How Conservative is Oklahoma?

By Jennifer Pierce, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- It is no secret every county around the state went red in the last election, but just how conservative is Oklahoma? New data released to NEWS 9 shows the trends of Oklahoma voters, and it may come as a surprise.

"Crisis has a way of focusing Americans," political researchers Keith Gaddie said.

But the economic crisis is not the only topic the OU political science professor and political researcher is studying. Keith Gaddie is tracking how Oklahomans believe and respond to politics.

His most recent work focuses on the peaks and valleys of Oklahoma conservatives, moderates, and liberals.

While then Presidential Candidates Barak Obama and John McCain duked it out on the campaign trail, research shows conservatives dropped and moderates increased from the beginning of the party conventions to the Presidential Election.

"One of the questions we got curious about is why?" Caddie said.

Gaddie calls it the "Campaign Effect."

"The nature of the issues being covered in the campaign puts a strong emphasis on moderation, coming together both presidential campaigns are trying to run to the center," Gaddie said.

The trend to the center not only happened in Oklahoma, but across the country. But after the election, the gap between conservatives and moderates opens back up.

"We are back to where we were before," Gaddie said.

Research says part of that is in response to the new administration, but most of it is due to the end of an intense campaign season.

"You don't have this intense immersion of the public in campaign effects, campaign advertising, national news coverage of the campaign. So what happens is local media affects and usual media affects take back over," Gaddie said.

Gaddie expects the conservative trend to continue in Oklahoma, even though he said we are still feeling some of the campaign aftershocks.

The President's approval rating in Oklahoma at 48 percent and the disapproval rating sits at 47 percent. Gaddie said those numbers are impressive and are most likely a residual effect of the campaign.