During a Senate District 15 Republican runoff debate, disagreements over which candidate is most “conservative” led to tense moments, back-handed compliments and contrasting views on the value of negotiation.
Robert Keyes, president and CEO of Associated Environmental Industries, said he is focused on negotiating to move the needle and get things done at the State Capitol. Lisa Standridge, a pharmacist and the term-limited SD 15 senator’s wife of 32 years, said she will stick to her guns, including a controversial comment about arming teachers that elicited some gasps from the audience.
Standridge, who held to her claim that she is the most conservative candidate, drew defensive responses from Keyes throughout the night.
“I’m so conservative I wear suspenders with a belt,” Keyes said. “Don’t ever say that you’re more conservative than me. You can’t spell it well enough to do that, let’s make sure we’re clear on that. But the fact is that if you don’t learn how to negotiate and get common ground to move the needle, all you’re going to do is continue fighting.”
Toward the end of the tense debate, the candidates were asked to say one thing their opponent does better than them. Keyes said Standridge is better at wearing makeup, and Standridge followed suit saying Keyes is better at wearing a tie.
Facing six other candidates in the June 18 Republican primary for SD 15, Standridge obtained 34.33 percent of the vote and Keyes earned 26.75 percent. Sen. Rob Standridge (R-Norman) is leaving the Capitol after a 12-year tenure owing to term limits. The winner of the Aug. 27 GOP primary will face Democrat Elizabeth Foreman in the November general election.
Both candidates participated in the 90-minute debate hosted Aug. 1 by the Cleveland County Republican Party, and each also agreed to an interview for this article.
Standridge, Keyes highlight split in OKGOP
For her opening statement of the Aug. 1 debate, Standridge said she is the most conservative candidate, saying she supports small government, low taxes, personal freedoms and parental rights.
Keyes responded by saying he supports every issue Standridge mentioned. He also said he is not going to the Capitol to choose sides.
“If you want someone to go up there and pick a side, then I get it, don’t vote for me,” Keyes said. “But if you want someone to pull everybody together and get things done, I’m your guy.”
Keyes continued by offering a brief summary of his self-built wealth and said his family uses their money for Oklahomans. In his interview with NonDoc, Keyes explained the Morning Dove Foundation mentioned on his campaign website. Keyes is the sole trustee and donor for the foundation, which he said is used to provide scholarships for college students and host faith-based concerts.
In the debate, the candidates discussed their approaches to managing state funds. Keyes discussed a need for more specificity in financial requests.
“I was involved with a bill that was up at the Capitol for Oklahoma State University this past year, a request for $2 million for higher education. There was no ask of how it was going to be used, who it was going to be used for and how long it was going to be used. It was simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ That cannot happen. It doesn’t happen in my business,” Keyes said. “Oklahoma is a wealthy state. It’s poorly managed.”
Standridge criticized RINO — “Republican in Name Only” — members of Senate leadership, with whom her husband often clashed during his 12 years representing SD 15.
“Respectfully, our House, our governor both wanted income tax reductions this last session. Our Senate did not. Clearly that was the leadership that did not want it. Instead, they gave us a grocery tax (cut),” Standridge said. “So, when you say you don’t want to pick a side, you probably want to maybe back that up because there are two sides up there. There’s a side that is RINO-infested and then there’s the side that are true conservatives. So, I would like to put it on record right now, I am the side that would have voted for a dip in the state income tax rather than a grocery tax (cut).”
Keyes countered by emphasizing that he would always support what is best for the state.
Standridge: Stronger than ‘a cheap lawn chair’
Asked if he would support legislation to allow undocumented immigrants to receive driver’s licenses in Oklahoma, Keyes called the question bizarre.
“They’re here illegally, they have no need — we have no business giving anyone a driver’s license,” Keyes said.
Standridge again blamed what she called RINO legislators.
“Our RINO-Senate has heard the bills to allow illegal aliens to have driver’s licenses in 2022, and they did it again in 2023. The leadership up there that is allowing these bills to be heard, they’re not conservative. Why are we even hearing this bill? You must pick a side on if you’re a RINO or if you’re a conservative. Because it’s a very black-and-white issue up there, either you are or you aren’t,” Standridge said. “And you’re not going to get anything done worth the paper it’s written on to me as a conservative to even hear bills like that. No, should an illegal alien have a driver’s license? Absolutely not. Absolutely not, and there should not be any — not one penny — of our state resources spent on an illegal alien. If they want to be here, there’s a door to get here. I’m a compassionate person, use the door. Do not jump the fence and expect me to pay for it.”
Keyes said Standridge’s position showed that she would be ineffective at the State Capitol because she is “on that side” of the Republican Party division that struggles to get bills heard and passed.
But Standridge pushed back, referencing the inner-Senate fight among Republicans over who should be the body’s next president pro tempore.
“When I stand with the other conservatives — and they will be outnumbered — I’m not going to collapse like a cheap lawn chair and sell my soul and sell what I think and not stick to my guns just to let somebody have their bill heard in the committee or on the floor. That’s what sticking to your guns means to me,” Standridge said. “(Sen.) David Bullard is a conservative that will be the pro tem and I intend to vote for him and back him 100 percent.”
Keyes said he likes Bullard and called him a great guy.
“But sometimes we have to make a decision that is best for the state,” he said.
Keyes: ‘We need a hostage negotiator’
In his interview with NonDoc, Keyes said one of his motivations to run for office is to use his negotiation skills as a way to better the state.
“I just started feeling inside that I needed to move what I was doing. We have such a train wreck happening within the GOP — with the split going on, particularly in the Senate,” Keyes said. “We don’t need somebody else to drive the split. We need a hostage negotiator at the Capitol.”
In the debate, Keyes said the same negotiation skills needed in successful marriages also are needed in the Legislature.
“When we fail to negotiate, we fail to protect Oklahoma,” Keyes said.
Standridge disagreed.
“I will never, ever negotiate with a RINO. Ever,” she said.
During her interview, Standridge explained her reasons for seeking SD 15.
“I have had the opportunity to watch firsthand what goes on in our State Senate because of Rob, my husband, being a senator,” she said. “It was truly startling the way that the sausages were made. I chose to continue to fight for voices to be heard rather than stick my head in the sand and look the other way.”
Asked during her interview how she would handle switching roles with her husband if she is elected, Lisa Standridge replied, “Rob is out of the picture as far as the Legislature.”
“I would be working in the Legislature, not him, so we would not work together in any way. We’re two different people. People voting in the ballot boxes, they vote for me, not him,” Standridge said. “Will they know that I am just as conservative as Rob? Absolutely. But we are both different people, and we do things different ways.”
During the debate, candidates were asked how they would improve school safety.
Standridge said teachers in Oklahoma need to be allowed to carry handguns because “idiots” planning a school shooting know the location of a school resource officer. (Currently, state law allows local school boards to approve policies for school staff to carry firearms if they have either an armed security guard license or a valid reserve peace officer certificate.)
Keyes said he does not have a problem with educators having firearms, but he said they would need to be trained and retrained.
“We’re in a classroom full of kids, and if we pull that trigger back and we start missing, we got some problems,” Keyes said. “Now I’m not saying that we don’t empower the teachers. We have to find a plan to empower, but the moment we just say [every employee can possess a gun on campus], if they don’t get vested and trained, trained, trained, we will be killing our own children if we’re not careful here.”
Standridge disagreed.
“I think that with training we can do just fine. Those children are going to be killed anyway if a gunman comes in, so I mean, you got to face the reality there,” Standridge said. “Even if we did do teacher-carry, just the fact of someone knowing somebody in the school, yes there’s an SRO, but there’s teachers in here that are armed. Do you think they’re going to think twice before they come in and try to pull that? I think so.”
The candidates were also asked about their approach to criminal justice reform.
“I am a proponent of the punishment must fit the crime, but I’m always going to stand with the victim, always. Criminal justice reform to me, it sounds good, but it’s a slippery slope,” Standridge said. “Especially when you look at what’s been done under the guise of criminal justice reform in California. For example, if somebody in California steals something that’s less than $1,000, they can’t even be arrested. (…) I think we have to be really careful when it comes to criminal justice reform because I will never ever agree to let anybody California my Oklahoma or San Francisco my Norman.”
Keyes said he does not have a lot of compassion for criminal behavior and that his father was a correctional officer at Arizona State Penitentiary.
“The common thread that I have seen my whole life with a lot of crime is generational. It’s a generational problem,” Keyes said.
He said he supported what Texas has done in creating diversionary programs for nonviolent offenders.
“The sooner we start doing that with people, the earlier we start that, the better the outcome is,” he said.
Standridge took a harder stance on offenders.
“Everybody has a cross to bear. Everybody has a sob story. Don’t tread on me because you have mommy issues. You do the crime, you do the time,” Standridge said.
