RINO Alert: HD70 Rep. Carol Bush shows true colors

Republican Ken Walker was one of only three incumbent legislators to lose their reelection bids (all Republicans, all defeated in their primaries). Walker lost the House District 70 GOP primary to challenger Carol Bush by just over 3% of the vote.

Walker ranked high in both his conservative rating average (9th in the House) and his Conservative Performance Index score (14th in the House). 

It appears that he's been replaced by a true 'RINO' (Republican In Name Only). In an interview with TheTulsaVoice.com, new HD70 State Rep. Bush reveals her true colors.

In the interview, she takes positions supporting numerous liberal positions. Here's a sampling:

ObamaCare: "Wrong execution of the right idea. I do believe we have to take care of the healthcare of everybody."

Tax Hikes 1: "We’ve taken too much money out of the budget in the last 12 years."

Tax Hikes 2: "I was all for that cigarette tax. It should go back on the table." 

Tax Hikes 3: [question from interviewer: "So, where do we make up the revenue? Higher taxes on horizontal drillers?"] Bush: "Yeah. What about a luxury tax?"

Gay "Rights": "Of course. You can’t legislate morality."

Abortion: appears to be pro-abortion, and wants schools to be able to give birth control to students

Bush also appears to lean toward allowing assisted-suicide laws, and found Rep. John Bennett's talk at a recent caucus meeting to be "prayer revival, Bible thumping" and "offensive", further saying "We need to muffle his megaphone."

Bush says she was recruited to run by extreme liberal Democrat ex-Rep. Jeannie McDaniel . McDaniel had the 7th most liberal rating in the House, and 5th worst CPI score.

It looks like she will be a "fitting" replacement for ex-Rep. Doug Cox, who had the 2nd-worst CPI score among Republican House members and the worst conservative average.

Primary Results: despite historic amount of candidates, few upsets

Votes are still being counted in from the primary election, but things have shaped up enough (or finished in some races) to see the final results. Despite a historic amount of candidates, there have been few upsets.

All five incumbent congressmen defeated their primary challengers. The closest race was in the 2nd District, where Markwayne Mullin leads Jarrin Jackson 63.3% to 36.7%.

So far, Jim Bridenstine received the highest total at 81.94%, despite having two opponents (Lucas, Mullin and Russell each had only one), and despite Tom Atkinson spending nearly as much or even more than Bridenstine did. In contrast, Mullin outspent Jackson at least 10-1 in his much smaller victory.

Finishing out the congressional primaries, Lucas got 78.3%, Cole got 71.5%, and Russell currently has 80.95%. On the Democratic side, Joshua Harris-Till is the 2nd District nominee, Christina Owen is the 4th District nominee, and former nominees Tom Guild and Al McAffrey are in a runoff in the 5th District (no candidate received more than 38% of the vote in that primary).

Of interest to Muskogee County, Dewayne Pemberton (R) and Jack Reavis (D) defeated their opponents in the Senate District 9 primaries. In House District 13, Avery Frix won a three-way GOP primary, and will face Democrat Wayne Herriman. Incumbent sheriff Charles Pearson lost the Democratic primary to Rob Frazier 52.62% to 47.38%; Frazier will face Republican Roger Posey in November.

The only incumbent state senator to be losing is Republican Corey Brooks (SD43), who is trailing with 48.08% and 49 of 54 precincts reporting.

There was slightly more drama in the state house, but still not much as far as upsets go, given how many contested primaries there were this time.

State Rep. Dennis Johnson (R-HD50) lost his reelection bid to Marcus McEntire 57.22% to 42.78%. Rep. Ken Walker (R-HD70) is currently losing with 46.21%, but only 13 of 22 precincts have reported. Rep. Charles Ortega (R-HD52) won with 50.9%. Rep. Donnie Condit (D-HD18) won with 50.51%. All other races with incumbents were won with large margins.

G.T. Bynum is beating Dewey Bartlett for Tulsa mayor 56.17% to 38.07% (148 of 185 precincts reporting).

See the federal and legislative results here, or go here for county-level results.