Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2022 Oklahoma Governor Debate 20221020

Thank you for being here. My name is tracy savage. I am editor of an independent journalism publication here in oklahoma. I am here to moderate this debate at the will rogers theater with news nines storm jones. News 9 is streaming the debate live. Other Media Partners such as the frontier will leave a fact check effort. Welcome to oklahoma from cspan. We that it would be a good time to tell our audience neither of us rode horses to school but we might ask candidates about it later so be prepared. This is our 10th time muttering moderating a debate here, thank you for supporting public debate. Do you know who else has supported our debate series . The state chamber of oklahoma. Thank you all so much for believing in public debate and believing the public is well served by hearing their candidates. We just got word that cspan is for those of you who tolerate politicians better with a beverage in your hand, thanking the Hillary Communications company and the automotive group. They are our bar sponsors as well as monsters of independent journalism. I have a few other sponsors to think aarp oklahoma, the Oklahoma Public School Resource center, the Advocacy Firm at miller and robinson, the association of realtors and overman legal group. If you are watching from the press club in tulsa, thank you to the Oklahoma Policy Institute and the grand river dam authority. Storm, here are a few announcements. We are in public, so please remember to silence your phones. Share that news 9 stream so your neighbors can be as informed as you are. Also remind you that the november 8 ballot will keep her two other trial candidates, Natalie Bruneau and urban in. But we devote our time deceiving to the two leading candidates. Quick rules for the audience, please hold your applause until the end of each round of questions and please be respectful. Do not chat, do not scream, do not the ager i will ask security to get you out. Each candidate will have 90 seconds for noticing statement. Then we will have three rounds of statements before 90 seconds closing. We flipped a coin earlier to see the order of statements. Governor stitt will go first. Evidence that, 90 seconds. Thank you for joining us on and to those in the audience. I like to remind people of how far we have come in the last four years. We have gone from budget deficit to a record savings account, from our sunday school weeks and teacher walkouts to the largest investment of education in teachers in the history of our state, a bright economy with the lowest unemployment effort. Oklahoma turnaround is working. We cannot go backwards but we know what will happen if we put bidens party in charge. I think about american who are struggling with high inflation. The biden party, they want tax hikes. Meanwhile, in oklahoma, i cut taxes for every oklahoman and every business. I want to eliminate the grocery tax. When i think about people starting to keep the lights on, the Biden Administration is begging opec and russia to produce more oil. Meanwhile, in oklahoma, we are protecting oil and gas jobs to have mostly affordable the most Affordable Energy in the entire country. When people just want safe communities and families, the biden party is defending the police. Meanwhile, in oklahoma, i gave our Law Enforcement a 30 increase this year, the largest they have ever had in the last decade. Oklahomas turnaround is working. We cannot go backwards. Thank you, governor. Superintendent hofmeister, 90 seconds. It is wonderful to be with you and im grateful for Governor Stitt coming to this debate and all of us who have joined us. This is important to have public debate spread my husband jerry and i have been married almost 38 years. We have four grown children and nine months ago we welcomed our first grandbaby. As we raised our kids, we raised them with the same values that most oklahomans hold dear. We value faith, family, education, hard work. We know that it takes working together in order to see our economy thrive. We know it means that we have got to have a community where we put worldclass schools at the top, where we have access to quality, Affordable Health care communities and where we are also prioritizing the infrastructure for great jobs in this state. I am the daughter of an electrician. My grandfather was also an electrician. It was not hard work that my dad did that inspired me to put education first. I was also that katie struggled to read. I went to college, the first in my family, stepped out, got married, put my has been through seminary. We worked together to overcome a lot of challenges, but we know that for oklahoma to first, weve got to get back to being commonsense respect for one another, working together, and getting things done. Lets get to our first round of questions. Wheat will hold the rest of the applause we will hold the rest of the applause. Our first question is titled a relaxing run for governor. Question will offer one minute for each candidate to answer. This first question will be a tossup. When brad henry was in office, he honed his skills as a painter. Mary fallon would ride a motorcycle. This is a stressful job. Tell us what hobby or activity helps you relax. Three seconds 30 seconds. As a father of sex, most of my time is spent chasing kids around at sporting events. Mining sixthgraders are playing football. Go huskies. Like most dads, juggling the job and also being a good parent and following your kids around, i love that i try to work in a date night with my wife. Usually i am dragging her to a campaign barbecue this time of year, but it is fun being a dad and a parent and serving oklahoma. That is an easy one. I left to spend time with our new grandbaby will left willa. She is part of what keeps feeling me. Every time we think about what we are going to do for the future of this state, we think about our kids. My husband and i have enjoyed hikes all over the state, state parks, as well as traveling many, many miles all over the state talking with oklahomans. I have got 500,000 miles on my card to prove it. Governor, you campaigned in 2018 on making oklahoma a top 10 state. Four years later, we remain in the bottom 10 on education and health care. Tell us specifically where have you moved the needle the most on making oklahoma the top 10 state . Where have you been unable to move the needle . As a leader, whether you are ceo, you have to bank set a vision for all your employees. Being top 10 is an aspirational goal. It is something we are never going to hit, but it directs us. We live in the greatest state in the country. The American Dream is alive and well in oklahoma. For a kid who went to first grade in wayne, oklahoma, graduated from norman high school, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to, so that vision is what i focus on. We are number one in most affordable electricity, number five in bridge conditions. We were number 50 when i took over in incarceration rates but i moved the needle on private prisons and saving text. Dollars and giving people second chances. You ring up a good question. Education is something that everybody wants for their kids. What my opponent needs to answer is why our week 49 in education right now . I have got that question right here. He let into it. I mentioned education rankings are not where anybody wants it. You have been superintendent for 8 years. Where have you move the needle . Where have you been unable to . You are right that oklahoma is woefully prepared for the future in education because we do not have the people to meet the needs of students. Oklahoma has a Teacher Shortage that leads the nation. When he first stepped into office, i asked for competitive paying to attract teachers and we got that after three years, but what we realized is that there needs to be more people on the team. We are losing those people to other states and other industries. We did raise our academic expectations, our standards, and now theyve moved to an a rating, but you can have the highest standards in the world. If you do not have the teachers, you will not get there. This governor has a School Voucher scheme that kills schools. Do you want to say anything right now . Here are the facts. This does my opponent has received one Million Dollars in new spending over the last 8 years. The only thing that has not improved is education. The people want to know why is it your has your record gone downhill in education outcomes . And 15 seconds . Because we need a governor who gets it, who understands the connection between people, teachers who are ready on day one to meet the needs of children who have incredibly deep needs today. We will talk more about what those are. Governor, a lot of folks on both sides of the aisle want to know that the Democratic Party in the state has a 94 page deplatform. How much of that do subscribe to . I am an independent thinker, running as an oklahoman. I am on one team. That is team oklahoma. I stand here representing popo families regardless of their party affiliation. I will also say that night was the republican longer then Governor Stitt has been registered to vote. Governor stitt, when did you get a sense that misses hofmeister was going to participate in this race . This people sitting at their table and getting into these things, here are the facts. We have the largest savings account in state history. I taxes for every oklahoman. We want to eliminate the grocery tax. We have been Holding Government accountable. We need smaller government, lower taxes. My opponent cannot see a path forward for herself as a republican so she switched parties. She joined bidens party which canceled the Keystone Pipeline and believes in open borders. Cloaks, the turnaround is working. We have an awesome state. We are so much better off today than we were four years ago. We want to keep the momentum going. Lets give a round of applause for these candidates so far. [applause] those of you who know me know that we must be having a technical issue with the video feed. I am going to take a drink of water. Share that stream again as we work that kink out. Delicious aqua fino water. Did i mention that Hillary Communications is sponsoring a bar . I will jump back in. I hope we have got that worked out. Where were we . This is a 62nd question. Governor stitt, you spent a great deal of time trying to recruit Major Companies to oklahoma but one challenge involves the workforce. Many industries are struggling to find qualified applicants and often speak of a skills gap in the hiring market. Somebody put, what must be done to improve the situation for, students and employers . Week cap we have two break down the silos between higher ed, come in at and career tech. We need one workforce person that can get everyone alike. To me, it is simple. Lets look at the jobs of tomorrow. What are the companies . What do they need . Lets get that workforce ready we need engineers, doctors, lawyers but also more mechanic and nurses. So i am constantly working with higher ed to focus on that workforce of tomorrow. One exciting thing happening in norman, oklahoma is weak set up an aviation program. We are thinking outside the box. A high school student, if they want to become an antimechanic American Airlines is the an a p mechanic American Airlines is hiring. By the time you graduate, you are 90 there to an a p mechanic. We have to think outside the box. The reason i am running because we are missing out on opportunities for Industry Leaders to come to oklahoma but also to keep people here. We have got a bill, a longterm plan which will build capacity for our state. With the governor has done is is on shortterm gain a panasonic deal is 700 million. A lot of enthusiasm around that. I am not against a high return on investment, but if we are going to look longterm, we have got to support our kids. Have got to have a competitive education. We cannot dismantle Public Education and we are to make sure that oklahomans have access to quality Affordable Health and we do nothing to prevent the Health Decisions that should the main between an oak woman and their doctor. Finally, we need a governor who can close a deal and who gets the connection with education and will put oklahomans first. The only thing striving under Governor Stitt is him. I know the truth. She is not lying to me. She is trying to lie to the public. We have heroes unemployment in state history. We have an economy that is growing. Right now, oklahoma is number 11 in the country in migration, people moving to oklahoma because of our probusiness, profreedom policies. We do not want to put bidens party in control with higher taxes and regulation. The governor keeps talking about people out of the state. This is the practice. He reads of a National Scope script. It is out of touch with oklahomans and the actual needs and solutions. We will work with stakeholders and experts here in oklahoma. I also know that he is taking credit for the largest savings account, yet he did not sign. He said he did not have anything to do with that. It is convenient today, 20 days before the election, to talk about that. 15 more seconds. To everybody at their kitchen table, we have gone from budget nightmares, almost zero savings, and you elected a business person. He wanted an outsider, not a fresh set of eyes on every contact and hold government accountable. That is exactly what were doing for you. We have got the largest savings account in state history, the lowest unemployment. We are going to continue that momentum. 15 seconds, superintendent. First of all, the governor talks about low unemployment, but i wanted to tell you about conversations ive had with people. A woman in tulsa, four kids, three jobs and she said homeownership will be out of reach for her she cannot imagine how she will afford it. It matters about the quality of jobs we have it in her to be ready for that, we got to have education and health. I thought this was going to be around called a relaxing run for governor but who knows a lot of people thought they would be voting on 820, which proposes decriminalizing marijuana. Some would be met if i said delays, but delays in getting this validated me there will not be on the ballot but yesterday Governor Stitt set a march 7 special election. Superintendent hofmeister, will you support or oppose 820 if elected . And have you ever smoked marijuana . The answer to your last question is no. However, it depends on who is governor. I am going to light one up and pause. [laughter] he did not smell about that. We lost our video feed for a second. Governor, you will get a second to think about this because i am going to need to know when we are not up. I have got to keep going. Superintendent hofmeister, if you are elected, will you support state question 820 . I am not certain yet. I do think that we basically have Recreational Marijuana today, but we do not have the tax income, self that is attractive to have the ability to have revenue that would help education, but what i am most worried about is cleaning up the mess that has been left under Governor Stitts watch, not only under his wife under his nose. His own appointee is helping Chinese Business smuggled drugs right here into the state. We know that this is serious. I was talking with western farmers and ranchers about this issue. Let me let him get his answer in. Governor, let me remind you. If you are reluctant, would you support or oppose 820 and have you ever consumed cannabis . Medical or recreational . Either way. To the people watching at home and concerned about this issue, it is a mess. When i first became governor, it was a poorly worded referendum. This industry popped up overnight, medical marijuana. We passed 12 different laws to address it. We spend the agency out, hired 80 new enforcement agents. We have a moratorium. I have heard from rural oklahoma with all the Foreign Nationals buying up farm and ranch land, there is no more new licenses until we get control of this industry. We are one of only 14 state where it is illegal for a Foreign National to informant in oklahoma. We are doing drugs blasts, enforcing that. We are going to get control of that industry before we talk about the recreational piece. Are you saying that if you do not get on that under control you will not support it or you will . I am not supporting that. It is still illegal federally. We should not have a checkerboard across the states. I am not supporting Recreational Marijuana. Im not sure what my has been saying. Let me ask this question. Have you consumed it . My parents are in the room so they will be disappointed. Yes. We have a question about turnpikes. This is a great conversation. Ok. Pulling the turnpike question. By the way, i do think it should be on the ballot. The people should have the opportunity to have their voices heard. I will respect the will of the people but will do this in a way that is safe and will have control over the kind of well west we have today. Earlier this year, you announced a massive expansion of turnpikes in oklahoma aimed at reducing traffic congestion. The plan is to cost 15 billion over the next five years. What do you say to oklahomans whose lives are being upended for a new tollroad . Want to be top 10 at everything we do and that includes roads and bridges. Staying ahead of infrastructure and congestion is a huge advantage for oklahoma. We have gone from 47th in bridge conditions with our hardworking folks in that sector and now we are number five. Everybody remembers in 2002 when we had a bridge collapse happened. 14 people lost their lives. Infrastructure is so, so important. We are focused on rural infrastructure. We want to rural roads. I went to washington, d. C. To make sure we have funding for our rural highways and to have shoulders on all of our rural highways. I am for infrastructure, there is no doubt about it but we want to accommodate every person we can as we are laying out routes. We cannot have good luck. What you are going to hear my opponents say she wants to cancel this and apparently she wants gridlock on i35 for the next 50 years. But leaders have to lead and we have an obligation to make sure oklahoma is wellpositioned for the growth and momentum we have going for all of our citizens. Superintendent hofmeister are you in favor of the turnpike extension . I am not in favor of the southern extension that was not part of what was established with the authority of the legislature. This is something that i have sat in the living rooms of those in norman who are in the path of this. Over 600 homes. They are needing answers. Part of what we have to do is reform. We need Eminent Domain reform. We need to have the open meetings act to apply to the oklahoma Turnpike Authority and i am calling for the state auditor to do the first ever external state audits of the oklahoma Turnpike Authority. In 77 years, that has not happened and it needs to. The two lane roads all across the state are where deaths occur. These are killers. Instead of working to support safer roads all across the state, this governor has been dug in. The way the communities found out was when it broke of social media. We have a lot of work to do. We need a modern infrastructure for the future and we do not have it today. Thank you very much. That is the end of round one of questions. Give them a round of applause. [applause] our second round of questions tonight is titled the kitchen sink because we are going to throw in lots of things at them and have a slew on prominent issues and civic discourse. This is going to hofmeister first. Extreme drought and other weather events are becoming more common and being blamed on Climate Change were societies across the globe has recognized as a scientific consensus. The question, do you agree with that statement and do you agree with the oklahoma Democratic Party platform which supports dramatic and bold action be taken on a worldwide basis to reduce Carbon Emissions . There is nothing that the fines the quality of life more than energy. We need more energy, not less. Frankly there is no such thing as good energy or bad energy, clean energy or not. We have zero emissions that people talk about which we know is not true. There are zero emission cars, they claim, that they have ignitions when they are built, transported and shipped. There is nothing clean about not having energy 24 7. Ask a hospital. Ask a homeowner last year during that winter storm or vortex when our great did not barely made it and we saw a increased in need to use gas. Because our homes were without electricity and we didnt parents have the ability to power this state with the right we did not have the ability to power the state with the right fuel. Im critical of this governor and joe biden. They have gotten enough to battle the needs for oklahoma and the Energy Industry. I will never turn my back on oklahomas Energy Industry and i am not in favor of raising any taxes. I have called for reduction of the fuel tax in this governor did not. 60 seconds, do you agree that human activities are causing Climate Change and how do you balance that with petroleum and jobs for Economic Activity . The climate is always changing. Which i will brag about oklahoma as we have reduced our admissions emissions three times from president bidens own benchmark. It is clean burning natural gas that is leading to that. The attack from the Biden Administration, her party, on oklahoma oil and gas is unbelievable. Every slow presence of the u. S. Since 1973 has had an every single president of the u. S. And second 73 has believed in energy. That is what is causing inflation to go up and why we are paying so much at the gas pump. Oklahoma has the everything above approach. We are number two in energy. I signed with the governor of arkansas and indiana to get a hydrogen hub in oklahoma. Our energy grid we are a net exporter and one of only four states that can say that over 40 of our energy comes from renewables. Im so proud of the oklahoma story. Until this all the time. You should be very proud of this. This is leading to huge economic events with manufacturing because of our Reliable Energy grid, something we are really proud of. Superintendent hofmeister, 15 seconds. American energy is American Safety and education. Evidently he reads off National Scripts. I do not. I am a independent thinker. I am on one team, team oklahoma. The Energy Sector is an incredibly important part of our economy, jobs, and the people of the state need those jobs. This governor has on his watch, we still have hundreds of wells that are offline. We can do more. He does not have a comprehensive energy plan and we should have this and we will. We only have with this governor 70 pages of pictures about fracking. 15 more seconds on indy before move on . I guess she wants Government Intervention in everything. I think our oil and Gas Companies do a fantastic job. We are number four in Oil Production and number three in gas production. I am not sure of what she said but i support our oil and gas industry. We have a thriving industry. As well as our renewables. We can talk about both. Theyre not having an honest conversation if we are not having not talking about the need for oil and gas and the need for renewables. We have more charging stations per capita in oklahoma than any other state. Oklahomans out there, we have a fantastic eight. The momentum is building and we need to keep this going. Thank you much. I will point you to the attack in and the low side. Keep that in mind. Initial thoughts when you see that. Governor stitt, nearly one year ago, hours before a man named julian was scheduled to die, you committed his sentence to life without the possibility of parole. He was convicted of murdering admin resident carl howell. Prosecutors insist he was rightfully convicted. Your official statement about your decision was after prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this tape this case, you committed the sentence. Do you believe julian jones was wrongly convicted . When you take the oath of office as governor, you promised to obey. We promised to defend, we promise to enforce all the laws in the state of oklahoma. The Death Penalty is probably the most surreal thing that you can do as a governor. We have a process that we put in place. I spoke with all the previous governors about their process. We met with the Defense Attorneys and we met with this prosecutor ashley prosecutors. I met with the howell family. I felt like after hearing all the information, that was the best decision for the state of oklahoma. Why did you think that was the best decision . I am not the jury, i did not see all the evidence. That was the best decision for the state of oklahoma. Sued superintendent, i question whether i want to ask you a third time. I know what i think you told the howell family. Are you willing to say that here . No, you tell it. It is not my story to tell, i did not have their permission. All rights, superintendent hofmeister, Governor Stitt has denied even when the recommended leniency. A schedule to be executed for killing a ninemonthold baby. The oklahoma Democratic Party calls for an end to the Death Penalty. Any of your supporters hope you will continue the practice . Will executions continue if you are elected . The voters made it very clear when they voted for the Death Penalty and it is part of our constitution and i will uphold that. It is important that we have a governor who does the Due Diligence with that office and those parole recommendations. Thats seeking National Headlines like we saw on one day when the governor did not do his homework and allowed a violent criminal to leave. Thats criminal, along with i do not know if he was too busy sewing division from protecting families, but tell that to the family of Andrea Blankenship who was murdered by a man that this governor let out on a record day of letting out many nonviolent offenders. He did not do his homework. Governor stitt left this man out and he killed two other people as well. Or ask the michelle powers family who this governor released, signed to release the crossbones killer of tulsa, my hometown. It was not until the media found out that it was reversed. We need a governor who does his homework. Governor stitt, 30 seconds rebuttal. To the people out there, what she said is simply not true. When we we have released lowlevel drug offenders. I sighed the longest dutch largest commutation back in 2019. We are leaving the country in the lowest recidivism rate which means people going back into prison. I am very proud of the record that we have set. We have been locking up people we are mad at and now we need to do this for the people we are afraid of. For her to twist this like this is just a really disgusting. And bringing up something that horribly happened, there are people that get out of prison every single day and we cannot control when something bad is going to happen. For you to use that as political gains is super disappointing. I know the people out there think that is a cheap shot. Let me say this ro quick. We are talking about Lawrence Anderson who was less out in error. This matter was investigated by the Oklahoma County grand jury. They alleged there was improper influence. I do not know about that. What is sure understanding about why Lawrence Anderson got commuted . There are thousands and thousands of people currently in prison that will get out this year that have certain sentences. The pardon and parole board goes through those the best they can. There are five people and they recommend for some people to get released. Sometimes bad things happen. With thousands of people every year. The other thing is just throwing away the key unlocking every person up for good is not the solution either. Things are going to happen. For you to take that type of shot and bring those wounds back up and try to make those families out there think that was somehow that i was responsible or the five people on the part of parole board, they absolutely would change their vote and make a different decision if we knew that person was going to kill someone. Everybody out there knows that. We know youre just trying to make political points and that is disgusting. [applause] 30 seconds superintendent. Lets talk about the facts. The fact is the rates of Violent Crime are higher in oklahoma under your watch then in new york and california. That is a fact. We will have that front checked by the frontier, superintendent. It is also a fact hold on. Do you believe we have higher crime rates than new york or california . That is what she just said. Safety and security is my top priority and will be as governor. Thank you very much prayer lets move to the next question. Abortion is no categorically illegal in oklahoma except when a womans life is in jeopardy. If a woman or underage girl is raped or struggling with addiction, she is critically prohibited from abortion. If a law were to be passed, would you sign a law allowing abortion in the case of rape, incest or when a woman is entering rehab for a chemical addiction . As a father of three daughters, its unimaginable pain and i cannot imagine if Something Like that were to happen. He began that life we believe that life begins at conception. There are some exceptions. We are going to be number one in caring for the mother and the child. We want to be number one in adoption rates. The most extreme view is my opponents interparty. She will not answer this but there are states like colorado and california and new york that will abort babies all the way to the time of birth. They are more aligned with north korea and china and china. Even france ban abortion at 13 weeks. I am very clear on my prolife stance in oklahoma and i would like to know, is she going to side with the biting party b iden party and allow abortion on the way to the time of birth . Would you sign an example for rape, incest or addiction . If the legislature put the on my desk, i would sign that. Also, when it comes to abortion, how would you work with the Republican Legislature . The women of oklahoma heard you loud and clear. Let me tell you that we have a governor who has shown no mercy for victims of rape or incest. He has signed and invited the most extreme ban on abortion in this country. I am personally prolife but i have not walked in every womans shoes. I do not favor extremes on either side of this issue. This is a Health Care Decision between a woman and her doctor and her faith. We need to repeal with the governor has done. He has criminalized health care. He has criminalized standard medical care and has women and doctors. When he was confronted by a rape victim who said governor, what would you do to help me, he had no answer. He had no help. I am going to let the governor [cheering] i will let the governor respond to that but superintendent hofmeister, you mentioned repealing abortion laws. How will you do that . What leverage do you have on abortion . Because of the clapping, can you repeat that . We have a super majority, Republican House and senate. Politics is about relationships. I have worked with many of our republican and democratic elected leaders in the house and senate. There are many who have worked to advance issues that their communities want and we do the hard work of building consensus, bringing people together, and leading. This governor fights with the legislature instead of saying lets come together, what are your Top Priorities . These are the things are going to be a nogo. We will Work Together to get things done for the people of oklahoma. Governor, 15 more seconds on abortion if you would like. Im very clear that i believe life begins at conception. My opponent stands with the most extreme of her party and they will not say when is it too late to take a human life . They do not know, they will not tell you. [applause] excuse me. 10 seconds. I continue to hear a thing with kevin stitt. It is all about party. It is about truth and answers. This is about people over party. This is about oklahomans and the real issue facing oklahoma today. I am going to fight like hell for the people of the states and i do not care. I will hold both parties accountable because we are going to do what is right for oklahomans and that is why i am running for office. [cheering] lets take a round of applause for them so far. There are running behind like mad so we are going to jump into education. We are very behind so please try to mind the stop sign and forgive us if we get rude with the time. Lets talk about the apparent alleged criminal men that has become Charter Schools and his founders from the services of epic youth services. Governor stitt, they donated 2700 to your 28 campaign. Superintendent hofmeister, they donated more than 8,000 to your 2018 campaign. Now they both face and bezel and charges in the two of you have blamed each other for the epic saga. Who is to blame and what went wrong with epic . When i came into office, she had already been there for four years. Everybody out there knows, she was a republican and the superintendent of education four years before i got there. When i first got there, and you there was a problem and i called for an audit. She signed on to my audit. She could have done this before i got there. When they got indicted, i returned all my campaign donations. I think 2700 you said, i do not member what it was. My poet has not over i opponent has not returned over 50,000 that she received. We have to return that. I have called for more audits and to be more transparent with your tax pair dollars. That is the reason we have the largest savings account we have ever had in history. We will continue to hold government accountable as long as i am governor. I am putting a fresh set of eyes on everything. When i called for the audit of the Education Department that she runs as the largest spend in taxpayer dollars, she called it an attack. I call this transparency and so do you. I think she needs to answer why would she call an audits of the Education Department as an attack and why did she not do an audit before i got into office . Superintendent, 90 seconds. This is a government governor who stood in the way of protecting his donors. That is the difference between him and me. I hold donors accountable. We saw this governor shield them. In fact, his own state Board Members were reluctant and refused to accept the audit findings of the state auditor. When she said that she must clawback a certain amount of money it is true there answer was left us the auditor. We had to spend about 1011 more months going through every single transaction to audit the auditor. Then only, at that point, let me back up because it gets better. When i called for probation for epic, his board refused. They refused to hold them accountable. It was, again, a second call after we saw the change in leadership. They still had friends and allies on that board and they would not do this until those people were gone. Heres the bottom line. We have a governor who knows the state department of Education Needs subpoena power. They have refused it. We have seen the epic scandal turned into putting profit over kids. We have called for change and if this governor have stood in the way and protected donors. We are going to move on quickly to School Choice questions. Everybody knows there was a push last year for the Education Empowerment act, people call them vouchers, to help people go to private schools. What do you tell role educators and parents who see School Choice rhetoric like that and vouchers as a threat to their local funding . First, to everybody watching on tv, ads that her campaign and special Interest Groups have been running to try to deceive and lie to you and say i am going to defund your role schools is absolutely untrue. I have put more money in education than any other governor in history. That is a fact. Or money in education. We just pass a bill that would actually put more money in our rural schools. We passed a bill to pay teachers up to 100,000 a year. I know education is the most important thing of all of us to make sure our kids have the right education. At the same time, we are going to think outside the box and i will stand with parents over big unions. My opponent shut down schools for over a year. We will work like crazy to make sure we have the best teachers in the classroom, teaching your young people, and we will fund world schools. For them to send out mailers and lie to you is just disgusting. What is disgusting is a governor who presented his own argument as fact when it is not. Here is the truth. This governor said just now that he is going to preserve rural oklahoma. But we all know that his Voucher Scheme is a rural school killer. You kill the school, you kill the community. Frankly, it will be epic on steroids and we will not get that money back. We also know that if you kill the community in rural oklahoma, when the school is gone, so is the community and soon the regional hospitals. This matters if we are going to see oklahoma thrive. We have to have a vibrant, growing, rural community. Will not have that under your watch. You have promised that she will be vouchered in if you are reelected. Well see this dismantling of Public Schools and we will never be able to meet the workforce need of business and energy. It is a nogo for me. Next question. We are going to move to another important topic. Jurisdiction challenges from the u. S. Supreme court decision. This will first go to superintendent hofmeister. That affirmed the indian reservations affirmed multiple indian reservations. Hofmeister, you have been endorsed by leaders of them so we are curious to know your reaction to the decision. You believe this only applies to or to civil law and taxation . We are in a mess that the governor is making with this. Obviously, the ruling came and we saw a governor who did not work immediately to secure those communities all across six affected tribes and Work Together to establish a compact that would address cross jurisdiction or cross deputize a shed, where we can and short deputization or we can ensure acts on criminal matters. Instead, he has so division. That is putting neighbor against neighbor. Our sovereign tribal nations represent a 15. 5 billion Economic Impact a year to the state. Collectively they are the largest employer in the state but this governor burned bridges before this decision and has nothing to walk back over when it was time to keep oklahomans safe. Do you believe mcgirt applies to . That is a matter that we need to Work Together for and we know this is being litigated. That is not a yes or no answer because there are different tribes that all have a different view. If you collectively love people together, that is not the kind of leader that understands that we have 39 unique sovereign tribal nations in the state and they do not speak with one voice. The historic moment was when they stood up and said you must go. Governor, 90 seconds. To you believe mcgirt applies to civil law and why has your Administration Spent so much money fighting this in court . This is great for anybody fight watching on tv because this is a clear difference between me and my opponent. The mcgirt decision was a federales nation of all of eastern oklahoma. The Biden Administration now in charge of eastern oklahoma is what that was. We are for fairness and People Protection under the law. I do not believe because of race or heritage that you should have different punishments. We should all be oklahomans. Right now, the answer is very clear that absolutely not, it should not go into civil taxation. The Tax Commission just released a statement that said everybody has to pay taxes in oklahoma. Can you imagine a ceo of a bank in eastern oklahoma not paying taxes by a single mom of a different race does . It is not a hard question. We are either all oklahomans are the same laws or we have a bunch of jurisdictions. She cannot even enter that simple question. Is she for oklahoma or is she for a scatter board of jurisdictions in eastern oklahoma . I can answer that. I want to ask one thing that it would have to be a bank owned by a tribal nation. Know, the ceo of any bank. Any tribal member. There were 9000 cases before the state Tax Commission. Maybe they worked at quiktrip or for williams or this company that were saying they do not have to pay state taxes. It is like i am in a twilight zone. How would you like joe neighbor here and joe neighbor here who also to the same high schools and drive on the same roads but one does not play by the same set of rules than yours . But it would be there and come from a tribal source. No, what they were asking for is any one eastern oklahoma because that is what was federalized after mcgirt after what is called the reservation. Will factcheck that. Thank you to the reservation, i can pull the linkup. You have 15 seconds. We have to be able to have a governor who understands and respects the tribal sovereignty of the 39 sovereign nations in the state. [applause] we do not have that with this answer. The second thing is we have to do the hard work. There can be a winwin but it takes work. With Governor Stitt, there is always a loser. Governor stitt, do you believe in tribal sovereignty for the 39 tribes . Here is the deal. I am actually a member of the cherokee nation. We have a great policy and the open door. All want to Work Together but does that mean that i do not believe in oklahomans rule of law and the district attorneys in tulsa able to prosecute on times the same . Thats actually protects tribal members. Talk to the police about the lawlessness that is going on. We have to have one set of rules. It is common sense. I do not understand why people do not get that. Let me ask you again. Yes or no . Do you believe in and respect and acknowledge the tribal sovereignty deco the federal government because it domestic dependent sovereigns. Absolutely, yes. They have sovereignty over what they have sovereignty over. It is a confusing question to all of us. But the castro case we won said yes you have land but it is still inside the borders of oklahoma. The big question is are we oklahomans or do we have six different jurisdictions . This is a very important question for people at home to understand the differences. That is why we are asking about this. Have the opportunity to speak the leaders of the five tribes the other day and asked what russia was you ask if you were me of Governor Stitt and they had the same thing to say. When are you going to sit down with them and have actual, meaningful conversations that have Common Ground and rebuild her relationship with tribes . When is that going to happen . Tomorrow at 10 00. If they are all at tv watching now, lets do this tomorrow at 10 00. It to the governor mansion . Know, at the stake conference room. The fact people say we are not willing to talk is untrue. We have people reaching out behind the stage talking to one another. I think i represent oklahomans. As a tribal member and a fourthgeneration oklahoman, those tribal members i know are pretty independent and we do not like big bosses telling us what to do or who to vote for. Let us know when that meeting happens, we will be there. We do not have to record this but would like to see it happen. Hofmeister, 60 seconds, same question. What specific priorities when you have regarding these topics . I will take over and win this election and step into office and it is triage. One of the first things we are going to have to restore is the compacts around mcgirt. I will work with our new attorney general to do that and we will build on the trust and the respect that i have established. Let me say this, to every member of a sovereign tribe in oklahoma, i will not betray the trust we have established. We can have a winwin and we can strive for all oklahomans. We know that it takes a will to actually come together into hardware that we are not going to be able to accomplish in a 62nd answer. This is the kind of work that requires a leader to reunite people across a Common Ground. Every one of the sovereign nations wants education for their kids, safe and Healthy Communities, and the infrastructure for great jobs and we are missing out on Building Partnerships and growing together government to government. Thank you. Inew 10 seconds. You heard it right there. She is federalized in eastern oklahoma. No longer with the state to be in control she was governor. As do not think anybody wants that. It is breathtaking the way the governor processes this and sees it. [laughter] lets go to the end of round two. Thank you so much. We are heading into round three. [applause] somebody get me a drink ready. Our final rind our final round is titled burn bans. Burnt ends. In your 2019 state of the state address, you some lawmakers granted to a hiring over hiring to state agencies and you said that you know exactly where the buck stops, at my desk. Jerry winchester resigned after a legislative Committee Found the Tourism Department overpaid by 70 million. The state is now suing the restaurant for allegedly overcharging for Construction Costs of state park restaurants. Under your own logic from 2019, does the buck stop at your desk for the barbecue scandal . Is there anything you would have done differently . The facts that you just set are not true and that is misleading to oklahomans. We have six restaurants across the state. I think Jerry Winchester is a fantastic we have lost 17 million which is not true. It is like if you build a home and hire a contractor to build a home and then you say the contractor overcharging for the sheet rock or this piece of equipment. That is what we are talking about here. If the vendor overcharged us than there are lawsuits against the vendor. To save the taxpayers lost 17 million is untrue. Our six restaurants across the state. We are going to get a new vendor. There is a process in place and there will be a new vendor to open those up. Well operate them. Bestie owns that. There are 4600 vendors that participate and if we find out any of them are doing things wrong, we are going to hold them accountable. We will be transparent which were dollars. That is why we have a savings account and Holding Government accountable. To say that we have lost 17 million is not true. The Tourism Department does their best job. There are 500 employees working hard for oklahomans to make our parks top 10. The political for political purposes, these folks take shots at these good hardworking oklahomans that stepped away from private career to serve their state and i think it is unfair and all politics. Notice this pops up on election year. It is from my opponent likes to kind of deceived people out there in the public. I wanted them to hear directly from you. Do you want to take this or should i . The script says overpaid. It does not say anybody lost this trade and understand there is a ability to get the money back but you are saying Jerry Winchester did fantastic work and this went well. What you think about what ricks wobbly is accused of doing . If the vendors are doing anything wrong at overcharging the state, if oklahomans want somebody to put a fresh set of eyes on every contract, that is what we are doing. If we find other is any overcharging and there is a current lawsuit going on, we will hold the vendors accountable. But for you to throughout the number of 17 million, that is not true. Thats not the number was overcharged if there was a no burke. The governor repeated harry truman when he said the buck stops with me into his state of the state. But we have clearly seen as the governor please pass the buck. This is a governor who has squandered, mismanaged, and lost millions of taxpayer dollars. On his watch, with his appointees. Lets talk about these facts. State auditors in 20 show 41 million in questions cost among governors agencies that he has control over. 20 Million Dollars in missing ppe inventory paid for and never received. 12 billion lost in swaddkeys scandal. We cannot even trust you with barbecue. [laughter] Governor Stitt, 45 seconds to close it with you. There was a 25 billion budget and we had 30,000 hardworking employees in the state of oklahoma. 4600 vendors. Oklahomans are smart enough to know that if there is a vendor overcharging us, there is a lawsuit, we are going to claw back the money and protect taxpayers. Nobody fights for the taxpayers more than i do. I want the lowest taxes. She has never met a tax she did not like. He wants to tax and spend and try to confuse oklahomans for the momentum we are getting. Have to correct that. That is a falsehood. I have never proposed any kind of misuse of taxpayer dollars. We have been transparent and i believe that we have to hold our elected leaders accountable for those tax dollars they were entrusted with. That they misuse. We have the gear fund which was given to all governors and this governor has 31 million of the 39 million with questionable expenditures. 30 million for a donothing pandemic center. We also know we have seen the governor has 80 of those expenditures that were given through gear. Superintendent, thank you much. Governor stitt, she mentioned gear funds. Lets go there. Again tell us what happened. During the pandemic, the Trump Administration gave 39 million to the governors. He gave 680 Million Dollars to the Public School system. The road question oklahomans want to know is with the 680 million, why could you not keep two of the Largest School districts open . I was fighting for parents in tulsa, oklahoma whose schools were closed for 355 days. Every day, i would have parents call me and say my first grader is not learning how to read the assume, can you help us . That is why i was focused so hard. People are waking up to the learning laws. People deserve to know why include schools for that long. Hofmeister, next question for you. The frontier reported the super pacs a dark many groups that more than 12. 5 million attacking Governor Stitt and report supporting you which is more money than your campaigns combined. Others were arrested related to dark money corporations. The charters were ultimately dropped but with dark money again flooding the airwaves and sending in mailers, how can oklahomans trust that you are 4 00 and not unnamed. Running dark money campaigns . Because i stand up to those who are mishandling the taxpayer dollars. I stand up for our schools. I did that in my first race in 2014. And an underhanded politician brought false charges. They were dropped and expunged by the da and i am proud to have stood up for my family, for our schools, for all of the families of oklahoma. This is a governor, who wants to distract from his own record. It is his record that has led to many who want to see him out of office. I do not have a thing to do with anything but my campaign. In our campaign, we are running on faith, family, education, hardware, oklahoma values. That is what i am talking about and will continue to focus on and i will always stand up for the truth of matter the cost. Who is the underhanded politician you have referenced . My opponent which i beat in a three way and won 77 counties. Oh, you mean the 2014 opponent . Yes. To respond to her statement. And think this is a question we all want to know. Who is behind all these dark money ads . 20 million has been sent against me, attacking me, spreading this information spreading misinformation. I will give you 20 million reasons why she will be beholding to special interests and not to you, the people. I will always stand for 4 million oklahomans. You elected need to put a fresh pair of eyes on every contract and told the government accountable. That is what we are doing. Momentum is happening. Our economy has never been more diverse and brighter with our aviation and defense and agriculture and all the great things we are doing. It is a very interesting question. I would like my opponent to tell us who it is. You both know she knows who it is. Actually, you are wrong. [applause] the people want to know joy. If there is a way to get money out of politics, sign me up. It is what has corrected this state. Eight out of 10 oklahomans believe there is corruption in State Government on your watch. They are saying that they see yourself dealing, your cronyism and i have had a front receipt to the corruption eyewitness under your watch. Oklahomans are sick of it and want our state to move forward in a way worry puts people first. We do not read off a National Script but put people first. If we are careful with their precious taxpayer dollars, there are people who are paying taxes today that can barely make it. I have met with the seniors who are having to try 80 miles to their doctor. You have done nothing to help them. Other than empty promises and misspending there taxpayer dollars. Oklahomans are going to hold accountable on november 8. We have two more questions and then closing statements. 62nd and then 32nd responses. You appointed two men to serve as commissioner to the land office. This is an incredibly important state agency that manage land for more than 100 School Districts. Both men have resigned cranial one about questions from the gas from the clo and the other about other allegations. Her next opponent resigned after he had a prior relationship with a company he contracted with. Governor stitt, why should oklahomans reelect to . What do you say to people who question your decision to move direct investments with that money . First off, for people out there, the clo this manages the land that was given by the government. That is what they are. It is a 5 billion fund and that we have minimal interest that we manage for the benefit of education. We need people that understand investments that know how to invest 5 billion. People who have oil and gas backgrounds to maximize the profit for oklahomans. We are going to try to find what is best. I do not play politics with people we try to put in these positions. You try to find the very best oklahomans and we reap fruit we recruit them to leave their oil and gas jobs and investing jobs into come serve the state. I am so proud of the oklahoma to to serve. Those who are watching on tv, get involved. We need more good people involved with politics. We cannot leave politics to just career politicians and people who automatically flock around this building. We need you to come get involved. Oklahoma has a bright future. We have a lots and we will continue with the effort to bring people from the outside. Hofmeister, 60 seconds to you as well. Talk about these matters, what can you tell the public . I will tell you as a commissioner of the land office that i am very troubled by what has happened under the governors watch. Whistleblowers came forward multiple multiple whistleblowers came forward. They came to me and i sent them to the state auditor. We were both very troubled. I called for an agenda item so that we could bring the information forward. The clo director, his secretary that he speaks of, fire that person. And settled with that person in 30 days. We have a governor who refused to actually hold accountable in a transparent way the secretary. I call for him to resign and he did. But then i turned over what i was ready to share in executive session and the governors attorney for the condition of land would not put this on the agenda in a legal way. Those documents went to the da who saw the need to turn it over to the osb i prayed for that matter, we will hold oklahoma taxpayers in a place where we are doing right by them and we will hold anyone who has that she needs to be held accountable. The people at the table, this was inside baseball into her hearing. People are concerned about education, health care. Lets talk about that, inflation. Why are things costing more . It is the Biden Administration. It is where record in education and the people deserve to know thats why are we after eight years in poor performance . In oklahoma, if you do poor performers, we do not give you an promotion. Final question of the night. Superintendent hofmeister, thank you to the historic 2018 tax debrief and rows of federal covid relief funding, or is significantly more federal dollars to oklahomans Education System now than before. A year ago, government connected a full audit of the state department of education to identify all other resources and determine if the agency and local School District are complying with Financial Reporting requirements. Earlier this evening, the governor had a request of the attack of the Education System. We have seen several instances where public funding has been misused from epic to see what the child nutritional funding and fraud. I dont welcome any reports on how education dollars are being spent in why not walk them in a report on how education dollars are being spent . These are all serious issues which we have held oklahoma schools, Charter Schools, and those at epic accountable. I will claw back the money. But heres the deal. The governor wants you to believe the state department of education has never been audited. As i have been in office, we have had 25 audits. We paid 400,000 a year to the state auditor for those audits. And his audit is now going to be over one hundred thousand dollars. To do something that is an exercise in actually going into the schools and a time when they are dealing with covid recovery. He talks about closing schools but i am the one who stood up for local control. I am the one who wrote a hundred page document called return to learn our kids would get back to school. He is the one who closed the state and our businesses. The closed over restaurants and he allowed our hospitals to search under a covid that was raging and has impacted our childrens learning. Oklahomans are out there. They do want to know why was she calling the audit an attached . There is a difference between financial audits and performance audits. The facts are the governor has never called for a audits until i did. We spent three point 2 billion in our Public Education system. No governor has ever spent more. Yes, we want to be transparent. This is the first time it has been done and yes, there are financial audits but there is a difference. If we get back to the issues, what people are wanting to talk about, which she has not told you one thing, why are we 49th in test scores . Why does florida, who spends less per pupil than oklahoma, and their test scores are 17 . What are they doing differently . As a leader, as a business person, we are going to challenge ourselves and look at other states. There is no reason oklahoma is not a top 10 state. We should be top 10 at everything we do. We live in the greatest state in the country. We can do better for our kids. That is what i am fighting for. That is why i left my company to come serve my state and focus on the next generation. That is what i promised oklahoma i would do this time. Our momentum is halfway there. We want to keep this going and we do not want to go backwards to a party in control of oklahoma. [applause] 45 seconds before we move onto closings. I am not sure where you get all of your information but i will tell you that we are 46 in the nation in what we invest in the children of oklahoma compared to other states. We are no longer at the top of the region in being competitive, i am also a businesswoman and i know what that means. That means you need to invest in people. If we are going to meet the needs of children and see higher outcomes, we have to have teachers in School Buildings not just a classroom teacher. We need to have our people on the team to support our childrens learning. Cool counselors. Paraprofessionals. Special education teachers. We need all the people on the team the are going to be able to help our children meet and overcome their needs. It is pitiful that we have a governor who does not get that connection. That we have to meet their needs, whether those needs are about the people or the resources. Was just even getting to the school. We know this governor is standing in the way and he is not the kind of governor that is going to put people first. With him, it is always politics first. Lets go right to 92nd closing statements. Thank you so much for joining in. I would like to remind people how far we have come in the last four years. What i took over from budget deficits to now record savings and surplus, 24 date school weeks and teacher rock out walkouts, to record investment in schools. A very bright economy we are we are tracking companies all over the world. My opponent joined joe bidens party when she could not see a path forward for herself as a republican. It is no surprise that she closed schools for weeks and she joined liberal unions to close our schools in 2020 for almost a year. We dont want to go backwards. But there are special Interest Groups that have lost control and the capital, they dont like it, they have spent 20 million on lies and confusion and chaos attacking me and promoting her. And i will give you 20 million reasons why she will never be beholden to the people of oklahoma, she will be beholden to special Interest Groups. Folks, i want to keep the momentum going, we balance our budget, give teachers a pay raise, Law Enforcement a pay raise all while cutting taxes for oklahomans. Thank you so much for being here, and lets go win this thing on november 8. [applause] thank you very much. Superintendent hofmeister, 90 seconds to close us out. Ms. Hofmeister oklahomans, im going to talk direct to you. Oklahoma is at a tipping point. We have a governor who has run our state into the ground. Through his self dealings, through his cronyism and corruption and ive had a front row seat. Education is on the ballot, our rule communities are on the ballot. Freedom is on the ballot. To make decisions for yourself and your trusted dr. , this governor wants to privatize education. It is going to kill our rural communities. This governor wants to privatize health care. Worth 53 of enrollees are children. He wouldnt stand for a Corporation Getting in between his decision, right . None of us want to have someone else in the way of making those life changing decisions with medical care and a trusted doctor. We need the infrastructure for great jobs. And it is going to take a modern infrastructure plan so that this state can have worldclass schools safe and Healthy Communities in the infrastructure for great jobs, and that includes relationships, partnerships with our sovereign tribal nations with a 15. 5 billion dollar Economic Impact. Lets see our communities grow and thrive as partners, partners with nonprofit. All of this is about commonsense respect for one another, working together. And i say im aggressively moderate. Meet me in the middle. Lets get something done for the people of oklahoma. Im asking for your vote on november the eighth. Oklahoma belongs to you. Thank you. [cheers and applause] that concludes tonights debate, thank you to the candidate, thank you to the sponsors, thank you very much, really appreciate your support. Thank you, news nine. Start that music. Election day is november 8. Tip your bartenders well, they are great, i know them personally, they work hard. Thank you. [applause] cspan is your unfiltered view of government. We are funded by the filament companies and more by these Television Companies and more, including mediacom. Internet traffic soared and we never slowed down. Schools and businesses when virtual and we powered a new reality, because we are built to keep you ahead. Mediacom supports cspan as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row feet to democracy. More from kim. With a debate between candidates in pennsylvanias House District eight. At 7 p. M. Etern, hosted by wvia tv. An hour later, a debate between alaskas incumbent governor and his challengers. Hosted by alaska public media. At 9 00, minnesotas incumbent democratic governor faces his republican challenger in the debate in rochester, minnesota. Watch these debate beginning at 7 p. M. Eastern on cspan, cspa now, our free mobile video app, for online at cspan. Org or online at cspan. Org. Next, i will governor kim reynolds and her democratic challenger in the 2022 governors race, deirdre dejear, participating in a debate posted by the iowa press. Two polls before the debate showed reynolds leading with a 17 point advantage. The cook report rated the race solid republican. First time, democra