Talley, Chaffin face off again for Oklahoma House seat

Jun. 25—With no Democratic or other party candidates in the field, the race for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 33 will be decided in the Republican primary.

Either incumbent Rep. John Talley or challenger Brice Chaffin will be the nominee following Tuesday's vote.

This is the second time the two have faced off, as Talley won his bid for re-election in 2020 as Chaffin was entering his first foray into politics. That 2020 nomination was also decided in the primary as Talley won with 54 percent of the vote. Talley was first elected in 2018 after ousting Greg Babinec, the incumbent from Cushing.

District 33 has changed slightly since being redrawn following the Census. It contains much of Payne County outside of Stillwater proper, but also now dips into northern Logan County and no longer contains much of Perkins, which is now in District 32.

The News Press sent Talley and Chaffin the following questions:

1. Why are you running and what do you feel makes you a qualified candidate?

CHAFFIN:

The votes of the House District 33 State Representative should reflect the conservative values of those who live here. It's clear that this isn't currently the case; I want to fix this.

I love Payne County. I've served in the military, raised my family here and currently work at one of the district's largest private-sector employers. I believe I am in touch with the values of local residents.

TALLEY:

I am running for re-election because District 33 has been my home for more than 40 years and I want to continue working to improve the lives of my constituents and their communities. Through ongoing communications, I work with various groups to craft legislation which reflects our conservative values, develop partnerships and find solutions to enhance safety in our communities, improve infrastructure, ease financial hardships for businesses and individuals and strengthen our educational systems.

It is easy to "talk the talk" of advocacy; however, I feel I have "walked the walk" serving others through my ministry for 45 years. This work prepared me to serve in the legislature the past four years. During my two terms I have successfully authored and co-authored bills signed by the governor which reflect protecting and improving the lives of those I have been called and elected to represent.

2. What are the greatest concerns voters have expressed to you during your campaign and how would you address them?

TALLEY:

—Most are concerned with inflation.

—The House passed a removal of the state grocery tax during a special session. So if the Senate does not go into session to pass the removal of the state grocery tax it will be an issue we address the next session.

—Protection of rural schools.

—The teacher shortage — many interim studies to look at all the many ways Oklahoma can encourage educators, some of the ideas are to look at accepting all teaching certificates from other states. Currently, we require assessments to be completed before we certify educators who are certified outside of Oklahoma. Another idea is to provide a pathway for the remarkable teacher assistant population in our districts to become certified and use their wealth of knowledge in working in our districts to serve as course hours toward degrees and or a tuition voucher waiver.

CHAFFIN:

Voters are concerned about the ongoing assault on our values, our way of life and everything that makes America great. This assault has impacted us all the way down to local politics. Our medical workers at SMC were threatened to have their jobs taken away if they didn't get the jab, and they reached out to me for help. The City of Stillwater ordered mandates, and I spoke out at city council meetings, and was on the leadership team to try to recall the city council. When we found out that Stillwater Middle School was allowing a boy to use the girl's bathroom, I spoke out at the school board meeting and participated in a petition to stop it. I deeply care for my community, and I want to defend our values and our way of life. We the people of Payne County need our State Representative to understand what is at stake and to act on that understanding.

3. What would be your legislative priorities?

TALLEY:

I began my first campaign with a goal of listening to my constituents. My first priority is to be available to listen and continue to communicate with those I represent. I will continue to support and advocate legislation and programs that protect life and the quality of life, protect our liberties, grow our economy and improve our infrastructure.

CHAFFIN:

On Friday, June 24, SCOTUS overturned Roe v Wade. My first priority will be to author and champion a bill to completely abolish abortion in the State of Oklahoma once and for all. No more regulating this heinous act. Of course, if the mother is going to die, saving her life is not abortion, it is medical triage. I will author a bill to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to reflect the U.S. Constitution's wording. I will sponsor the repeal of the dangerous Track-and-Tax Pilot Plan that seeks to record and then tax each mile driven by Oklahoma motorists, sponsor the prohibition of lobbyist gift-giving to legislators — this inappropriate practice wouldn't be accepted in any other industry — will refuse all gifts and campaign contributions from lobbyists and their employers, will seek to place election integrity measures into the State Constitution to include: closing down voter ID loopholes, banning black-box technologies and ensuring voting machines are never connected to the internet; requiring paper ballots and implementing strong penalties on ballot harvesting, and will aggressively defend our school children from the rapidly evolving, cruel social experiments of the radical left — as just a few examples. I ask that you as a voter do your due diligence and research the candidates.