Shifting partisan alignments in Oklahoma

Abstract

Oklahoma has often stood at the fringe of the South, both in the study of southern politics and in the mindset of Oklahoma. While Oklahoma was not a state at the time of the Civil War, many of the events and cultural factors that structure Oklahoma politics are distinctly southern. As in many southern states, the GOP has enjoyed a dramatic growth in adherents, and has sustained electoral success in contests for major offices. What is so intriguing about the GOP growth in Oklahoma is the catalyst for change. In most southern states, studies have shown that Republican growth can be linked to race. Race is not such a divisive issue in Oklahoma. Only 6.7 percent of the state population is black (Morgan, et al., 1991). Instead, religion, the growth of the Christian Right, appears to be a major catalyst in the GOP upswing (Bednar and Hertzke, 1995a, 1995b).