Carter Co. GOP Chair Running For Congress Doesn’t Sit Well With Some
Carter County officer’s run for Congress chafes Oklahoma Republican Party chairman
by Chris Casteel
WASHINGTON — Anna Flatt has paid her dues for the Oklahoma Republican Party, doing the tough, no-glory work at the county level like knocking doors and organizing potluck dinners.
She became disillusioned with the party in 2008 after the financial bailout and discovered then-U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican with a strong libertarian bent. Flatt supported Paul for president in 2012 and won a delegate slot to the Republican National Convention that year.
Now she’s challenging U.S. Rep. Tom Cole in the Republican primary — a situation that has caused some internal friction because Flatt, of Ardmore, is the chairwoman of the Carter County Republican Party. Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Dave Weston asked her to step aside as chairwoman, but Flatt refused.
Friction between Paul supporters and the Republican Party establishment is nothing new. The party’s Oklahoma state convention in 2012 ended in an angry walkout by Paul supporters, who felt they had been wronged by the party leadership. At the national convention a few months later, some of them booed Gov. Mary Fallin during her prime-time speech.