Been another scandal related resignation in Oklahoma, State Senator Bryce Marlatt got gropey and kissy with a (female) uber driver.
His district (#27, #49 prior to 2002) is the panhandle plus adjacent counties, probably the most Republican district in the State. It did have a rat Senator who was ousted in 1996 by Marlatt’s predcesaor, Owen Laughlin.
The rat, Don Williams, was elected in 1988 according to Wikipedia which has historical lists of all members (wow!) of the OK leg since statehood, though it falsely claims he and his GOP predecessor, now Senior Federal Judge Timothy D. Leonard, represented Oklahoma City, when both in fact were from Beaver County. I can’t find anything on why a rat won this district in 1988 but I assume it was an open seat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Oklahoma_Legislature
GOP numbers were pathetic even in landslide years, only in 1928 did we even come fairly close in the House.
A non scandal related special for CD-1 is also in the cards as Jim Bridenstine has been tapped for NASA director.
I traced the district further back, Leonard’s predecessor was rat Leon B. Field, who held the seat from 1957 (when it was district 1) till 1979 according to
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10542187
Prior to that he was in the House. Wiki lists his Senate service as being from 1953-81, which must be wrong, Leonard was elected in 1978.
Can’t speak to how Don Williams managed to win an ultra-GOP seat. Might’ve run as a Conservative and was better liked than his opponent and able to argue he could bring more to the district from a then-Dem heavy legislature.
As I’ve observed, it’s a lot easier for the Democrats to win an occasional GOP district than it is for Republicans to win in a Dem-heavy seat.
Look at the Aldermanic seats in Chicago. The Dems have gotten the handful of suburban GOP seats in recent years. Conversely, when’s the last time the GOP won Dem seats ? When’s the last time they won the Lakeshore districts ? 1960s ? The Black districts, 1940s ? The heavy Ethnic Eastern European areas, the 1900s ?
As for Oklahoma and when the GOP briefly won the legislature before the modern era, the party was too weak statewide to hold it for the long term beyond national landslides. It was hard to break the hold of the Democrats below present-day I-40 (despite GOP strength in OKC and Tulsa, which couldn’t overcome rural Dem areas). It was like mashing Kansas and Texas or Arkansas together (of the time). The Depression eliminated a good chunk of the northern section’s GOP preference and made it more like TX.