Pubdate: Sat, 10 May 2014
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 2014 World Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463
Author: Randy Krehbiel
Page: A15

DEMOCRAT JOHNSON WANTS POT VOTE

The U.S. Senate Candidate Says the Issue Will Draw New Voters to the
Polls.

Legalizing marijuana may not be central to Connie Johnson's U.S.
Senate platform, but it is important to her long-shot campaign's
election strategy.

Long an advocate of decriminalizing marijuana, the Oklahoma state
senator said at the Tulsa County Democratic Party's monthly luncheon
that the issue gets people to the polls who don't otherwise vote - and
those new voters are a potential boon for political candidates like
her.

"This whole issue, to me, is not about smoking marijuana," said
Johnson. "It's about criminalizing it. That's where these young people
stand to be hurt the most. They get that."

Johnson talked mostly about standard Democratic campaign issues:
education, women's rights, low wages, health care.

But, responding to a question from the audience, she said that as many
as three state questions dealing with marijuana legalization could be
on this November's ballot.

She said she is looking at circulating an initiative petition herself
and knows of at least two others being contemplated.

"The possibility

of

getting it on the ballot is still real," Johnson said.

She conceded that many obstacles remain, including disagreements
within the pro-marijuana camp.

Some want to legalize it only for medical use, and some want it for
recreational use, Johnson said.

Some want to tax and regulate it like drugs and alcohol are. Some
don't.

A state senator from Oklahoma City, Johnson is involved in a three-way
Democratic primary for the Senate seat being vacated by Tom Coburn.

The other two candidates, Patrick Michael Hayes of Anadarko and Jim
Rogers of Midwest City, are not considered serious candidates.

But that doesn't mean they - and Rogers especially - don't pose a
threat to Johnson.

A crusty, colorful perennial candidate whose past campaigns have
consisted mainly of his walking around the Oklahoma City area in a
red, crudelylettered sweatshirt and red cap, the 79-year-old Rogers
has been something of a cult figure.

He actually won the 2010 Democratic Senate primary with two-thirds of
the vote and got 40 percent against then-state Sen. Andrew Rice in
2008.

Rogers received 14 percent in the 2012 Oklahoma Democratic
presidential primary, which would have qualified him for a delegate to
the National Democratic Convention had he completed the proper paperwork.

Given the attention to the Republican primary for the same office -
and the general malaise among Oklahoma Democrats - Johnson is
understandably concerned that her race will be forgotten on Election
Day.

"Unless we change who's voting, things will stay the same," she said.
"It's time to send a message - not only to the policymakers ... but to
the people - that we can change this."

One way to change who's voting, Johnson said, is to put pot on the
ballot.
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