2022 OK Governor's race: on Health Care


Ervin Yen: Mandate masks and mandate vaccines for coronavirus

A doctor and former state senator has officially announced his campaign for governor in 2022. Yen said, "The governor of Oklahoma's top job should be to protect our state and our people. Oklahoma is sorely lacking with that type of leadership. If this is allowed to continue, we could still be in this pandemic on election day 2022." The announcement also comes when the Oklahoma State Department of Health reported a record-breaking number of COVID-19 cases.

"Oklahoma desperately needs a mask mandate covering all 77 counties," Yen said. "This virus is so contagious, it will go everywhere. It just goes to rural areas later than urban areas. Mandating masks in a county after an outbreak is way too late."

"The benefits of vaccines far, far outweigh the risks," Yen added. "They save lives and are going to be even more important in the future. Oklahoma's mandated vaccines should only have an exemption for medical reasons."

Source: KOCO-5 ABC News on 2022 Oklahoma Gubernatorial race Nov 8, 2020

Ervin Yen: COVID: Oklahoma desperately needs a mask mandate

On the coronavirus pandemic: "Oklahoma desperately needs a mask mandate covering all 77 counties," Yen said. "I thought perhaps Oklahoma would be spared being a hot spot, since we have always socially distanced, compared to places like NYC. I was wrong. This virus is so contagious, it will go everywhere. It just goes to rural areas later than urban areas. Mandating masks in a county after an outbreak is way too late."
Source: KOCO News 5-ABC on 2022 Oklahoma gubernatorial race Nov 8, 2020

Ervin Yen: Privatizing Medicaid is simply a bad idea

Yen said he is opposed to Gov. Kevin Stitt's plan to implement managed care. "Privatizing Medicaid is simply a bad idea. This was tried years ago here and failed," Yen said.
Source: KOCO News 5-ABC on 2022 Oklahoma gubernatorial race Nov 8, 2020

Joy Hofmeister: COVID: I'd have listened to experts instead of changing them

[On COVID response]: "We have a global pandemic, and it mattered who was governor in 2020," said Hofmeister. "We've had 10,000 Oklahomans lost. When you understand now how critical it was to have had a leader who contemplated expert advice and opinion and set an example to help protect Oklahomans, we could have avoided thousands of people dying."

So what would she have done differently? "I wouldn't have churned through four state epidemiologists in the middle of a pandemic."

Source: Tulsa World on 2022 Oklahoma Gubernatorial race Jan 22, 2022

Joy Hofmeister: Supported Medicaid expansion under Obamacare

Ms. Hofmeister also recognizes the other challenges facing Oklahomans, including infrastructure and access to healthcare. Healthcare in particular is where Ms. Hofmeister takes aim at current Governor Stitt, who supported twice-impeached former President Donald Trump's managed health care plans for Oklahoma citizens. Ms. Hofmeister, on the other hand, has supported the Medicaid expansion--which saw hundreds of thousands of Oklahoma families receive medical benefits.
Source: The Black Wall Street Times on 2022 Oklahoma Governor race Jan 22, 2022

  • The above quotations are from 2022 Oklahoma Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Health Care.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Kevin Stitt on Health Care.
Candidates and political leaders on Health Care:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Feb 14, 2023