| Last week, Oklahoma's Election Board quietly held a 3-day filing period for those seeking to win a party primary in Oklahoma. The Sooner State is the 5th date on the electoral schedule. 8 Republicans paid the filing fee of $5000 and filled out the necessary paperwork. Iowa will hold the first state contest in early January, followed by New Hampshire, then South Carolina and Nevada. On March 5th, Oklahoma will be joined by more than a dozen other states in the biggest single day of securing state delegate seats at the national conventions. Every state enjoys the choice of how they choose delegates, within certain parameters set forth by the political party rules. In Oklahoma's Republican Party, a candidate must garner 15% of the vote in order to have delegates designated to the national convention. If a candidate exceeds 50% of the primary vote, all delegates are awarded to that canddidate, even if other candidates exceed 15%. While all candidates will remain on the ballot, it's likely that the field of active & viable candidates will be honed down to 4 or less Republicans, and even less Democrats. After the Super Tuesday election, the OKGOP will continue the process of electing delegates & alternates to the National Convention. Those delegates will be told which candidate tey are bound to, at the National Convention. |  Prior to 1988, Oklahoma chose national delegates at conventions, beginning with neighborhood gatherings on 'Caucus Night'. Delegates chosen at precincts then atteded county, congressional district, and state conventions. The ultimate makeup of a state eelegation to the national convention might look quite different from how the caucus night percentages indicated. Oklahoma's Republican delegates are bound to a presidential candidate so long as that candidate remains viable and has not ended their campaign efforts. |
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Sooner Politics
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