If you believe in this fight, i'm asking for you to pitch in what you can so we can keep our doors open, no matter what comes.

With Defiance,
Lauren Craig
Interim Executive Director, Oklahoma Democratic Party

P.S. Candidate filing for OKC and Norman City Council races is in just two weeks, we aren't kidding when we say we aren't going anywhere. 

P.P.S. To my incredible staff and all the volunteers across the state who made this fight possible, I am so proud of you. Every door knocked, every call made, every sign distributed all culminated to mean Oklahoma is a little bluer today than when we started. You, did that. I don't have all of the answers but what I do know is that I wouldn't want any other team to fight this fight with.