Bryan County Democrats had a “Workers over Billionaires” rally recently on the campus of Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
Democrats Patrick Southerland, candidate for Oklahoma Senate District 6, N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, candidate for U.S. Senate, and Rhonda Eastman, candidate for Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner, were among those attending.
Pat Notley, chair of the Bryan County Democrat party, said one of the purposes of the rally was to encourage young people to register to vote and give them an opportunity to meet candidates.
“There’s just so much going on right now and we Democrats have a reason to need to get our voices out there and help people understand our viewpoint a little bit, but part of it is we just want the right thing for the United States and for Oklahoma, and we know right now that with data centers is a concern and honestly with our ranchers and the concern that they have about beef coming into this country, possibly affecting their livelihood,” Notley said.
“We need to support our public institutions, and so affordability is a big issue. People are making a decision about whether they can put gas in their car or buy food for their family, and everything is just so tight right now. We are out there to hopefully give people a choice of what it is, what could be done for them because the government should be serving us, not us serving the government. I think we’re very concerned about what’s going on in Washington with so many vanity projects being done by the government as far as wrecking the ballroom, and the reflective pool and we’re concerned about our parks. We know now that they’re actually talking about drilling for oil in our parks and just getting rid of some of that and in fact, the parks have been giving up their money for all these vanity programs which is crazy.”
Asked about the reaction of students to the rally, Notley said it was in between.
“There are certainly a lot of students, and they actually received a document telling them that they didn’t have to engage with us today which I think is great but I would tell you that the college has been more than supportive of having us here,” Notley said.
Eastman said the Oklahoma Corporation Commission regulates energy and utilities.
“Right now, I don’t know about everybody else, my electric bill doubled this month from last and I’ve been getting people’s electric bills all over the state and no small part due to the rise of industrial builds and the infrastructure to provide energy to them and so it’s a big, big issue that’s basically all over the state and it’s not partisan, this is a non-partisan issue,” Eastman said.
“The working class, the majority of our state, 85 percent of our state earns less than $75,000 a year. Fiftyfour percent of our state earns less than 50. This is the working class and our representation rules have always been put in place to advance a small, small fraction of our industry so I’m here to regulate the utilities, the energy sector and help bring some balance to those offices and our lawmakers here will help bring the laws that I can regulate.”
Thomas said she wants to bring representation for all communities and to improve Oklahoma’s education ranking, healthcare and increase the minimum wage since a recent state question to increase it did not pass.
“I want to raise the minimum wage on the federal level so therefore everyone can make a living and thrive and not (just) survive,” Thomas said.
She said that she wants to keep data centers out of small communities because they are harmful.
“They’re harming our air quality, our water quality,” Thomas said. “They’re harming our crops, our animals, everything and so one thing I want to do is make sure that we have a moratorium set in place so then we do more research behind these issues. It’s not a no, it’s just not right now until we understand.
“There’s just a plethora of things that we need to address that has not been addressed on the federal level, and it’s just about prioritization. Making sure that our federal funding from the top actually trickles down, and I say trickles very lightly, down to our communities such as Durant, Oklahoma, because I grew up around here as well.
“I just want to make sure that we’re not being industrialized and that we’re actually producing and maintaining our lands but also putting back into our communities. Our communities should grow from this same red dirt that we’re kicking up every day, so this is the working-class revolution. Welcome to it.”
Southerland said he is running for state senate so individuals have a choice. That office is currently held by Republican David Bullard.
“My opponent ran unopposed last time and so my main thought process is I want people to be able to choose who their leadership is and I want to be that individual that hopefully is put into this spot to lead them and to taking us from 50th in education to a higher level or any of the other national things where we’re so low to that higher level,” Southerland said. “Oklahoma right now nationally is ranked fairly low and I think with the right leadership and the right change that I’m standing for, that we’re going to be able to take it from that lower setting to a higher standpoint and that’s my main goal is that the children, my children, my nieces and nephews and other individual’s families have an Oklahoma that’s a future that they’re proud to live in and it can bring more people because they are proud to be here as well.”
