Chickasha Express Star - Dorman Puts Faith in Youth

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By Adam Troxtell

The night before Election Day, gubernatorial candidate and Democratic State Representative from Rush Springs Joe Dorman decided to make a stop back at home.

The room where he and his campaign staff dined at Jake's Rib -- where six days prior his Republican opponent, Gov. Mary Fallin, had hosted a luncheon -- was filled with blue Dorman shirts, stickers, and supporters. Polls suggest they will all finish today in disappointment, but the spirit remains high.

"The numbers have been completely inaccurate," Dorman said. "It's the worst form of voter suppression that we've seen this year, trying to convince people there's not a race. They're trying to do everything in their power to dissuade people from going to the polls by convincing them that this race is not close. In reality, it is very close."

Dorman's words come from his experience over the last year, going town-by-town in search of a large enough, and more energized, voter base. In order to turn that base into an election win, Dorman said young Oklahoma voters would be the key.

"It will be a huge difference in this campaign," Dorman said. "Assuming things go well tomorrow night, it will be in my mind because of a higher percentage of younger voters active for the first time in their lives."

While taking questions at Jake's, Dorman was approached by local college students eager to offer their support.

"As we've travelled around the state, we've seen more and more people who have never been involved in politics decide they want to make a difference," Dorman said. "We've seen a lot of people register to vote, and we've also seen a younger generation become really inspired."

A major part of that message of difference has been taking aim at Gov. Fallin and outgoing State Superintendent Janet Barresi's treatment of public education, which he believes should be funded better.

"They have purposely ignored that aspect of education, and over the last two months Mary has reversed many of her policies and fallen right in line with my campaign platform on education," Dorman said. "She's called for a teachers' pay raise, she said one test was not a good enough gauge of performance in the third grade, she reversed course, obviously, on Common Core. There's no guarantee she won't change course again right after the election if she were to win. I hope voters remember that."

More recently he has criticized Gov. Fallin's decision to not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Dorman said this has left about 180,000 in the state without healthcare coverage and hospitals on the brink of collapse.

Fallin's campaign argues it would be foolish to expand Medicaid while the federal government is cutting funds to the program, partly to balance the cost of the ACA and partly based on the state's improved economic performance. Dorman said this view is inaccurate.

"She's distorting the numbers, playing politics with the lives of Oklahomans and the future of our state," Dorman said. "She's talked about the cost being $1 billion. On the surface, the match the state would be required to pay gets close to that. But they aren't looking at the overall impact of the economy with the jobs that would be lost.

Dorman said between 12-36 hospitals across the state will eventually have to shut their doors without the extra funding, costing the state jobs in an important area of the market.

"That money is coming in to provide the extra insurance for an improved quality of life for Oklahomans, all of those who are the working poor," Dorman said. "The top argument is this is money Oklahomans have paid into Washington, D.C., through taxes. It should come back to our state for use and not go to another state."

Regardless of the final results, Dorman certainly seems to have a strong area of support in his home of Grady County. He senses this and said it gives him confidence in what he expects to be a tight race.

"It makes me feel proud for the service I've done for this area over the past 12 years as a representative for House District 65, and of course in my home county," Dorman said. "It's been an amazing experience."

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