TULSA, Okla. — The reality of the first presidential ticket since 1976 not to include a Clinton, Bush, or Biden is settling in among local leaders.
State Rep. Regina Goodwin is already State Senator-elect as no opponent has filed to run in November. Rep. Goodwin will also vote on her party's next nominee for president at next month's Democratic National Convention in Chicago as an elected delegate.
She now finds herself following Pres. Biden's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.
"She has served admirably. She's extremely capable," Goodwin told 2 News July 21. "And who better to serve now as president?"
Fellow state house democrat Melissa Provenzano did not publicly want Biden to drop out either, and expressed gratitude in an interview with 2 News via Zoom.
"(I'm thankful) for putting our economy back on track for calming and stabilizing the country after January 6th and for putting the pieces in place to move forward after the COVID pandemic," Rep. Provenzano said.
The Tulsa County Republican Party is shaking off the news, and still views former Pres. Trump as the clear front-runner.
"I feel that Trump can take on any candidate that the democrats can put forward and beat them," county GOP chair Ronda Vuillemont-Smith said. "So we're really looking forward to November, whoever the candidate is."
There's also hope nationwide the switch to VP Harris as the nominee would spur some new energy to motivate voters, even in Green Country.
"I'm hoping that voter engagement will be at an all-time high because it should be," Provenzano said. "It's our civic duty to head to the polls. We have elections in August. We have elections in November here in the Tulsa area."
Goodwin said that motivation should already be the case.
"We as Americans cannot forget what we are up against when it comes to preserving democracy (and) saving democracy," the senator-elect said.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma and much of Tulsa County remains historically red. Vuillemont-Smith said GOP candidates will have the upper hand come November to keep it that way.
"I'm feeling really good about it," she said. "Listen, these are democrat policies that have got us in the place we are today. And I think the people have seen a difference as far as the way republicans lead and the way democrats lead."
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