Vote against teacher pay comes back to bite six more Oklahoma Republicans

by Laura Clawson for Daily Kos Labor

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018 Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018 at 7:31:05am PDT

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - APRIL 2: Natalie Armstrong (left) and her two daughters Payton and Payzlyn, along with her mother Katrina Sinor rally at the state capitol on April 2, 2018 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Thousands of teachers and supporters are scheduled to rally Monday at the state Capitol calling for higher wages and better school funding. Armstrong said she has spent $3,000 this year for school supplies Teachers are walking off the job after a $6,100 pay raise was rushed through the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)

Six more Oklahoma state House Republicans lost their primary run-offs on Tuesday after having voted against raising taxes to give teachers their first raise in a decade. That’s after two others were defeated in June primaries. In fact:

Of the 19 House Republicans who voted against the tax hike, eight have now been defeated. Seven others decided not to run. Only four have advanced to the general election.

On top of that, two Democratic teachers flipped Oklahoma legislature seats from red to blue in 2017, and both Democratic and Republican teachers have won primaries this year—including a school administrator who won one of Tuesday’s run-offs, defeating a six-year incumbent who voted against the teacher pay increase.

Once again we see that education funding and teacher pay are bipartisan issues among voters even if elected Republicans don’t get that. Yet.