This report from The Oklahoman is interesting. Only the delusional would believe that The Sooner State is turning blue. Still, a Democrat came within five points of winning a house district in Edmond, a ruby-red suburban area north of Oklahoma City. From a national outlook, this election could be a window into a blue wave. Fingers crossed.
Though Democratic candidate Regan Raff lost Tuesday's special election in Oklahoma House District 39, her Republican opponent's relatively narrow victory could be some consolation for her party.
Erick Harris won 50.3 percent of the vote to Raff's 45.1 percent, while Libertarian Richard Prawdzienski won 4.5 percent, according to unofficial results on Tuesday night.
According to Wiki, the district is 80% white.
From Newsweek:
A Republican winning an Oklahoma special election on Tuesday night in a deep red area by just five points has sparked concerns about the GOP's performance in November's races.
Republican Erick Harris won House District 39's special election by 261 votes, beating Democrat Regan Raff into second place (50 percent to 45 percent). The election was triggered following former state Representative Ryan Martinez's resignation last September after pleading guilty to a felony offense of being in physical control of a vehicle while intoxicated.
While the result is not likely not an indication of the outcome of the 2024 presidential election in Oklahoma—where Donald Trump beat Joe Biden by 33 points in 2020—Harris' marginal victory in the Edmond district which Trump won by 26 points in the last election has raised concerns.
Best Neighborhood on voting demographics:
Edmond tends to be slightly republican based on voting results in recent elections. Compared to other nearby cities, Edmond has more democratic voters. Compared to the nation as a whole, Edmond leans more republican.
Highly educated populations with bachelor’s degrees or higher tend to vote for more liberal candidates. In Edmond, 55.30% of all adults have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. Educated women are far less likely to vote for conservatives, and in Edmond women make up 51.47% of the population.
Older Americans tend to vote more conservatively. Members of the Boomer and Silent generations (born 1928-1964) more often vote for Republicans while GenX, Millennials (born 1965-1996) and younger generations consistently support Democrats. The median age in Edmond is 38.2, which is older than the national median age of 38.1.
Is Edmond a political battleground? Across all types of political contests in Edmond, including state, local and presidential elections, races come within five percentage points 9% of the time.
As mentioned above, Trump won the district by 26 points.