Republican voters will make their final choices for insurance commissioner and labor commissioner in an Aug. 25 primary runoff. The winners will face opposition in the Nov. 3 general election.
Early voting runs from Aug. 20-22. To find out more information about the election, go to the Tulsa Flyer’s voter guide here.
Insurance commissioner
Former state Sen. Marty Quinn and Inola property and casualty insurance expert Bob Sullivan will face off in the primary runoff. Sullivan finished the June primary with 37.4% and Quinn with 27.7%.
They hold similar priorities of recruiting more insurance carriers to the state and forcing insurers to be more transparent, speed up claims and payments and bring down costs.
The insurance commissioner earns $150,000 a year and runs the Oklahoma Insurance Department. It enforces insurance laws, protects consumers and regulates the insurance industry. It works to ensure carriers remain financially stable, reviews policy rates and licenses industry professionals.
Quinn served in the Oklahoma Senate from 2014 to 2022, representing District 2 that includes parts of Rogers and Mayes counties. He served in the Oklahoma House from 2010 to 2014 and has 40 years of experience in insurance.
Sullivan has worked in the insurance industry for more than 20 years and focuses his campaign around Oklahoma ranking among the highest insurance costs nationally. On his website, he said “insiders and bureaucrats look the other way.”
Oklahoma Watch reported July 15 that the question of Quinn’s eligibility isn’t clear. A requirement for the office is to have lived in Oklahoma for five years, but the law is vague. It does not state whether residency is to be immediately prior to seeking office or at any point in the candidate’s life.
After Quinn lost a bid for Congress, he moved to his native state of Arkansas where he bought a half-million-dollar condominium in Hot Springs and several hundred acres, took an Arkansas homestead exemption and changed his voter registration, Oklahoma Watch reported.
Two days before the candidate filing period, Quinn registered to vote in Oklahoma and lists an Owasso rental property as his residence on the candidate application.
The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Craig MacIntyre in the Nov. 3 general election.
Labor commissioner
The four-way Republican primary for labor commissioner came down to state Reps. John Pfeiffer of Orlando and Kevin West of Moore. In the June primary, West finished with 41.8% and Pfeifer with 35.3%.
The labor commissioner earns $130,000 and is responsible for enforcing state labor laws and improving working conditions. The department also oversees permits for some regulated services such as elevators, boilers and amusement park rides.
Pfeiffer is the deputy floor leader of the Oklahoma House and has largely focused on rural issues and agriculture as a lawmaker. In addition, he sponsored legislation to crack down on state employees benefiting from private government contracts, increase public access to records, repeal racist language in old property records and create newspapers, particularly in rural areas without any media.
He is a former U.S. Marine and lifelong rancher in Orlando, terming out of the legislature after 12 years.
Pfeiffer’s website states priorities of cutting red tape, protecting small business, fighting federal overreach, promoting worker freedom by supporting right-to-work laws, defending the Second Amendment in the workplace and cracking down on fraud and abuse.
As a legislator, West led efforts to ban the change of sex markers on driver’s licenses and birth certificates and prohibit state agencies, including public schools, from recognizing Pride Month or displaying an LGBTQ+ flag on state property. He sponsored bills to ban drag performances in certain locations, prohibit emergency contraception and give immunity to drivers who unintentionally run over protesters blocking roadways.
He sponsored the high-profile House Bill 1775 that restricts teaching about race and gender in public schools and prohibits K-12 and higher education institutions from requiring diversity training, counseling or orientations.
He owns a cabinet shop in Oklahoma City and is finishing his fifth term in the state House.
West’s website states priorities that include rebuilding pipelines to skilled trades, promoting safety through partnerships instead of punishment, simplifying outdated rules, creating trade pathways for veterans, launching a task force on artificial intelligence and automation and ensuring shops aren’t squeezed out by out-of-state giants or out-of-country scammers.
The winner will face Democrat Kevin Dawson and Libertarian Mike Hall Nov. 3.
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