By Janelle Stecklein | Editor
“It’s probably just a way to kind of gin up maybe some activism or voter interest. … It may be a way to drive up support for one segment of the Republican Party as opposed to another. So if you can tie someone as being sympathetic to the side that they’re going after, then you can gin up support for the more conservative side.” - Stephen Nemeth of an executive order ordering state agencies to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations
Gov. Kevin Stitt delivers his final State of the State Address on Feb. 2, 2026, at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
By Emma Murphy
Gov. Kevin Stitt’s latest effort targeting Muslim groups is “political theater” meant to tap into a broader undercurrent of Islamophobia and create unwarranted fears during an election year, experts said.
They said Stitt’s demand that state resources be used to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, is similar to previous efforts nationally and in other Republican states. It comes amid a hotly contested election cycle where a Muslim American recently won a high-profile primary in Michigan and the GOP is looking to justify why the U.S. is at war with Iran.
Stitt’s executive order earlier this month requires that the state’s Department of Public Safety and the Homeland Security office conduct an investigation to determine if CAIR or the Muslim Brotherhood present any terrorism-related threats to Oklahoma. It also seeks to ensure taxpayer-funded state resources do not support or enable terrorism and also requires the state agencies to “take lawful preventive and investigative action supported by the resulting intelligence.”
Mike Mazzei addresses his supporters on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, during Mazzei’s watch party in Bixby, Okla. Supporters gathered to watch results in the Republican primary election. (Photo by Ace Cuervo/For Oklahoma Voice)
By Barbara Hoberock
Amid growing public pressure from his fellow Republican gubernatorial opponent, Mike Mazzei on Monday reversed course and released the results of a test that came up negative for drugs and other substances.
(Photo by David Talukdar/Getty Images)
By Clark Kauffman
Gibbins Advisors, a financial consulting firm based in Tennessee, is suing Accura Healthcare, an Oklahoma company that operates 27 senior-care facilities within Iowa, in Polk County District Court.
The South Carolina delegation’s sign is seen as former President Barack Obama speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 2024. (Photo by Shaun Griswold / Source New Mexico)
By Sam Gauntt
The Democratic National Committee on Saturday approved by voice vote its lineup of six early primaries for the 2028 election cycle, kicking off with South Carolina and Nevada.
Department of Corrections (Photo by Susan J. Demas)
By Katherine Dailey
A corrections officer at Newberry Correctional Facility in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula digitally altered a Native American prisoner’s ID to depict him wearing a feathered headdress, stereotypical Indigenous attire and facial paint, a lawsuit filed in Michigan state court in early August alleges.
ICYMI
Thanks for reading The Word on Oklahoma. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.