Bitter feud: Tribes trying to bring down Oklahoma Governor's re-election bid

Ahead of the Oklahoma Gubernatorial election, incumbent Republican Kevin Stitt is paying for his term-long feud with many of the 39 Native American tribes, which are now opposing his re-election bid.

Oklahoma
Listen To Article

The election is five weeks away and, in a rare move for the often-competitive Native American gambling tribes, five of the state’s most powerful tribes have now backed Democratic opponent Joy Hofmeister – who switched from the Republican party to the Democrats to challenge Stitt.

Traditionally, Oklahoma is a committed Republican state; however, because of the influence wielded by the tribal base, the race has become a tense affair.

Pat McFerron, an Oklahoma GOP political consultant and pollster, said of the race: “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen (the tribes) more active than they are today. I think they might have flown under the radar a little bit more before.”

The feud began when Stitt announced he wanted to renegotiate the tribal contracts in Oklahoma at the beginning of his term, which was unsuccessful. Following that, he attempted to overturn the US Supreme Court’s Tribal Sovereignty decision, causing an uproar

Before, finally, his administration revoked hunting and fishing contracts held between the state and the tribes last year.

Despite the public animosity, Stitt has said his second term will be about healing his relationship between himself and the tribes, saying: “I’ve told people I will not go down in history as the Governor that gives my state away. A lot of people want to paint this as an anti-Indian thing. This is not. This is a pro-Oklahoma thing.”

Premium+ Connections
Premium

Digitain

 
Premium

Revsharks

 
Premium

1xBet Partners

 
Premium

PIN-UP Partners

 
Premium

Imagine Live

 
Premium

RISK

 
 
Premium

GammaStack

 
Premium

Sport Generate

 
Premium

Lynon

 
Premium

Galaxsys

 
Premium Connections
Consultancy

SCCG Management

Executive Profiles
Zeal Network SE

Stefan Tweraser

VIP Play

Les Ottolenghi

Scientific Games

Keshav Pitani

Social & App

Spribe CEO exclusive: Simplicity is the foundation

Spribe CEO David Natroshvili speaks to Gambling Insider abou...

Redefining iGaming: A history of crash games

Crash games is a growing vertical that has taken gambling by...

A certain something: What makes crash games special?

Crash games. They’re simple, they’re easy to learn and,...

Smarter innovation to shape the future

Spribe CCO Giorgi Tsutskiridze discusses the past, present a...

Facing Facts: The corner of quarterly contemplation

With Q1 reports out across the industry, Gambling Insider co...

Taking Stock: A guide to key stock prices across the industry

Gambling Insider tracks prices from some of the industry’s...

15 years of Gambling Insider: From the Founders

Over the last 15 years, Gambling Insider magazine has interv...

15 years of Gambling Insider: The Awards over time

Global Gaming Awards Event Manager Mariya Savova gives us he...