Johnson recently retired after 33-years in the State Senate, representing
Oklahoma City's predominantly African American "Eastside," where she pursued a game-changing focus on health/mental health/human services issues that disproportionately affect the economic and social well-being of the poor, minorities, women,
children, and people with disabilities. Johnson contends her aggressive proposals on sentencing reform and abolishing the death penalty are beginning to gain traction in Oklahoma's conservative climate.
Johnson's advocacy grew out of her Master's Thesis on Women and Incarceration in Oklahoma, which is reflective of the high cost and impact on the state's budget.
Johnson: "We improve the criminal justice system by removing the situation that got us here: the war on drugs."
Johnson then went on to decry the amount of women locked up in Oklahoma, saying it
then leads to children without mothers who go to schools where counselors aren't available. It perpetuates a cycle, she said, that is in part fueled by private prisons.
Richardson: "I am opposed to private prisons.
As governor, I would institute a one-week training program for every new prosecutor based on the fact that it's about justice, not throwing people in jail."
All of the candidates agreed on a few questions, including that civil asset forfeiture is wrong without a conviction and the state government should not be involved in a person's religion or choice to have no religion.
Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson noted it costs the state about $23,000 per year to house an inmate, while alternative programs for those suffering from poor
mental health or addiction cost about $5,000 annually. "We've got to get smart with how we deal with these problems," he said.
A: Yes. When used appropriately, swift capital punishment deters violent crimes and saves lives.
Capital punishment for certain heinous crimes is consistent with the high intrinsic value of human life.
Vote to pass a bill that prohibits the death sentence from being imposed on any individual deemed to be mentally retarded.
The bill defines as "mentally retarded" an individual with an intelligence quotient lower than 76 who currently demonstrates significant limitations in adaptive functions, and whose mental retardation was manifested before their 18th birthday.
Source: Vote Smart's Synopsis of Oklahoma Legislative voting records
May 26, 2008
Joe Maldonado:
Stricter punishment doesn't reduce crime
Q: Do you support or oppose the statement, "Stricter punishment reduces crime"?
A: No, it does not; teaching people not to hate is our answer and starting in schools with respect, dealing with drug problem and getting lobbyist and special rights groups out of our courts would help
Source: OnTheIssues interview of 2018 Oklahoma Governor candidate
May 15, 2018
Joy Hofmeister:
Suspend death penalty until it be properly carried out
This latest example of a botched execution should give all Oklahomans serious concerns about the State's ability to properly administer the death penalty. It is the governor's job to ensure executions are carried out appropriately. After reviewing
eyewitness reports from the death chamber, it is clear the governor has failed to do that. Governor Stitt should immediately suspend executions until he can guarantee the people of Oklahoma that his administration can properly carry out the sentence.
Source: KFOR-4-TV on 2022 Oklahoma Gubernatorial race
Oct 28, 2021
Kendra Horn:
Don't defund the police, ban chokeholds and racial profiling
Horn said she doesn't want to defund the police. Instead, she said she supports bills that would ban choke holds and add ban racial profiling. She said she wants to give police funds for extra training to deal with 911 mental health calls. "What we need
are bipartisan solutions that address the issues of systemic inequality and injustice in a way that is sustainable," she said.
Source: Oklahoma Watch on 2022 Oklahoma Senate race
Oct 10, 2020
Kevin Stitt:
Keep violent offenders behind bars, with fair sentencing
During a forum last week in Oklahoma City, the candidates were asked what steps they would take as governor to reduce the number of people incarcerated in Oklahoma. That total, which has been growing for decades, stands at roughly
27,000. On a per capita basis, the state's incarceration rate ranks No. 2 nationally; we lead the country in female incarceration rate. All the candidates mentioned the need to find innovative ways to deal with nonviolent offenders, who
make up the majority of those behind bars."We are sticking out like a sore thumb," said Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt. Stitt said prosecutors must be provided "the sticks they need" to keep violent offenders behind bars, but that
Oklahoma should "look at what the market is. Market to me is what the states around us are doing, and come up with those types of fair sentencing (practices) across all counties ."
Source: The Oklahoman on 2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial race
May 3, 2018
Kevin Stitt:
Make it easier for ex-cons to go to work
But money is not the sole action government must take. I am encouraged by legislation in the House to accomplish licensing reform for those with a felony.
We must give Oklahomans re-entering society more opportunities to be gainfully employed and we must give employers more discretion on who they can hire.
Source: 2019 State of the State address to the Oklahoma legislature
Feb 4, 2019
Kevin Stitt:
Oklahoma is a proud law and order state, we back the police
I've directed our law enforcement to crack down hard on the black market. Agents have been in the field making arrests. Let me be clear: drug cartels, organized crime and foreign bad actors have no place in Oklahoma. We will find them, and we will bring
them to justice! Oklahoma is a proud law and order state. As other states and cities are still defunding their police, we have a chance to stand apart. Brave men and women who put their lives on the line deserve leaders who will have their back.
Source: 2022 State of the State Address to the Oklahoma legislature
Feb 7, 2022
Mary Fallin:
Murder is about video games & broken families, not guns
Q: In the wake of the random shooting of an Australian tourist, the former deputy prime minister of Australia has advised tourists that they should boycott the US to make a statement about gun control.FALLIN: I don't think this issue is about gun
control. It's an issue about murder. Q: What on earth do you think would lead three teenagers to gun down a complete stranger, because they say they were bored and had nothing to do?
FALLIN: It's just unfathomable that they would even have a thought in
their mind to gun down somebody who is so innocent, just taking a jog through the community. But, you know, in America, we do have different families that are broken, we do have poverty rates, we have those that are uneducated, we have substance abuse
issues, we certainly have a lot of video games, a lot of movies that depict violence in our society, and that is something we as parents, certainly, as community people should take at heart, to always try to make things better in our communities.
Source: Fox News Sunday 2013, on 2014 Oklahoma gubernatorial race
Aug 25, 2013
Mary Fallin:
Be as "smart on crime" as we are "tough on crime"
For non-violent offenders in our prison population, we are working hard to offer treatment and rehabilitation--to be as "smart on crime" as we are "tough on crime." I'm looking forward to a renewed partnership between the Department of Corrections,
the Legislature and my office, as we work with the agency and its new director to evaluate and improve our smart on crime initiatives, including the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.
Source: 2014 State of the State address to Oklahoma legislature
Feb 3, 2014
Mary Fallin:
Supports death penalty even after botched lethal injection
She also has given strong support to the death penalty, even in the wake of the April 29 botched lethal injection of death row inmate Clayton Lockett.
Fallin ordered her secretary of safety and security to conduct an independent investigation into the execution, but has said Lockett's death sentence was lawfully carried out and that "justice was served."
Source: Greenfield Reporter on 2014 Oklahoma gubernatorial race
Jun 18, 2014
Mary Fallin:
2011: OK to experiment with drugs used in lethal injection
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Oklahoma has the highest number of executions per capita in the country. Fallin laid the groundwork for this week's debacle [of a botched execution] in 2011 by signing into legislation that enabled
Oklahoma to experiment with the drugs used in lethal injection and to keep the details secret.In April, when the State Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on the execution of Clayton Lockett, citing concerns about the constitutionality of that law,
Fallin decided to ignore it. The Supreme Court's "attempted stay of execution is outside the constitutional authority of that body," she declared. "I cannot give effect to the order by that honorable court." (The Court eventually reached a different
conclusion on its own, it said.)
"You have a political figure who unnecessarily rushed forward an execution, under the veil of secrecy, that led to the torture of an individual at the hands of the state of Oklahoma," [one opponent said].
Source: MSNBC coverage of 2014 Oklahoma gubernatorial race
May 1, 2014
Mary Fallin:
No life sentences for juveniles
Fallin vetoed a bill that would have allowed the state to sentence some juveniles to life in prison without parole. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that juveniles should not be imprisoned for life without the chance for parole except
in rare cases. Fallin said she vetoed the proposal because she believes it violates that high court decision.
Oklahoma has at least 41 inmates serving no-parole sentences for crimes committed when they were 17 or younger
Source: San Francisco Chronicle on 2018 Oklahoma governor race
May 12, 2018
Matt Silverstein:
Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act
Silverstein noted his support of women's issues, an issue where Inhofe falls short. "He was one of only five senators who opposed reauthorizing the
Violence Against Women's Act," he said, adding that equality for women in the military is also not high on Inhofe's list.
Source: RedDirtReport.com coverage of 2014 Oklahoma Senate race
Aug 13, 2013
Mick Cornett:
If prison recidivism rates get reduced so will incarceration
During a forum last week in Oklahoma City, the candidates were asked what steps they would take as governor to reduce the number of people incarcerated in Oklahoma. That total, which has been growing for decades, stands at roughly
27,000. On a per capita basis, the state's incarceration rate ranks No. 2 nationally; we lead the country in female incarceration rate.
Cornett said improving the state's recidivism rate would do much to drive down incarceration totals. "It hurts me to admit that if a person drops out of high school, chances are they won't be going back, but if a person gets out of prison,
chances are they will be going back," he said. "We do a very poor job of offering a person a better path coming out." Cornett said he believes criminal justice reform is an area where headway can be made."
Source: The Oklahoman on 2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial race
May 3, 2018
Mike Workman:
Supports the death penalty, but only for horrific crimes
Q: Do you support the death penalty?
Mike Workman: Yes, but only for horrific crimes with undeniable evidence
Source: iSideWith.com voter guide on 2016 Oklahoma Senate race
Aug 31, 2016
Nathan Dahm:
Jan. 6 insurrection arrestees are political prisoners
SB 1166, the "Prohibition on Political Prisoners in Oklahoma Act," would define a political prisoner as a citizen of the United States who has been arrested, charged or convicted of any crime, other than a felony, relating to the Capitol building on
Jan. 6, 2021. "It's well past time we stand up to this political thuggery being imposed on people who entered a building--a building which they own as citizens--through doors opened by police and security personnel to grant them access," Dahm said.
Source: State Senate press release on 2022 Oklahoma U.S. Senate race
Jan 4, 2022
Neil Gorsuch:
Jurors have ability to impartially apply death penalty
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split 2-1 to uphold the Oklahoma death sentence of Scott Eizember, who went on a deadly crime spree in 2003.Eizember was sentenced to be executed for the bludgeoning death of A.J. Cantrell, 76, and to 150 years
in prison in the shotgun slaying of Patsy Cantrell, 70, at their Depew home. "Scott Eizember left a Tulsa jail intent on settling a score," Judge Neil Gorsuch of the Denver-based appeals court wrote in a 34-page decision. "He was upset with his
ex-girlfriend, Kathy Biggs, because she had tipped off authorities about his violation of a protective order." Eizember had broken into the Cantrells' home to watch and wait for his ex-girlfriend to return to her mother's house across the street.
One judge on a three-judge panel said the death sentence should be overturned. In a 30-page dissenting opinion, the Chief Judge wrote that one juror's views in favor of the death penalty raise doubts about her ability to be fair and impartial.
Source: The Oklahoman on death penalty appeal
Sep 15, 2015
Joy Hofmeister:
FactCheck: Yes, OK has higher crime rate than NY and CA
Claim: Hofmeister claimed that, under Stitt's administration, that "the rates of violent crime are higher in Oklahoma under your watch, than in NY and CA. That's a fact."Fact check: True, but misleading. It's true that in 2020, Oklahoma had a higher
between 2019 and 2020, the increase tracked closely with a nationwide rise in reported violent crime during the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oklahoma has consistently had a higher crime rate than the national average since 2001. The data shows
Oklahoma has had a higher rate of violent crime than California since 2008 for every year except 2019 and the violent crime rate in New York has been lower than Oklahoma's for every year since 2002.
Source: The Frontier FactCheck on 2022 Oklahoma Gubernatorial race
Oct 21, 2022
Kevin Stitt:
FactCheck: OK has higher violent crime rate than NY and CA
Joy Hofmeister claimed that, under Stitt's administration, that "the rates of violent crime are higher in Oklahoma under your watch, than in NY and CA. That's a fact."Fact check: True, but misleading. It's true that in 2020, Oklahoma had a higher
rate of violent crime than both NY and CA, but that's been the case for much of the last 20 years.
Stitt said: "That's not true" in response to the claim by Hofmeister. "Oklahomans, do you believe we have higher crime than New York or California?
Fact check: False. Oklahoma does have a higher violent crime rate than both NY and CA, according to law enforcement data collected annually by the FBI. In 2020, the latest year for which complete data is available, Oklahoma had a violent crime rate of
458 incidents per 100,000 people. California had a violent crime rate of 442 incidents per 100,000 people for the same period, while NY had a violent crime rate of 363 incidents per 100,000 people. The national average for violent crime in 2020 was 398.
Source: The Frontier FactCheck on 2022 Oklahoma Gubernatorial race
Oct 21, 2022
Cyndi Munson:
Increase compensation for those wrongfully convicted
If you were wrongfully convicted of a crime, the state would give you a maximum of $175,000. That could change to $50,000 for every year the person was behind bars if HB2235, authored by Munson, becomes law. "Currently if you are wrongfully
convicted regardless of whether you are on death row or on parole you only have access to $175,000, which really does not make up for years lost when it comes to employment, having time with your family and loved ones and in your community," Munson said.
Source: FOX25 (Fox News) on 2026 Oklahoma Gubernatorial race
Feb 9, 2025
Page last updated: Feb 07, 2026