Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Oklahoma

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Oklahoma performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Oklahoma Governor

From 1992 to 2013, Oklahoma had Democratic governors in office for 11 years while there were Republican governors in office for 11 years, including the last three. Oklahoma was under Republican trifectas for the last three years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Oklahoma Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Oklahoma State Senate for the first 15 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last five years.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Oklahoma House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives for the first 13 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last nine years. Oklahoma was under Republican trifectas for the final three years of the study.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were five partisan control changes in Oklahoma during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Oklahoma slightly higher than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Oklahoma’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 40.05, which puts it at 41 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that Oklahoma had the highest ranking was 2011, in which it ranked 31st.
• The year that Oklahoma had the lowest ranking was 1998, in which it ranked 46th.
• The index type that Oklahoma had the highest ranking in was Tax Freedom Day, in which it ranked 10th.
• The index type that Oklahoma had the lowest ranking in was Unfunded Pension Liabilities Per Capita, in which it ranked 45th.

Oklahoma SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	32	28	33
America's Health Rankings	36	38	41	42	39	41	43	41	44	41	48	43	42	46	44	49	47	49	46	46	43
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	28	26	32	20	22	18	17	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	18	31	26	21	22	19	11	17
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	32	28	23	25	28	23
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	19	30	26	20	33	13	9
Govt. Employment Share Population	38	38	38	36	36	38	36	37	37	40	40	38	40	41	41	41	41	42	41	42	45
Graduation Rate	17	24	24	21	22	18	24	12	26	20	23	20	22	22	24	24	26	21	23	21	25
Personal Income Per Capita	39	40	43	44	44	44	45	44	42	39	39	40	39	39	37	38	31	34	34	32	32
Poverty Rate	44	45	42	44	39	32	37	36	45	43	39	36	18	45	43	36	33	22	35	23	N/A
Real GDP per capita	44	44	46	46	46	39	42	44	43	40	42	43	42	43	41	40	39	38	37	37	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22	21	20	18	17	20	21	12	12	12	13	14
State Govt. Spending/GDP	38	31	35	33	32	30	31	31	24	34	36	35	30	29	30	29	25	31	31	30	N/A
State & local tax burden	13	19	19	20	22	22	25	28	24	23	23	19	19	18	19	14	11	14	15	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	10
Unemployment Rate	15	18	29	16	10	17	26	18	12	10	16	23	23	20	18	21	6	9	8	6	5
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	47	47	39	N/A
Voter Turnout	27	24	24	31	31	36	36	39	39	28	28	36	36	41	41	46	46	39	39	48	48
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	36	39	38	39	39

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Oklahoma state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. During the years of the study, Oklahoma had both Democratic and Republican trifectas. Its Democratic trifectas occurred from 1992-1994 and from 2003-2004. Its Republican trifectas occurred from 2011-2013. Oklahoma's SQLI ranking was in the bottom-10 for many years of the study, finishing 44th in 1994 at its lowest. In more recent years of the study, however, the state's ranking improved, finishing 31st in 2011 at its highest. Oklahoma's worst ranking occurred during a Democratic trifecta, and its best occurred during a Republican trifecta.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 41.80
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 31.50
• SQLI average with divided government: 40.64

Chart displaying the partisanship of Oklahoma government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of Oklahoma
• Oklahoma State Senate
• Oklahoma House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs