Mark David Sanders

Biography

Mark David Garcia Sanders is an Independent candidate for Oklahoma’s First District, committed to freeing the district from party control and returning it to the people. A 4th-generation Tulsan, Mark combines a lifetime of academic, legal, and policy experience with deep empathy for the struggles of ordinary residents. He is a cancer survivor, a civil rights advocate of Native, Mexican, and European ancestry, and a seasoned lawyer and professor. As a follower of Jesus who respects all faiths, Mark aims to serve as a bridge-builder, finding common ground across the political spectrum.

Mark’s faith-inspired agenda addresses the struggles of poor and working-class Americans. He seeks to regenerate a diverse and autonomous U.S. economy by reclaiming the industrial base, addressing wealth disparities caused by globalization, and promoting working-class solidarity. He advocates for balancing energy independence with climate change concerns, pursuing humanitarian-focused foreign policy, and tackling the negative impacts of social media on youth. Mark also aims to reinvigorate democracy through national uniformity in election laws and campaign finance reform. His innovative and empathetic approach is designed to provide real solutions to the challenges facing Oklahoma and the nation.

Survey Issues

1.What do you feel should be the government’s role in public health and welfare?

Access to basic medical care is an important human right – as they say, “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.” Universal medical coverage is also a requirement for us all to live safely and prosper in our community. Truly, “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link” — for example, when we have significant segments of the population without access to preventative and other care, we all face an increased risk of infectious disease and other health-related burdens. 

The government has a critical role to play in creating a universal system of care. Where legal residents do not choose, or lack access to, privately arranged care, the government should make affordable, Medicare-style, national health coverage available for preventative, general, and catastrophic care. I also prefer the ease and efficiency of a “single payer” insurance system for medical care as an alternative to the frustrating complexities, gaps and inefficiencies of the private insurance market. 

2. What are your views on individuals being able to safely and securely access sensitive medical  procedures in privacy and without state control?

Medical issues, particularly surrounding reproduction – such as abortion – are deeply divisive because viewpoints are often tied to deeply-held moral and religious convictions. I respect all sincerely-held religious beliefs; yet I also desire to quell our culture wars so that working people can unite to make progress on “kitchen table” economic issues.  

With respect to abortion, I believe that all Americans should live under the same legal standard. The  current patchwork of state laws – forcing my neighbors to travel hundreds of miles for medical care – is insane. Individual states cannot create the necessary uniformity; so I intend to fight in 119th Congress to  enact a federal abortion standard. Obviously, that solution will only come through compromise legislation. The only way to restore a semblance of abortion rights in “red” states is to “exchange” that right for limitations on “late-term” abortions in “blue” states. The compromise I propose is a uniform 15-week federal abortion standard (with an exception for the life-of-mother) that preempts all inconsistent state laws, i.e. the uniform federal standard will function as a restored “right” in “red” states, and an over-15 week “ban” in “blue” states. That strikes me as a reasonable bargain to make in the post-Dobbs environment in order to restore rights where they have now been lost and reign in the most horrific abortion practices. 

3. What changes would you make to ensure every Oklahoman has the chance to participate meaningfully in the electoral process?

Due to gerrymandering and other partisanship, well over half of Oklahoma elections are decided without a general election – effectively disenfranchising thousands of Oklahomans of all political affiliations. In Congress, I will promote a uniform nationwide system of voter eligibility and election mechanics for all federal elections with the goal of expanding participation among all voters. 

4. Currently, only one political party in Oklahoma allows Independent voters to participate in  primary elections. What will you do to ensure that all registered voters are able to fully  express their political preferences?

We must stop forcing all taxpayers to pay for closed party primaries. Instead, we must comprehensively  restructure our election system. I strongly favor the “unified ballot” approach currently being promoted  here by Oklahoma United for Progress. That is a system without party primaries; instead, all candidates, regardless of party, run on one ballot with their party affiliation listed by their name. All registered  voters, regardless of their party, then vote for their preferred candidates. If no candidate receives more  than 50%, then the two candidates receiving the most votes (regardless of party affiliation) move to the  general election. This system is akin to that used in Tulsa and other Oklahoma cities for election of  mayor and other municipal offices. 

This format will give all lawfully registered Oklahoma voters a chance to vote for all their elected  officials, regardless of their party registration. Every taxpayer can participate in the elections they help  to fund. And every elected official will know that they have received the support of a majority of the  voting public in their district. 

5. Research from Pew Research Center indicates that “the role of money in politics” is  consistently one of the top concerns of American voters across the ideological spectrum. What  will you do to address this growing issue?

This is a difficult problem to solve because the current dysfunctional system is constitutionally insulated  by the Supreme Court’s opinions in Valeo (defining monetary contributions & expenditures as protected  First Amendment speech) and Citizens United (granting speech rights to corporations). Taken together,  these decisions allow oligarchs and corporations to completely drown out the political speech of regular  Americans of ordinary means. This Constitutional error has ushered in the absurd, anti-democratic, and  Establishment-supporting era of PAC spending, unregulated dark money, etc. 

The starting point for reform must be the initiation of a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Valeo and Citizens United. Once that is achieved we can begin working on legislation to limit and/or exclude certain types and amounts of political contributions and expenditures. 

6. Many Oklahomans experience discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender,  and other factors; how would you address these problems as an elected leader?

I am keenly aware of the effects of irrational discrimination on individuals, families and communities. I  am a person of Indigenous heritage, and my Mexican family has endured a great deal of ethnic hatred in  the United States, particularly because the marriage of my dark-complected grandfather and  blond/blue-eyed grandmother was not accepted by the community around them. I am a veteran of the  Civil Rights Movement. I have worked for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and in civil right enforcement  for the City of New York. In those roles I have fought fiercely for the rights of people of color, religious  minorities and persons of diverse orientations. 

That said, I have seen the problem of discrimination and bias improve in my lifetime. The Civil Rights  Movement was successful in leveling the playing field under the law; and as integration has proceeded,  most people are becoming more accepting of difference, and embracing the benefits of diversity. Yes;  we have had unacceptable episodes of intolerance arise – most notably, anti-Muslim bias in the wake of  the 9/11 attacks – but I trust and pray that we will continue to advance toward the goal of a tolerant  Oklahoma in which we all understand that we are enriched by our diversity. 

Likewise, it is vital in these times that we not allow our vigilance against identity bias create even greater  division among Americans struggling together to navigate an economy rigged against them all. “Identity  politics” are a distraction from the more fundamental and consequential battle to reclaim our shared  economic prosperity from the global economic elites. By design, the Elites are encouraging identity  politics to distract us from class-based economic disparities and dissuade us from class  solidarity. Ultimately, I look for policy solutions that can unite, rather than divide, working class  Americans of all races, creeds and orientations. 

7. How will you ensure that First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, protest, and  press are protected from infringement?

The answer is simply, “vigilance”. Our Constitution is strong, and nowhere more revered than in the  areas embraced by the First Amendment. The unique challenges we face today are largely in the realm  of digital media and expression. Most importantly, Congress must make sure that our own government  is not using tech companies and/or social media platforms as proxies to engage in censorship that the  state itself could not otherwise engage in.  

By the same token, we must protect our children and youth from an onslaught of harmful content. It is  now a well-established fact that America is experiencing an epidemic of youth despondency, resulting in  thousands of annual deaths by suicide; and that heartbreaking trend closely tracks the advent of social  media and its near universal adoption by our vulnerable youth. Corporate media should not enjoy a First  Amendment right to intrude into our children’s development with powerful addicting and harmful  content. I favor requiring (i) strict age verification (18+) for access to pornographic content, and (ii)  social media companies to limit accounts to persons over the age of 18. 

8. What issues do you see in our criminal legal system that could be reformed to be more  equitable and efficient?

We have made some good progress in recent years in the area of criminal justice reform. But we must  continue to fine-tune our criminal justice system to make sure we are keeping our communities safe  while not over-incarcerating or otherwise erecting roadblocks to the earliest possible rehabilitation of  those who have committed crimes. 

9. What measures would you take to address food insecurity in Oklahoma?

Between the availability of SNAP, government surplus and other “banked” food, and private charity, I  feel that there is enough food available to those who need it. I am more focused on the quality of the  food consumed by those of lesser means. We need more government initiatives that assure that food  “handouts” facilitate and encourage the availability of fresh and otherwise healthy food options. 

10. How would you protect people renting in Oklahoma from predatory landlords and expand  affordable housing options in our state?

Landlord-tenant relations are solely a matter of state and local law. Because I am running for federal  office, I’ll have to defer to Oklahoma state legislators to address those problems.  As for affordable housing, state legislators have some promising tools to work with. For instance, local  zoning laws can be modified to encourage housing development with greater density in more suburban  areas. While serving in Congress, I will constantly look for funding and other opportunities to make housing  and home ownership more affordable nationwide.