Hello and welcome to executive session, a general Election Debate between republican incumbent kevin stitt and joy hofmeister. Lets welcome our candidates to the stage right now. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you, audience. That is one of your chances to clap. We are a nonprofit. I am here to moderate this debate with news9. News9 is streaming the debate live on news9. Com and the facebook pages of news9, nondoc and other Media Partners such as the frontier. We also wish those around the country, welcome to oklahoma from cspan. We thought now would be a good time to tell folks none of us rode horses to school. But we might ask the candidates about tea floating. This is our 10th time moderating a debate this year, so thank you for supporting public debates in the state of oklahoma. You know who else supported our 2022 debate series . The state chamber of oklahoma. Thank you well so much for believing in public debate and believing that the public is well served by hearing their candidates. We just got word that cspan is live. For those of you who tolerate politicians better with a beverage in your hands, you should thank the Hillary Communications company and power automotive group. They are our bar sponsors tonight as well as sponsors of independent journalism. I have a few other sponsors to thank. Aarp oklahoma, the Oklahoma PublicSchool Resource center, an advocacy firm, Oklahoma Association of realtors. Thank you for believing in public debates. If you are watching in the Tulsa Press Club in the city of tulsa, thank you for making that watch party possible. Storms, just a few more announcements. We are in public so please remember to silence your phones. While you have your phones out go ahead and share that news nine stream so your neighbors can be as informed as you are for being here tonight. We want to remind you that the november 8 ballot will feature two other gubernatorial candidates, a libertarian and independent. Both have been pulling below 5 so we have to devote our time to the two leading candidates. Quick rules for the audience. Please hold your applause until the end of each round of questions. Dont scream, dont be a jerk. I will ask security to get you out of here. I will clear this room so we can get the debate going for those watching. We can avoid doing that. Surely we can. Each candidate will have 90 seconds for an Opening Statement and then we will have three rounds of questions before a 90 second closing. Request Governor Stitt, you will go first. Superintendent hofmeister, you will go Governor Stitt, 90 second. Seconds, the stage is yours. Gov. Stitt thank you for joining us online and those in the audience. I like to remind people how far we have come in the last four years. We have gone from budget deficits to a record saving account, from fourday school weeks and teacher walkouts to now, the largest investment of education and teachers in the history of our state. The brightest economy with the lowest unemployment we have ever had. Oklahomas turnaround is working. We simply cant go backwards. We know what will happen if we put bidens party back in charge. I think about americans who are struggling with high inflation. The biden party, they want tax hikes. Meanwhile, in oklahoma, i cut taxes for every single oklahoman, every single business and i want to eliminate the grocery tax. When i think about people just a struggling to keep the lights on , Bidens Administration are begging opec and russia to produce more oil. Meanwhile, in oklahoma, we are protecting oil and gas jobs to have the most Affordable Energy in the entire country. When people just want safe communities and families, the biden party is defunding the police. Meanwhile, in oklahoma, we back the blue. I gave our Law Enforcement a 30 increase this year. The largest they had ever had in the last decade. Folks, oklahomas turnaround is working. We cannot go backwards. Thank you. Thank you, governor. Superintendent hofmeister. 90 second Opening Statement to you. Ms. Hofmeister thank you so much, it is wonderful to be with you. I am grateful for Governor Stitt coming and all of those who have joined us to have public debate. And you for hosting. My husband jerry and i, we have been married almost 38 years. We have four grown children and just nine months ago, we welcomed our first grandbaby. As we raise our kids, we raised them with the same values that most oklahomans hold dear. We value faith, family, education, hard work. We know it takes working together in order to see our economy thrive. We know it means we have to have a community where we put worldclass schools at the top. Where we have access to Quality Affordable Health Care and where we are also prioritizing the infrastructure for great jobs in the state. I am the daughter of an electrician. My grandfather was an electrician. It was that hard work that my dad did that inspired me to put education first. I was also that kid who struggled to read. I went to college, the first in my family. I stepped out of college, got married and put my husband through baptist seminary. We worked together to overcome a lot of challenges, but we know for oklahoma to flourish, we have to get back to common sense, respect for one another, working together and getting things done. Thank you very much. Lets get to our first round of questions. We will withhold the rest of the applause until they ask each question. It goes better that way. The first round of questions is titled a relaxing run for governor. Each question will offer one minute to each candidate to answer. We will mostly alternate who answers each question this first. First question will be a tossup. I am sure it will be the most difficult question of the evening. When governor brad henry was in office, he honed his skills as a painter. When she was governor, mary fallon would ride her motorcycle around the mansion grounds. This is a stressful job you are both seeking so tell us what hobby or activity helps you relax. 30 seconds, whoever wants to go first. Gov. Stitt as a father of six, most of my time is spent chasing kids around different sporting events and my sixthgrader is playing football so go huskies for all of them watching out there. I have a ninth grader that plays volleyball. Just like most dads right now, juggling your job and then also being a good parent and following your kids around, i love doing that. Trying to work in a date night with my wife is important. Thanks for being here. It is usually dragging her to a campaign barbecue this time of year but it is a lot of fun being a dad and a parent and really serving oklahoma. Ms. Hofmeister that is an easy one. I love to spend time with our new grandbaby. She is part of the motivation that keeps fueling me and every time we think about what we are going to do for the future of this state, we think about our kids and my husband and i have enjoyed hikes all over the state and state parks as well as traveling many miles all over the state talking with oklahomans. I have 500,000 miles on my car to prove it. Wonderful. Governor, i have the first question for you. You campaigned for office in 2018 on making oklahoma a top 10 state. Four years later we remain ranked around the bottom 10 in states on key education and health care issues. As you make your case for reelection, tell us specifically where you have moved the needle the most on making oklahoma top 10 and where have you been unable to move that needle . Gov. Stitt thank you. As a leader and governor, and whether you are ceo, you have to set a vision for all your employees and the whole state. 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 of the country. The American Dream is alive and well in oklahoma. For a kid that went to first grade in wayne, oklahoma, graduated from norman high school, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. That vision is what i focus on. We are number one in most affordable electricity. We are number five in bridge conditions. We were number 50, lastplace when i took over in incarceration rates. That is something i am very proud of. I closed two private prisons, saving the taxpayer dollars, but also giving people Second Chances. But you bring up a really good question. Education is something everybody wants for our kids. Everybody out there wants that. What my opponent needs to answer is why are we 49th in education right now . Superintendent hofmeister, i mentioned education rankings not being where anyone wants of to be. You have been state superintendent for eight years. Where have you been able to move the needle most and where have you not been able to move the needle . Ms. Hofmeister i appreciate this question. You are right. Oklahoma is woefully prepared for the future in education because we do not have the people on the team to meet the needs of students. Oklahoma has a Teacher Shortage that leads the nation. When i first stepped into office i asked for competitive pay to attract teachers and we got that after three years. What we realized is there needs to be more people on the team, school counselors, reading specialists. We are losing those people to other states and other industries. We did raise her academic expectations, our standards and now they moved from a d minus to an a rating. If you dont have the teachers to teach them, what good is it . Here is the problem. This governor has a School Voucher scheme that is a killer. You kill the school, you kill the community. 15 second rebuttal. You want to say anything right now . Gov. Stitt here is the fax. The facts are my opponent has received a billion dollars in new spending over the last eight years. The only thing that has not improved is education. The people out there want to know why your record has gone downhill in education outcomes since you have been superintendent. Final 15 seconds to close us out. Ms. Hofmeister because we need a governor who gets it. We need a governor who understands the connection between people, teachers who are trained and ready on day one to meet the needs of children who have incredibly deep needs today. We will talk more about what those are and how to solve it. Governor, we will let you respond, but i want to drill down on this. I think folks on both sides of the aisle want to know, if you are a democrat, the Democratic Party and the state has a 94 party platform. How much of that do you subscribe to . Ms. Hofmeister i am an independent thinker. I am running as an oklahoman and i am on team oklahoma. I represent oklahoma families were carless of their party affiliation. I will also cite also say i was a republican longer than registry than Governor Stitt was registered to vote. When did you get a sense that ms. Hofmeister was displeased with your job and would participate in the race . Gov. Stitt here is the facts, we have the largest savings account in our state history. I cut taxes for every single oklahoman. We want to eliminate the grocery tax. We have been Holding Government accountable. We have a small government, lower taxes. My opponent could not see a path forward for herself as a republican, so see switched parties. She joined bidens party which canceled the Keystone Pipeline day one in office, they believe in open borders. She never saw a tax they didnt like. The turnaround is working. We have an awesome state. We are so much better off four years today then four years ago. We want to keep this momentum going. Lets give a round of applause to these candidates so far. [applause] those of you who know me, you know we must be having a bit of a technical issue with the video feed. I will take a drink of water. This is a good time for you to share that screen as we work the kinks out. Delicious water. Did i mention Hillary Communications sponsored the bar . Feel free if you need to get another beverage. I hope we have that worked out. We will make sure the people watching at home can see this awesome debate. This 60 second question will start with Governor Stitt. You spent a great deal of time trying to recruit Major Companies to move to oklahoma, but one of the challenges facing the entire country involves the workforce. Many industries are struggling to find qualified job applicants and often speak of a skills gap in the hiring market. Simply put, what must be done to improve the situation for oklahoma students and employers alike . Gov. Stitt thank you. We have to break down the silos between higher ed, common ed, and career tech. We need one workforce person that can get everyone aligned. To me, it is pretty simple. Lets look at the jobs of tomorrow. What do the Companies Need . Lets make sure we get that workforce ready. We need more engineers, doctors and lawyers, but we also need more mechanics and hvac techs and more nurses. I am constantly working with higher ed to focus on that workforce of tomorrow. One exciting thing that has happened in dormant, oklahoma norman, oklahoma is we set up an aviation program. A heisel student, if they want to become an amp mechanic a high school student, if they want to become an amp mechanic, American Airlines is hiring. You can go to this high school. By the time you graduate you are 90 there to a mechanic. We have to think outside the box. We cant keep doing the same things we have done for the last eight years. What can be done to narrow the skills gap . Ms. Hofmeister this is the reason i am running. We absolutely are missing out on opportunities for Industry Leaders to come to oklahoma, but also to keep people here. We have a bill of longterm plans which is going to build capacity for our state. The governor has focused on shortterm gains, a panasonic deal, 700 million. A lot of enthusiasm around that. Im not against an incentive that makes sense with a high return on investment, but longterm we have got to support our kids. They have to have a competitive education. We cant dismantle Public Education, which is going to happen under the governors watch. We have to make sure oklahomans have access to Quality Affordable Health Care and that we do nothing to prevent the Health Decisions that should be made between a patient, an oklahoman and their doctor. We need a governor who can close a deal. We need a governor who gets the connection with education, and will put oklahomans first. [indiscernible] gov. Stitt heres the deal. I know the truth. Shes not lying to me, shes lying to you the public. We have the lowest unemployment in our states 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 profreedom policies. We dont want to put bidens party back in control of oklahoma, of higher taxes and more regulation. Ms. Hofmeister the governor keeps talking about people out of the state. This is the practice. He reads often National Script and is out of touch with oklahomans and the actual need for solutions that are right here if we will work with stakeholders in oklahoma. I also know that hes taking credit for the largest savings account, yet he didnt sign the budget. He said he had a press conference because he did not have anything to do with that. Its convenient today, 20 days before election, to talk about that. 15 more seconds, then we will move on. Gov. Stitt to anybody out at your kitchen table, we have gone from budget nightmares, almost zero money in savings, and you elected a businessperson, not a career politician to put a fresh set of eyes on every contract and hold government accountable. We have the largest savings account in history, the lowest unemployment. We are going to continue that momentum. 15 seconds, superintendent, if you want it. Ms. Hofmeister first of all, i would say the governor talks about that we have low unemployment, but i want to tell you about conversations ive had with people, a woman in tulsa. Four kids, working three jobs. She said Home Ownership will be out of reach for her. It matters about the quality of jobs that we have. In order to be ready for that we need the education and the help to do it. I thought this would be around called relaxing round for governor. Lets see if we get there on this question. A lot people thought they would be voting on state question 820 this year which proposes decriminalizing marijuana in oklahoma. Delays in the new validation process, delays in getting this validated means it wont be on them of ember eight pallet. Governor stitt set a date for the election. Will you support or oppose the bill if you are elected governor . And have you ever smoked marijuana or consumed cannabis . Ms. Hofmeister the answer to your last question is no, however it depends on who is governor. I am going to light one up and pause for a minute. [laughter] he did not smile about that. We lost our video feed for just a second. Governor, i will come back to her and then you. I will need to know when we are back up. Real quick, if you are elected governor, will you support state question 820 on the march ballot . Ms. Hofmeister im not certain yet, because part of that answer we basically have Recreational Marijuana today, but we dont have the tax income. That is very attractive to have the ability to actually have some revenue that will help education and other needed areas. What i am most worried about is cleaning up the mess that has been left under Governor Stitts watch. Not only under his watch, but under his nose. His own appointee is helping chinese businesses smuggle drugs in the state. We know that this is a serious crisis. Go talk with anyone in rural oklahoma. I was talking with west