Last Updated on October 12, 2022, 3:44 PM | Published: October 12, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — With less than a month until election day, the two candidates competing for Oklahoma County district attorney, Republican Kevin Calvey, and Democrat Vicki Behenna, participated in a public debate Tuesday night.
The hour-long debate, co-hosted by NonDoc media and News9, was held in person and live-streamed on the Facebook pages of both publications. The two candidates answered three rounds of questions with an equal time of 60 seconds.
Oklahoma County voters will decide which candidate will replace current DA David Prater, who will be stepping down after 16 years.
Behenna was selected to work on the OKC bombing case prosecuting Timothy McVeigh as an Assistant U.S Attorney in the Western District of Oklahoma. Her extensive experience separates her from her opponent, with a 25-year tenure in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and serving the last nine years as a defense attorney.
Calvey is a former member of the OK House of Representatives and is currently an Oklahoma County Commissioner. He is also a veteran of the Iraq War where his mission included prosecuting several terrorists. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by the U.S. Army for his service. Calvey has made it clear that he would not be “soft on crime” as a DA in the name of public safety.
Marijuana, Prosecutorial discretion, State Corruption
In the first round of questions, the two candidates were asked a series of questions on topics ranging from their stance on marijuana and prosecutorial discretion to their positions on prosecuting state corruption.
In one specific question, candidates were asked how they plan to exercise prosecutorial discretion when it comes to making decisions as the DA.
District 3 County Commissioner Calvey said in his response that while incarceration is a prosecutor’s “most important tool,” the main goal is to protect public safety. Calvey discussed how the expansion of drug court, mental health court, and veterans court programs can be used to increase public safety.
“The best result for public safety is not always along prison sentences, we have to look at things on a case-by-case basis as much as possible,” Calvey said.
Behenna said that she would prioritize fairness above all when it comes to making decisions as the state’s prosecutor.
“Prosecutors have to assemble evidence, review the evidence and then make charging decisions based upon that evidence,” Behenna said. “You don’t prejudge a case based on what a defendant looks like or what zip code they’re from.”
Both candidates seemed to agree that they would not hesitate to stand up to public corruption, regardless of party affiliation.
Death and the Jail
In the second round of questions, the candidates were questioned on their positions on the death penalty, abortion, and issues concerning the County Jail.
Both candidates agreed that the death penalty should be rarely sought and reserved for the most heinous of circumstances. According to Calvey, that includes “cop killers and terrorists.” Behenna, the former Executive Director of the Oklahoma Innocence Project, did not specifically mention which crimes would warrant capital punishment, she did however, emphasize the importance of carefully reviewing the evidence to avoid wrongful executions.
“If someone is facing the death penalty, we better be damn sure we got the right person and the evidence to prove it,” Behenna said.
On the topic of abortion, both candidates vowed not to prosecute women who seek to obtain a legal abortion.
One major topic that came up during the debate was the management of the County Jail. Calvey, who serves on the Jail Trust, was asked about what is currently being done about the increase in jail deaths, sexual assaults and other issues.
Calvey responded, saying that the new jail facility will fix many of the issues the jail currently faces. He insisted that the jail trust is “more transparent” and has made significant progress in managing the jail.
“It is not perfect, but they are making progress,” Calvey said. “You can’t solve 30 years of mismanagement in just a short time.”
The Jail Trust was created in 2019 to oversee the operations of the County Jail in an effort to address the myriad of issues that plague the jail, including an increase in deaths, overcrowding, and other decades-long problems.
The handoff of the Jail from the Sheriff’s Office to the Jail Trust was July 1, 2020.
Behenna criticized the management of the County Jail, especially when it comes to the rise in inmate deaths in the past year. There have been 14 reported deaths in the jail so far in 2022.
“These are people that we presume to be innocent until proven guilty, they should not be dying in the Oklahoma County Jail,” Behenna said.
Personal Record
The final round gave the candidates a chance to answer specific questions regarding concerns voters may have regarding their personal record.
Calvey reiterated statements he has made about dismissing criminal charges against five OKCPD police officers in the shooting death of Stavian Rodriguez.
Free Press reported this promise in our coverage of the OKC FOP debate held to hear from Republican DA candidates in December 2021. In that debate, Calvey said that it was “absolutely outrageous and malicious” that those five officers were being prosecuted.
Calvey has been criticized for making such promises without reviewing the evidence of the case.
“The responsible thing to do would be never to have filed those charges to begin with and to dismiss those now,” Calvey said.
In her response, Behenna said that making such statements are improper and dangerous, without knowing the facts of the case. According to Behenna, Calvey’s statements are pandering to police officers in order to secure their vote.
Behenna was questioned about her son, Michael Behenna, who was convicted of unpremeditated murder of a detainee in a combat zone in 2008. Michael Behenna was granted a full pardon by former President Donald Trump after his mother advocated for him to be pardoned. Considering this, Behenna was asked if this situation would affect her judgement when making decisions in cases involving law enforcement caused deaths.
The same issue was covered at length in the pre-primary Democratic candidates debate:
Behenna said that in her experience as a prosecutor, she’s used hired experts in use-of-force to help evaluate facts and technicalities that would determine if excessive force was used.
Voter Information
The polls will open Nov. 8 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting runs from Nov. 2 through Nov. 5.
The deadline to register to vote is Friday, Oct. 14. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 24 by 5 p.m.
Brianna Garcia is a freelance journalist covering local politics and culture for Free Press. She has a degree in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma.
