Votes Tallied; Republicans Who Voted Against Teacher Raises Just Received Sweet Karma

Republicans should be afraid, very afraid. Incumbents no longer have a free ride back into office. Those days are over. Oklahoma Lt. Governor Todd Lamb (R) ran for governor, and look what the teachers did to him.

There were many GOP politicians who decided it would be a good idea to vote against the Oklahoma tax hike that would have gone toward increasing teachers’ salary, which are among the lowest in the country. Oklahomans decided they had had enough.

Ten of the incumbents who voted “no” in the House ran for re-election. Two of them were sorely defeated in the election: Representatives Chuck Strohm of Jenks, OK and Scott McEachin of Tulsa.

Instead of winning outright, Lamb will be running, along with seven House members, in primary runoffs against other Republicans in August.

Best yet, one Republican lost to a teacher. Dozens of teachers across the state decided to run for office.

Oklahoma City teacher Cyndi Ralston explained why she, too, left teaching to run for the District 12 representative. She will run unopposed. Ralston wrote in her Facebook post, according to Oklahoma News 4:

‘I had not planned to make this announcement public until after I had filed for office, but the events of the day have moved me to do so now. As an educator, my campaign will, of course, be focused on issues regarding our schools, including teacher and staff pay, classroom funding, and creating opportunities for our children. I will also focus on issues affecting my district including healthcare and criminal justice reform.’

Ralston continued:

‘At the core of why I am running, though, is respect. As I’m sure many of you know, the current Representative for District 12, Kevin McDugle, released a video this morning in which he disrespected and denigrated teachers and administrators who have come to the capitol to protest the legislature’s wholly inadequate support for education.’

The state Republicans were seriously concerned that this election was going to bode badly for the upcoming midterm elections in November.

Featured Image via Getty Images/David McNew.