.png)
VEST Her Podcast
The VEST Her Podcast explores the real, often unspoken challenges women face at work, in society, and on the path to economic mobility.
Through candid conversations with women navigating career pivots, entrepreneurship, leadership, and family life, we unpack the pressure to do it all, the self-doubt, and the systems not built with us in mind.
This podcast is for professionals ready to move beyond outdated advice and create success on their own terms. If you’re looking to grow, speak up, and be part of a supportive, change-making community, welcome.
Let’s question the rules, share what’s real, and build a better future together.
VEST Her Podcast
Open Primaries: Increasing Voter Participation Beyond Party Lines
Democracy thrives when citizens participate, yet America faces a troubling reality: even in presidential elections, only 65% of eligible voters cast ballots, with participation plummeting in local and primary elections. This democratic deficit has serious consequences, especially for women and historically marginalized communities who continue to face systemic barriers to political participation.
At the heart of this problem lies a structural issue: closed primary systems that restrict voting to registered party members. These closed primaries shrink the voter pool, fuel polarization, and produce candidates who cater to partisan extremes rather than representing the broader population. The result? Elected officials less willing to compromise and increasingly dysfunctional governance.
In this compelling conversation, Margaret Kobos, founder of Oklahoma United, and political consultant Sarah Blaney explore how open primaries could transform our democratic landscape. They make a powerful case for State Question 836, which would implement an open primary system in Oklahoma where all candidates appear on a single ballot accessible to every voter. The top two finishers would advance to the general election, ensuring meaningful choice in November.
The statistics are striking: Oklahoma has ranked last in voter turnout nationally, with only 51% of voters registered as Republican despite complete Republican control of state government. With 80-90% of election decisions effectively made during primary elections, the current system silences independent voters and moderates from both parties. This directly correlates with Oklahoma's poor rankings in education, women's quality of life, and other critical metrics.
What makes this reform particularly powerful is its simplicity and familiarity, it mirrors the system already used successfully in Oklahoma's municipal elections. By expanding this model to all elections, voters would gain real choice while elected officials would become accountable to the entire electorate, not just partisan extremes.
Ready to support democratic reform? Learn more about open primaries and how you can get involved in this movement to revitalize American democracy through meaningful electoral reform. The future of our representative government depends on ensuring every voice can truly be heard.
If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.
If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co
Voter. Participation is one of the clearest measures of a healthy democracy. Yet in the United States, we consistently fall short. In the last presidential election, only about 65% of eligible voters cast a ballot, and participation in local and primary elections is often far lower. Women, in particular, have historically been excluded from the political process. Women, in particular, have historically been excluded from the political process. While white women won the constitutional right to vote just over 100 years ago, black women, along with many other women of color, continue to face systemic barriers that kept them from the ballot box for decades afterwards, and even today we continue to struggle with voter suppression, gerrymandering and policies that make it harder for many communities to fully participate in our democracy. One of the structural issues that continues to limit participation today is closed primaries. When only registered party members can vote, we shrink the voter pool and fuel polarization. The result Candidates who cater to the extremes instead of representing the broader population. Research shows that states with closed primaries often produce leaders less willing to compromise, which ultimately weakens governance. This is a concern for all of us, no matter where we live, because when participation is limited and when the choices on the ballot don't reflect the diversity and the complexity of our communities. We all pay the price in policy, in representation and in trust in our democracy. That's why, in today's episode, we're exploring open primaries.
Speaker 1:Joining us is Margaret Kobos, founder and CEO of Oklahoma United, a nonpartisan grassroots organization advocating for reform through State Question 836, along with Sarah Blaney, a political consultant and nonprofit executive with over 20 years of experience in electoral politics nationwide. For our guest's full bios and show notes, go to wwwvestherco forward slash podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, share with a friend and don't forget to leave us a review. And if you're ready to take your career to the next level, consider applying to become a Vest member and join our community of women professionals eager to help you get there and stay there. Go to wwwvestherco to learn more. Join our community of women professionals eager to help you get there and stay there. Go to wwwvestherco to learn more. This conversation was part of a more intimate coaching session with Vest members and has been repurposed to accommodate this episode. What is an open primary and how does it differ from the system that's currently used in our state and in other states?
Speaker 2:The United States is made up, obviously the state. You know, the laboratories of democracy are different. In you know, every state operates a little differently. Oklahoma is one of 11 states with a statutory, a statutory scheme that closes primaries so that only a member of a party may vote in a single party primary election. So in Oklahoma that means that independents are not able to vote in all the primary elections. They don't really have a voice to vote in all the primary elections. They don't really have a voice. They are excluded by the Republican Party.
Speaker 2:The Democrat Party has voluntarily opened their primaries to independents. The Libertarians, just this summer, decided to follow suit. They are also going to allow independents to vote in libertarian primaries. But the real problem is that even if each party were to open their primary to independents, it still we would go up to the table and we announce what our registration is and we're given only that menu, only that ballot. So your next door neighbor might be running for a state office and she may be a Democrat and you may want to vote for her because you know her personally. But then the governor is over here on this ballot and you have to literally choose which matters the most to you and I think that you know.
Speaker 2:Our research shows that these days there's less and less definition by party label. So people really want to vote with their hearts. They want to vote for the right person, no matter where that person comes from, and so our Oklahoma system is a little outdated. Other states have what we call a semi-open primary, in which independents are allowed to vote in primaries, but again they still have to pick only one of those ballots and they're confined in their choices. So our findings are through extensive research and polling, oklahomans are ready to have an open system where we all have one ballot and one primary election. All of the candidates are listed on it and we pick the one person that we think is best for the job, and the top two finishers in a contested election would go on to a general election. So you would have two opportunities to look at candidates, become familiar, and then you have two choices in November.
Speaker 2:Our research shows that in Oklahoma that's what the majority of people want and that's what our state question is based on. So that is in a nutshell. That is state question 836. And, like I said, everyone is different around the country. Texas has a semi-open, missouri has had a semi-open, we happen to be going fully open and the reason why we're doing that is because that's what our people want and that's what they think makes sense and it is the system that we're using in every Oklahoma city and town today. So I think maybe it resonates with people and it's simple and it avoids runoffs in primary elections. So I think we're all happy to eliminate one more trip to go vote. So we think it's really appealing to a lot of people.
Speaker 1:Can you talk to us about the importance of primaries, Because I think that you know often, especially when I travel, people talk or refer to us in other states as a red state, but I remind people that it's not that we're so, not so much that we're red, but rather that we are a non-voting state, right Like we have a lot of people that don't show up to vote, particularly in the primaries where you tend to see the most radical voices appear. So can you talk a little bit about that and then how that leads to extreme candidates often?
Speaker 2:Yes. So I was drawn to this nonpartisan reform idea because Oklahoma has been last in the US in voter turnout for 2020 and again in 24. And I find that personally troubling when we know that we have all this discord in state government here. Our state government, our state legislature, pulls consistently in the 30 percent favorability range. So while we don't love our state government, we seem to be unable to do anything about it. I also learned early on that only 51 percent of Oklahomans are registered Republican. Percent of Oklahomans are registered Republican and, as you pointed out, we are characterized as a red state, and rightfully so for a lot of reasons.
Speaker 2:I think that our value system does tend to be more conservative in nature. However, we can see that there's a real disconnection between voter registration and the people who have been elected to office. We are a trifecta red state and we're finding some of the dysfunction in our state government the unwillingness to talk about real problems, the unwillingness to address fundamentals are political and they're politically motivated in nature, and so what the people of Oklahoma want, what I want, what all the moms and the dads next to me on the bleachers want we just want the thing done right. We know what the problems are right in front of us. We just want them done. We want transparency, we want to eliminate waste and fraud where we can, but we are exhausted by failure to take care of what we think is common sense. You know, solution solving, problem solving that we really, really crave.
Speaker 2:The only way to do that is to start electing people differently and to make them accountable to all of us. And that is actually the magic of an open primary like what we're talking about. It puts all the candidates in front of all the voters and then, on the flip side, it makes all of the elected officials accountable to all of us, elected officials accountable to all of us. And I'm glad that Oklahoma State Labor Commissioner is on this call Leslie Osborne, and you, erica, and all of these business leaders, because if there's anything we learn in business, one of the first things we learn is the performance review. And in Oklahoma and in a closed primary state, you have no valid performance review of elected officials. And again, that's what state question 836 will do. It's going to make these people have to account for their failures and successes with the people, all the people that they serve people that they serve Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And speaking of performance reviews, you know, Sarah, you joined us. Thank you for joining us at our Stitch Group and Best Community event that we hosted last week with Mayor Holt, where we spoke about. You know, it's just unfortunate that Oklahoma City and Tulsa have so much going for them, but it's that growth and exciting things is often overshadowed by the state performance. We rank last in education. We rank last in the quality of life for women. You know we're a best group, all about women, and that's what I tell people. You know we can do all of the professional development that we want, we can invest in all women led businesses that we want, but if we don't fix the policies that continue to compound inequality, then it doesn't matter, right? So that's why it's so important to engage civically. But, Sarah, I want to talk to you about that. You know, since you attended that conversation.
Speaker 3:Because we do rank at the bottom. What do you see as the connection between voter participation, primary elections and the policies that? But also you know, first, for domestic violence, most likely to be killed by a partner, highest for child abuse. And so I think the way that we advise as political consultants, the way that we advise candidates right is we're trying to help them win and so we're advising them to win within the system that they're currently playing in right. And so if you're a candidate and you come to me and you're in a blue district, there'll be certain things that I'll advise you to take a stance on one way or another that might appeal to a primary voter that maybe wouldn't appeal to a general voter. And that's because the objective right is to win, to get elected and to stay elected.
Speaker 3:And so what you have is you have because not everybody can vote in these primary elections and because they typically attract those that are the most partisan, that's who participates. They skew older as well, they skew more white as well, they skew, you know, more. That's just how it is. You get people that are may or may not personally agree with the policies that they promote, but they put their personal kind of politics aside and they vote and introduce legislation that will help them win in that primary election. And so what we have to do is we have to change the incentive system to give politicians a reason why it is best for them to introduce legislation and policies that benefit the greater good and not just that segment of very partisan voters.
Speaker 1:Margaret, anything you want to add on that? I mean, I think it goes back to your performance review. I think one of the most important things is that if we did have an open primary, we can actually hold people accountable right, and they would know that it's not just based on what political consultants will tell you on how to run and what policies you should run, but also people are going to be watching you right, Regardless of affiliation.
Speaker 2:Right. The primary elections. Back to your original question, I think, is you know why primaries? Why do they matter? Why do we care?
Speaker 2:In Oklahoma and in every other state, the important elections are happening in the primaries. In Oklahoma we have so many uncontested general elections that 80 to 90 percent of our decisions are made in a primary election. Our voter turnout is very low. Even if you have a contested primary election race, if you do not vote, if you do not invest yourself at some level in the primary, either because you have a candidate you like or because you dragged yourself out of bed and went and did it against your better judgment, one way or the other, if you have not participated in a primary election, statistically you're unlikely to jump up and participate in November, jump up and participate in November. And so, even if you have a competitive election, if you don't have that habit and you don't have a, you know, a dog in the hunt or whatever, you're not going to have that, that habit and that inclination to go. We find that in Oklahoma, our research shows that too many of us, a majority of Oklahomans, say that they do not vote because they don't think their voices matter.
Speaker 2:And we have a system. We have an election system that reinforces it, and so we need to break that open, and we need to do that in every state. We need people to register to vote, but then we have to give them someone to vote for. We've had a lot of great groups trying to do voter registration, but it's like banging your head against the wall because we're missing the other half of the equation. So that's what we're trying to do with this open primary election.
Speaker 2:That's what I would like to see everybody look into in their own state and in their own city. There are a lot of groups trying to do this work, and we would love to see everyone succeed, because, unlike some people, we actually believe that a rising tide lifts all boats, and I want everyone to win. I want Vest to win. I know that if you win, I'm going to be better off, oklahoma will be a better place for me, and so I think we have to support each other. I think that is something that women do well, that we just need to have more of, and oh, by the way, we probably need more women in office, and so if we can find a way to engage and mobilize women not just for women, but for candidates who produce common sense and that identify with us and that are accountable to us, then I think we're all going to be a lot better off.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and one of the main reasons I love this initiative and, by the way, I wrote an opinion piece. If anybody's interested in it, it's in the journal Record. It went out, I think, yesterday and I just posted it on LinkedIn. But one of the reasons I'll never forget Leslie, in addition to being a labor commissioner, is a dear friend and probably one of the few Republicans that I still have direct connections with and relationships with and that I still respect. But Leslie said to me, you know, in a previous Vest session which she was a speaker, she reminded us that not just electing women though it's great, we definitely want to increase the amount of women serving in office, but it also have to be women who we can also hold accountable right, because right now we do have women, I would say, in the state legislature that are doing more damage than good. So, like this, one of the reasons why I love this open primary is because it takes away all of that and it just goes back to the first, giving back the power to the people, we, the people. And also it's just that kind of ability that your words will matter, what you say will matter, and you can't just cater to your party talking points or the things that get everybody excited.
Speaker 1:The other problem that we have too, I feel like, is that social media, the people in charge of the algorithms benefit and profit from rage baiting and getting us all upset. And what is rage baiting? All the talking points that you're seeing from right now? In my opinion, it's coming very heavily from the Republican Party. I'm not saying that both haven't done it, but it's just my personal opinion of what I see. But anyways, this would help hold people accountable. But I want to turn it over, because right now, obviously, most of Best Members are based in Oklahoma, but through our podcast, we obviously record most of our sessions and then repurpose them for our podcast, which actually has a national reach in women from everywhere not just women, but people that support them as well listen to our podcast. So I want to correlate as to how open primaries also affect people that are not necessarily based in our state. We know why this question is so important for our state and why we need to vote yes, but talk to us about the larger spectrum and how this impacts women nationally.
Speaker 2:Well, like I said before, the United States is kind of a patchwork of different systems. I think, overall, we are through technology and just modern times. We have to acknowledge, number one, that the electorate is different than it was in, let's say, 1900, when a lot of these rules were put into place, and we've heard some scary things about how I mean and I'm not making this up there there's one legislator who has said, well, we need to eliminate the woman's right to vote. You know like people are saying bizarre things. We hear a lot of times, have heard, people being reluctant to engage in politics, and I am not a political person, never have been not interested in it.
Speaker 2:What I want is a functional system that does not waste my time and does not waste my money my money and I personally feel like that's kind of a Republican value system, but maybe it's not. I think maybe all a lot of people feel that way, and so what I think people, you know, women around the country, anyone around the country needs to be looking at today is how can we do something that brings us together in a constructive way, that reduces chaos, that allows us to function, that allows businesses to have some kind of certainty. How are we going to peel it back a little bit? I'm not saying we go back to yesteryear, I'm saying we go forward with rules that make sense for where we are. We go forward with rules that make sense for where we are.
Speaker 2:And I look at my young son who is 23, and I trust him. I mean, he's got a really good brain on his shoulders and I think that that is another element that we are not taking advantage of our younger people the way we need to. I know that you know it's kind of a joke among political people that they said that the older voters, while they have been very important in races and outcomes, they are actuarially aging out like departing the voter world for actuarial reasons, meaning they're dying. Ok, so the question is who's coming up behind us? And we've got this tremendous pipeline of talent, but they do need guidance and and we need to be there for them, but we also need to empower them no-transcript support, that kind of support, so that normal women can just everyday women can feel that they can step up and can volunteer and can be part of a process that makes sense for us all that makes sense for us all.
Speaker 3:And, erica, I really I feel like this is part, you know, open primaries is part of what we need to do for total democracy, kind of change and progress. It's one piece right. So we need to do open primaries. We have a huge gerrymandering issue in this country. We have, you know, voter registration and just voter apathy. So this is one part of the puzzle. It's a step towards um fixing what has become a very dysfunctional system, but it's not. It's not the end answer. Right, there will be more work, but this is the place that we feel is the best place to start, especially in Oklahoma.
Speaker 1:You know I'm very vested no pun intended on this initiative because I listen. If I had a dollar for every time somebody would DM me privately and say how do we fix this. I would say this is one way, right, sarah? It's not going to be the answer to everything, but it's one way, and I think it's tangible, and I think it's something that can pass. But I also want to be able to address the naysayers, right, Like what are people that are not for this question saying, and what is your response to them?
Speaker 2:Well, the first thing we hear is really a misunderstanding, and I don't know if it's an intentional one or it's just ignorant. But they say we don't want non-Republicans or non-party members, we don't want those people voting in our primaries. And if anybody does any historical research on the primary system, you know that primaries, you know that primaries publicly funded primaries were put into place in order for the public to express preference. They are not the property of parties and they never were. So there is a misunderstanding about who owns the primaries. I would say it's the public. You know we're paying for them and they belong to us. Number two our proposal is a fully open primary in which there would be no more partisan, separate club primary. The parties can still express a preference, they can have their meetings, they can do their nominations. We love it, go for it, have at it. But then when we come to vote, we will all have one piece of paper and we will have all of the choices on one piece of paper. That is our proposal for Oklahoma. So we know that it works, we know that it's what the people want and that's what our solution is here. And, like I said, different solutions for different states.
Speaker 2:I think Texas. Right now the Republican party there is attempting to close its primaries. Right now it has a semi-open, which means that in Texas you just register to vote. You do not align. You don't register in a party when you register vote. You do not align. You don't register in a party when you register. You simply register to be a voter and then on the day of the election you tell them which ballot you want and at that moment that's who they say you are. So when they say there are X number of Republicans in Texas, that is how they're counting them. I think our people feel like that's a little convoluted. I kind of like the idea of just being a registered voter without committing to a party. But we're not disrupting that with our state question at all. So we're just hopeful that Oklahoma will be a leader. We have been told that we are a message state. I do think that we have a lot of opportunity to be a leader in this way and it's going to set the stage for a lot of other positive things.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and you know. I just have to say I'm glad that you mentioned how primary how our system is funded, because, as an independent, I pay taxes and I, you know those taxes, some of those taxes fund primaries, but yet I can't participate in the system unless, you know, I go and vote for a Democrat. I wanted to vote, you know, like many times people have said, oh, you should just register Republican so that you can vote on primaries because we're in Oklahoma, you know, blah, blah, blah. And I just refused to do that because that party, I mean there's no values. That not not now, the way the party is currently operating, there's nothing that appeals to me from that party and in fact I would feel very dirty as a Latina, as an immigrant, even as a small business owner, because I think one of the things that that party has done very well is brand themselves as a party for business.
Speaker 1:But if we were really to break down the type of policies that they put together, they mean big corporations, not necessarily small businesses, but anyway, that's my personal opinion. But there's many things of why it is very hard for me to identify with the Republican Party and why, and I also think it's a Band-Aid solution, right, like it's not really fixing the system. Even if I register Republican, it doesn't mean that all of the disengaged voters or all of the voters that feel apathy are going to show up and vote as well. So I think it's a Band-Aid solution. I'm just curious if you hear that as well. And what would you say to somebody that just counters it with just register Republican?
Speaker 2:Well, it makes me laugh because if we all registered Republican, if you walk that thought experiment forward, then you are describing our proposal. You would have all voters, one ballot, all those choices on one piece of paper. So that actually makes me laugh, and I've heard that for a few years. So again, it's kind of a misunderstanding, I think, by people who want to trap us in a box and are unwilling to entertain the idea that all voices matter and that we can make some decisions for ourselves. Okay, well, let's open it up.
Speaker 1:I'm going to ask the team to help me moderate some of the lively chat, and then, of course, members can choose to have the team read some of the questions or just unmute yourself and ask them.
Speaker 4:I saw a question in the chat from Monica. Monica, feel free to unmute yourself and add anything else, but she asks is there any evidence that open primaries encourage candidates to run in districts where they might not otherwise? This is what Margaret was talking about at the time when she asked this question.
Speaker 5:And it's really about, like, reducing the number of uncontested elections.
Speaker 2:Right. The research shows that where we have had fully open primaries around the country, several outcomes have occurred. Number one a bump in voter participation, which we anticipate. We currently have 500,000 independent voters in Oklahoma. We need to scoop them in off the sidelines. Number two it does produce fewer uncontested elections. It gives candidates a path. Any candidate can have a path, and the reason why it is, as Commissioner Osborne can attest, you have just opened the entire electorate up for that constituency, up for fundraising, door knocking, messaging, volunteering, all of that stuff of a campaign, whereas right now the parties have been totally controlling that process.
Speaker 2:And you know, I'm going to say his name because he spoke at one of our events a couple of years ago. But we have a wonderful city councilor in Tulsa named Phil Lakin and he is a great representative. I think his last election he got like 75 or 85 percent of the vote. I mean like he has astounding success when he campaigns. But he has told me as a you know old guard kind of Reagan Republican fan he said, margaret, I will never run for another office because the city of Tulsa elections are nonpartisan and he knows that he can walk in that room and he can hear all sides. He can listen to his constituents every single one of them and he can make a decision that he thinks reflects common sense and where his people want to be. He said if I ran in a partisan system at some point, I'm going to be told to come to a room and they will close the door and one person will tell me how I am going to vote. And he said I'm just unwilling to do that.
Speaker 2:That is how our system works right now. It is a top down system and it has no interest in the people and what the people really want. It's all about the money, right? So and that is really you know then that flows into the leadership positions what things are heard, who's on what committee, who's not on that committee, because that's where the money is. You know, it's really disturbing when you get into it and, as a, as a non-professional political person, uh, I find it very, uh, concerning as well. So, yeah, we're going to, we're going to bust that all open and we're going to give everybody the same chance, we're going to give everybody the same rules, and it's going to be, it's going to be fun, we're all going to have a good time and the people will win, in my opinion.
Speaker 1:I'm glad that you're talking about fun, because oftentimes I think, because of the very partisan narrative out there, people that have not necessarily engaged in politics think it's just going to be all this negative and I'm like no, you can build community. I build some of the best friendships across the country with people who have the same values as me and we have fun. You know, whether we're making calls or whether we're making a content or whether we're attending meetings together, it's not something that needs to be think as like a. You know you're going to be dragging all of your energy. It could be fun. It could lead to new relationships, new friendships.
Speaker 3:We're all about fun. We have a giant Liberty Bell costume that volunteers are going to wear at the Tulsa State Fair, so we you know, that's kind of one of the things that Margaret and I have always talked about. Like it has to be, we have to have some fun right, because so much of it is serious and so you have to have some lightheartedness with it. So if anybody, wants to wear the Liberty Bell costume and hit the giant striker and see how strong they are at the Tulsa State Fair. Please come see us.
Speaker 1:And we're also Sarah and I have talked about hosting a creator happy hour. We're going to invite creators to talk about this and then together we can figure out how to make content and amplify each other's messaging, of course, in the state question, so yeah, I do want to tell you, erica, and all of your members here, that is the best part of what we are doing with this state question, which is really just a tool.
Speaker 2:Ok, this state question 836 is one tool for a movement that we have created here in Oklahoma. It is a movement that includes every single person who lives in our, in our state, and and even some who are not in our state are still following us and they're fans. So we are doing things very differently. So we don't think that people define themselves personally by their party registration. I would say none of us on this phone call wake up every day and someone says well, what do you do? Well, I'm a Republican. Let's start with that. You know we don't do that. Who are we? Well, I'm a lawyer, I'm a dentist, I'm a plumber, I'm a community volunteer, I'm a student. You know, that's who we are, and so that's how our campaign is organized.
Speaker 2:We are not dividing people up by partisan affiliation. We want people to be with the people they want to be with, and so we are just a massive connector organization, and that is what we're doing. We're trying to find people and connect them and find a connection that they want. It's not what I want them to have. It's what connection do you want to have? And in this case it might be female owned businesses, or it might just be small business in general, or it might be finance. We have that, we have people. So you know, that is the fun part about what we're doing is really, I hope, actualizing who people want to be and who they think they are, instead of some kind of artificial label.
Speaker 1:Okay, Jay. What other questions are we seeing on the chat?
Speaker 4:Yes, Another question I thought was really interesting from Jo Beth, our newest Vest member. Feel free to chime in, Jo Beth, but she asked do you feel open primaries can somewhat offset gerrymandering?
Speaker 2:Gerrymandering is so prominent right now. We obviously have gerrymandering in Oklahoma, have gerrymandering in Oklahoma. For some states who already have an open primary of some kind, maybe gerrymandering is the issue that they need to deal with. I happen to be a fan of the Independent Districting Commission that Katie Fahey put together with citizen petition in Michigan. It also happens to be the system they use in California and some other states. I mean, it's around, but Oklahoma, we're not really ready for that. We need to deal with our most fundamental problem and that is voting. That is, who can vote. It's even even more specific about voting. We need to really start with that. So, yes, is it going to change the landscape in Oklahoma? Yes, yes, districting commission.
Speaker 2:I think that we would like to reduce partisan control, or let's just even say single-party control of a system. I found it personally shocking when I learned that we allow our elected officials to draw their own districts. I just find that very strange. I wasn't aware that we were letting them do that. But again, that's a later conversation and fortunately, once we have an open primary system, we can have all of those kinds of conversations. We can have a lot of serious conversations in which people will be forced to listen because again, when it comes back to election time, they're going to have to come back and then we elect them or not and we hold them accountable and move forward. So I do think that it's going to help with a lot of issues, including gerrymandering, for sure.
Speaker 1:Leslie, I see you raise your hand. You want to unmute yourself.
Speaker 5:Yes, I want to give a big shout out to Margaret and Sarah because they have done just phenomenal work on this and all of the things we're discussing, from gerrymandering to other systemic problems, are fixed after this passage Because as we slowly moderate our state, we'll have the ability to do more of those things like work on gerrymandering. State will have the ability to do more of those things like work on gerrymandering. Having run two statewide campaigns and been successful where I was in a primary runoff with both, I almost lost both because most people show up the first Tuesday in November and if we're lucky we get them at primaries To get them to a closed primary runoff that they don't even know the date or remember unless they watched a commercial and they're usually at their kid's soccer game and they don't remember. So I ran against Sean Roberts last time, who raised $6,000. I raised $770,000.
Speaker 5:I proved and put in commercials by using Mike Hunter as my ad hoc or my free attorney that he had beaten his ex-wife and children so bad he left permanent scarring and I only beat him in the primary runoff by 6%. Now fast forward to the general election, like three months later. I got the most votes of any candidate in the state, 165,000 more than Kevin Stitt. And my point is this when everyone can vote, people show up and you get different type elections. My friend, april Grace, went to a runoff at the same time and lost by 6% to Brian Walters. Without closed primaries she would have been our state school superintendent, so just wanted to put out that this is real in real elections that matter.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and you brought up something that, margaret, you said before and I think it's so true. I think that part of the voter apathy also comes from what you just said Leslie or Margaret. Give me somebody to vote for, leslie or Margaret, give me somebody to vote for. And, of course, like Leslie, any race that she runs I'd be happy to vote for her. But I feel like so often we're left with like the lesser of two evils, or we feel like we're voting against something, and I think most people get tired of that, right Like, but instead give us a candidate that everybody can get behind, that it's excited, that's talking about real issues that affect us every day. At the end of the day, most of us just want to have secure financial security, we want to have an ability to provide for our family. You know all of those things, and I want a candidate that talks about that and that provides solutions, and I will rally behind that candidate all day long, regardless of what political affiliation they belong to.
Speaker 3:I do think that this helps improve candidate quality as well, because right now you have people that would be excellent legislators. You know that don't want to be in that kind of hyper-partisan environment because that's not what they're interested in doing. They're interested in solving problems and helping their community and they don't want to play that game. So I do think when you give you know people the option to vote for everybody or to vote for you know, open it up, then you do get people that are more interested in running, that are qualified.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. There was a question on the chat, jay, about what is the timeline on the campaign, and I know that Alex answered it there, but I think it's important for us to put it out there for those that are going to be listening to this afterwards. You want to walk us through the timeline, margaret?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So this week we received news. We received two orders from the Oklahoma Supreme Court and both were in our favor, so we're super happy about them forward under the older petition rules, which will help us a lot. And so we're now in a kind of a little bit of a pause because the Secretary of State will have to set the date for us to start gathering signatures and we do not control that process. We think that it'll be around the end of October when we start gathering signatures and then we will have 90 days and it's kind of an all hands to the deck kind of situation. So if there's anyone in Oklahoma and they are willing to attend our training, we have to do this in tandem with a professional signature firm. So the good news is, even if you're willing to gather signatures, there are two ways to do it. You can either attend our training and volunteer, or you can attend training and you can literally get paid to do it. But there are some catches. You'd probably have to get in your car and go to you know wherever they want to send you to get these signatures, but that would be under their direction. So it's a huge effort. We feel very confident about it.
Speaker 2:We've been working on getting our grassroots support up in every community around the state of Oklahoma and we're finding a lot of people are ready to help us collect those signatures. So registering to vote, helping us get signatures, those are two key things to do If you're in Oklahoma. Drag everybody you know to go get registered and then bring them to our training. Then after that there will be time for challenges to those signatures and the goal is for us to get through all of that. And then the governor would set us on the November 2026 ballot and a new education secretary or whatever. Whatever that position is, that he that is held right State superintendent. So we'll have all of those statewide elections and we will also be able to express our opinion about who can vote in Oklahoma going forward on 8, 8, 36. So we're very excited about that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that, and Alex is sharing links on where you can volunteer and when you can donate, because of course all of this takes resources and funding to be able to put together. So those links are on the chat and then, for those listening to the podcast afterwards, we'll include those links in the show notes which you can get at wwwvestorco. Jay. Any other questions or Vest members? If you just want to unmute yourself and ask, now is the time.
Speaker 4:Nobody wants to unmute themselves. It's time Nobody wants to unmute themselves. I had a question from. We had a question from Kendra and Leslie and Alex talked about it in the chat, but I thought it would. We thought it'd be good to bring up in conversation as well. Kendra asked what are you hearing from Republicans, as you are talking about open primaries? Are you seeing, are you sensing general openness or more resistance? What is the biggest hill that must be climbed to see success?
Speaker 3:I think one of the good things for us right now is the Republican Party is highly fractionated, right. So they have you have your traditional Republicans, your Reagan Republicans that feel like they've lost their home and they're looking for how do they get back to the type of system where they can govern. You know, reasonably, the way that they want to, and so I think, when you, it's hard for us to lump all Republicans together in one sense, because there are a lot of Republicans that are supporting this effort. You know they tend to be business leaders like yourselves and people that are longtime community supporters and understand kind of the importance of having infrastructure funding, of supporting education, of supporting policies that help business. So I think that that's one thing to think about.
Speaker 3:And then, Margaret, I'll let you take the second part of that about kind of what else you're hearing from Republicans. We can't let this get, this can't be a partisan issue. If this becomes a partisan issue, we don't win. So we have to walk. I know this is kind of a safe space, but we do have to walk kind of a fine line there. So that's what I would say on that.
Speaker 2:I think we're finding a lot of support from moderate Republicans and even I know this seems counterintuitive but some of the older kind of the Tea Party type Republicans, because, believe it or not, they believe in the power of the people and that's what they were trying they thought to express. 20 for me. We did a strategic plan which I'm happy to tell you, we are fucking nailing it on our strategic plan. So pardon my French, but we are doing great with that. The first year was research, the second year was listening, the third year was develop a policy and the fourth year was execute. And here we are and we're right on track. So I'm delighted with that.
Speaker 2:We happen to be a very Republican forward group, because that is kind of who we are in Oklahoma right now. After we have 836,. We do think that there's going to be a big opportunity for people to redefine themselves and adjust and seek the group that really speaks to them, and so I don't know where that's going to land and I don't really care. I'm just happy everyone is going to be able to diffuse a little bit. And that is what I'm kind of thinking about right now is if you are looking for an off ramp for discord, which cannot be underestimated these days.
Speaker 2:And and when I say discord, I think we all know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:Like it, it can.
Speaker 2:It can really trigger someone or a group and even and and online it can become so big like a wave and and this state question and in any other state of any way to literally bring people together is is going to serve us well and it's going to reduce the temperature because, counterintuitively, the way to reduce that temperature and reduce the vitriol is to let more people speak.
Speaker 2:I think that people have been really looking for a way to feel empowered and a way to feel like that they can exercise control over themselves and their you know, their children can look forward to living in a world where they have a say, to see elected leaders not listening and that is where we get so much of our negative energy these days, and so we just need to bust it open and let everybody in and then have a conversation, and I really have faith that the majority of Oklahomans, as they would in any state, when you get us all in the room and you give us the facts and we all kind of put our heads together, we're going to come up with a consensus, like they do in every city and town that leads us forward, maybe in a slightly imperfect way, but in a way that we can all accept. That is fair.
Speaker 1:I absolutely love everything you just said, margaret, because I think that that's it right. Right now, very few voices, very radical voices, are driving the narrative, and it's why it's so important for each of us. The theme of this month, for best, is to find our voices, and it can mean different things and we're all at different levels. Right, like you can start with incremental change. It doesn't mean that tomorrow you're going to start being on social media and talking about these things. It could mean that you have a conversation. It could mean that you start advocating for yourself at work.
Speaker 1:It doesn't have to be political, but finding, finding your voice, learning how to advocate for yourself, for your community, for the people you love, for the policies we feel will create more equitable work environments, more equitable playing fields for businesses, for our communities, is just. But it's going to require us to figure out where we feel comfortable, starting and then finding community in which we can, so that because it's also heavy, right, we can't. If we do it alone, we're going to get tired, we're going to get burned out. But figuring out how to build community support systems around us and then taking ultimately, this will lead to taking the control of the narrative. Call to action on the chat is please consider donating. They need to raise more for hiring the position. This is coming from Commissioner Osborne, so when she's ran successful campaigns, definitely let's listen to her. Any other call to actions, margaret and Sarah, that you have for us that we haven't covered?
Speaker 3:We are looking to try to raise $350,000 from grassroots supporters for signature gathering. Signature gathering alone is $3.5 million, which is just part of that is because we have a very short window to gather the $172,000 plus verified signatures. But also we have some great volunteer opportunities. We need letters to the editor and op-eds, like what you did, erica. We do need social media warriors. We need people that will go on and share our stuff and repost, and you all handle those trolls, because we can't. So, yeah, we have great volunteer opportunities. We're organizing some webinars right now that are based on industry. So we've got a great one coming up with doctors. We had a great one with lawyers. If you have kind of a, you know one that you think would be helpful. We'd love to talk to your industry about that. What am I? I'm probably forgetting lots. What am I forgetting, margaret?
Speaker 2:No, we just we are in fundraising mode.
Speaker 2:It's been pointed out to me that we could have all the great volunteers you know in the world, but if we don't close the gap on the petition firm, you know that's not going to help us. So so we have to do it and, again, anyone you can throw our way for donations or to do signature gathering. That's where we are right now, and then we will take the next step, because I think that this is like any other task, any other large project that we are working on. You break it down into the steps, and we have worked tirelessly for a long time to get to where we are right now. I really don't want this to disappear. It is a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-generation opportunity for our state and again, if we can win here, you know other states will find optimism and hope to do some other things for themselves as well, and we will help them because we have developed this expertise, we have a phenomenal team and I'm just saying we're not going to stop with this. It is where we are right now.
Speaker 1:Love that call to action and love that you're giving us an opportunity to be a part of this, because I think how great would it be to change the narrative in our state right and to say that we did something that could be replicated in other states, like you're saying Well, thank you so much, sarah and Margaret, for being here. I will definitely. Right after this call, I will make sure to sign up as a volunteer, so count me in and then I will also make a donation and the podcast episode will go live for all of people that are not members to listen to.
Speaker 2:Erica. I want to say one last thing that I think is going to motivate everybody on this call. Two years ago, Sarah and I sat in a meeting and with some other members of our team, all of whom happened to be female and we were told by a male political dude that you know well this problem, that problem, everything else and then so we wasted some time talking to this, and then he went his own way, and we heard later that he told someone else quote the girls are never going to get this done, the girls are never going to get this done, and so I just know how the world works. And the women do get it done. They got it done in my household, and I think they get it done in your households, and they got it done here today, and it is really time for us to step up. We have to protect ourselves and we have to show up, and so I hope everybody will.
Speaker 1:If you enjoyed this episode, share with a friend and don't forget to leave us a review. And if you're ready to take your career to the next level, apply to become a Vest member and join our community of women professionals eager to help you get there and stay there. Go to wwwvestherco to learn more.
