Karen Gaddis

Biography

Karen Gaddis is running for Senate District 25. She is a former Oklahoma State Representative for District 75. As State Senator, Gaddis will advocate for continued increases in funding for teacher pay and support staff, and most importantly, for increasing per-pupil expenditures. She will promote smaller class sizes and improved student support services and will work to guarantee that every student in our state is allowed to excel. Additionally, she will advocate for more funding for our trade schools and higher education so that every Oklahoman can succeed in a competitive environment. As State Senator, she will work to widen our job market, empower skilled workers, and attract them from out of state. She will work to pass legislation that will help keep Oklahomans healthy and save our state millions of dollars. Gaddis believes every person has the right to affordable, accessible, high-quality healthcare, and will work to make this available for all Oklahomans. She will work towards creating opportunities for small business owners to further develop their businesses.

Survey Issues

Public Health

• What do you feel should be the government’s role in public health and welfare?
  • The government’s role in public health and welfare should be promoting good health and welfare to the general public by providing information based on respected and reliable scientific study, by providing vaccines and medical tests to promote public health, and by regulating pricing of drugs and medical procedures to ensure that they are available to all. You can’t legislate people NOT accepting good health and welfare by not taking vaccines or not wearing masks in an airborne pathogen crisis or by taking drugs that adversely affect their mental health. Stupid people make stupid choices.

• What are your views on individuals being able to safely and securely access sensitive medical procedures in privacy and without state control?
  • Access to medical procedures should be determined by medical professionals together with their patients – not politicians, not religious institutions, not insurance companies, not family members or concerned friends.  The only exceptions I can think of are parents of minor children or persons who hold powers of attorney over specified others.

 Voting

• What changes would you make to ensure every Oklahoman has the chance to participate meaningfully in the electoral process?
  • Changes that I would suggest so every Oklahoman has the chance to participate meaningfully in the electoral process are:
    • automatic registration for citizens over 18 holding driver’s licenses and/or registering their automobiles
    • making absentee voting easier to accomplish with fewer regulations and restrictions
    • making early voting more accessible in terms of time and locations
    • having voter registration forms available at more locations, like post offices, librairies, public schools
    • making the required identification forms free; otherwise, they act like a poll tax
    • felons being allowed to vote based on their completing their sentences (not on fines or fees)
• 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?
  • I’m hearing more and learning more about “ranked voting” and I kind of like the idea: ALL persons who file for a political office appear on a single primary ballot where they are numerically ranked by the voters; the lower the total rankings a candidate receives, the better; the top two make it to the general election.  ALL political parties can participate as candidates and as voters.

• 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?
  • Our current state of elections is – the winner is the highest bidder, i.e, candidates who have monied backers can literally buy their way into office.  Strong regulations must be put into this process to prevent anyone with deep pockets from “buying” the government they want.

Discrimination and Civil Rights

• 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?
  • Discrimination is somewhat “ethereal”, i.e., it is hard to “shine a light” on discrimination and to prove it.  However, regulations and laws on discrimination need to exist and need to be enforced with forceful repercussions such as large fines, or loss of jobs or licensure.

• How will you ensure that First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, protest, and press are protected from infringement?
  • The only way to ensure that First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, protest, and press are protected from infringement is to bring lawsuits to bear EVERY TIME these rights are abridged.  If laws don’t support these rights, then change the laws through lobbying or by the referendum petition process.

Criminal Justice

• What issues do you see in our criminal legal system that could be reformed to be more equitable and efficient?
  • Issues in our criminal legal system that could be reformed are:
    • fees and fines.  Often, people satisfy their sentence and are released only to find that they now face a monumental mountain of debt in the way of court costs, fees and fines.
    • sentence leniency for parents of young children. I am continually disturbed by the foster children problem in Oklahoma.  Mothers should not be separated from their children. Perhaps mothers could serve their sentences on weekends to satisfy the courts and spend the weeks with their children; perhaps that would lengthen their sentences, but maybe that would be a good thing and result in less recidivism.

Anti-Poverty

• What measures would you take to address food insecurity in Oklahoma?
  • Food insecurity in Oklahoma is a national embarrassment; it’s like we’re a third-world country.  One of the measures that should NOT be taken to address food insecurity in Oklahoma is NOT to make it the responsibility of philanthropists or churches or charities or Native American nations; they already have enough on their plate to take up this HUGE problem by themselves. The Oklahoma State Government is responsible for making sure ALL OKLAHOMANS have enough food to live on. If that means eliminating taxes on food (ALL food, unlike the current law – if it can be classified as a consumable food, then there should be no state tax.). If it takes money to buy food, then raise the minimum wage.  For people who CAN’T work to earn money to buy food, then provide them with free food anyway. The waiting periods for people to get into some of these state programs are maddeningly long! People require these basic things: food, shelter, mental/physical medical care. If they don’t get these basic necessities, then out of desperation, they make bad decisions and become a ward of the state anyway in the form of a guest in one of our palatial prisons.

• How would you protect people renting in Oklahoma from predatory landlords and expand affordable housing options in our state?
  • Rental landlords should be restricted to living within 100 miles of their rental property.  We have problems in this state from out-of-state landlords who use our Oklahoma rental properties as tax write-offs and who never set foot in our state to inspect or repair their properties or even just visit their tenants. The properties deteriorate and adversely affect their tenants’ mental and physical health. Some of these out-of-state landlords are also ignorant of property values in our state and ask exorbitant rental fees that might appear normal in their home state, but are completely out of line in Oklahoma.  This creates a domino effect in that rental rates of other properties go up as well, inflating the entire rental market.