Contact: Randy Brogdon, Chairman Oklahoma Republican Party

405-528-3501

(Oklahoma City, OK) – Chairman Randy Brogdon announced on Friday that presidential candidate, Senator Ted Cruz will be joining the Oklahoma Republican Party Saturday, June 13th at 12:00pm for a luncheon at the Oklahoma Sport’s Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.

“Senator Cruz has been an outspoken advocate for the cause of conservatism and I am excited that he has chosen to come to Oklahoma to pitch his plan for the future of America,” Randy Brogdon, Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party said, “Oklahoma has some of the most active and informed grassroots Republicans around, so if Senator Cruz can sell his message here, he can do it anywhere.”

Tickets to the luncheon may be purchased online at www.OKGOP.com/CruzLunch through Friday, June 12th by 5:00pm. Tickets to only the luncheon are $50 per person with doors opening at 11:30am. Guests also have the opportunity to purchase tickets to a round table with Senator Cruz which will take place before the luncheon. Tickets sales from the luncheon will benefit the Oklahoma Republican Party.

– See more at: http://www.okgop.com/blog/2015/06/05/senator-ted-cruz-to-speak-at-okgop-luncheon-saturday-june-13th/#sthash.qZUi4iiL.dpuf

Cruz, a 2016 presidential candidate, is one of 14 speakers confirmed for the SRLC and will only take the stage during the Energizing America Gala. Cruz was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and quickly garnered national attention in Congress for his leading efforts to defeat Obamacare.

“Sen. Cruz’s recent announcement for president has created quite a buzz among Republican voters, and I know primary voters will want to hear what he has to say,” said Randy Brogdon, Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party (OKGOP). “With the future of Obamacare increasingly in doubt, many have looked to Cruz as the point of the spear in Republican efforts to defeat the president’s signature policy.”

Tickets to the Energizing America Gala can be purchased online through May 19 at www.okgop.com/srlcgala or by phone at (405) 528-3501. Tickets to only the gala are $100 per individual or $175 per couple. Guests also have the opportunity to purchase tickets to a 7 p.m. reception, which includes a picture with Cruz before the plated dinner at 7:30 p.m. Ticket sales from the gala will benefit the Oklahoma Republican Party.

The SRLC is a quadrennial event expected to draw at least 2,000 Republican Party activists from 14 southern states to hear from key Republican leaders on policy and politics of the day, to take part in grassroots training and participate in the first major presidential straw poll that is being conducted by Sooner Polling.

In addition to the Energizing America Gala, the three-day conference will also include an Oklahoma Welcome Reception on Thursday, May 21 at the Myriad Gardens and a luncheon featuring legendary energy entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens on Friday, May 22 at the Cox Convention Center. Both of these events are in addition to the conference fee. More information is available at http://www.srlc.gop.

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Fellow Oklahoma Republican,

It is exciting to think about the progress our party has made in Oklahoma the past 10 years. Supermajorities in the House and Senate, Republicans in every statewide elected office and Republican voter registration outnumbering Democrats for the first time in state history!

These great accomplishments don’t happen by accident. They are the result of hard work by Republicans across our state and solid leadership within our state party.

As Speaker of the House, I was privileged to work with Chairman Dave Weston throughout the 2014 election cycle. With his help, we were able to defend our supermajority, retaining 72 seats in the House!

Chairman Weston ensured the state party had the services in place to help our incumbents and candidates be successful in the recent election cycle and built a foundation for our party’s success in the future.

I am proud to call Dave Weston my friend, and I am proud to endorse him for reelection as chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party.

Chairman Weston’s conservative leadership will help grow our party as we work together to move Oklahoma forward.

Sincerely,

Jeff Hickman
Speaker of the House
State of Oklahoma

Monday, March 9:

Sayre Town Hall Meeting

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Western Technology Center

2002 NE Highway 66, Sayre, OK 73662

Clinton Town Hall Meeting

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Frisco Center

101 South 4^th Street, Clinton, OK

Tuesday, March 10:

Kingfisher Town Hall Meeting

2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Chisholm Trail Museum

605 Zellers Ave., Kingfisher OK

Watonga Town Hall Meeting

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

City Hall Grand Ballroom

117 N. Weigle, Watonga, OK

Wednesday, March 11:

Enid Town Hall Meeting

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Gantz Student Center, GU 100 (north side of the Ballroom)

100 South University Avenue, Enid, OK

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Bring your signs! Bring your family!  Invite your friends to join us in a “Rally of Appreciation” for Congressman Jim Bridenstine.  Let’s join together to tell Oklahoma’s most conservative Congressman that we appreciate the job he is doing, and encourage him to continue being a light in the dakness.

Let’s thank Congressman Jim Bridenstine for his fearlessness, courage and boldness to represent not just his constituency but the entire state of Oklahoma.

Since being elected as Oklahoma’s District 1 Congressman, Jim Bridenstine has served his constituents and the state of Oklahoma well, taking the hard and often unpopular stand to stand up for what’s right.

People across the state of Oklahoma are fiercely proud of Bridenstine; his leadership qualities, integrity and voting record reflect that Bridenstine is a man of honor.

Whether it is challenging party leadership, his refusal to follow the status quo, his determination to always speak the truth, Oklahomans recognize Congressman Bridenstine as a dependable, stalwart, honorable man who is led by God, his conscience, and the Constitution.

Let’s say “THANK YOU – we’ve got your back!!”

Family event – National and local speakers, Oklahoma Grassroots activists, Music and More!!

RNC Announces Debate Schedule Sanctions 9 Debates between now and March 1, 2016 First Debate to occur in August in Ohio

January 16, 2015

WASHINGTON – Today, at the Republican National Committee (RNC) Winter Meeting in San Diego, California, the RNC announced that it has sanctioned nine debates from August 2015 through March 1, 2016. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus presented a clear vision for the debate process, including the dates, locations and sponsors.

The RNC previously appointed a standing committee for presidential primary debates to sanction debates on behalf of the RNC. The committee chose to limit the number of debates, spread the debates across the country by sanctioning no more than one debate per state, allocate the debates over the course of seven months, include a larger conservative media presence and allow campaigns to know and plan for the debate schedule early. All of the sanctioned debates listed are contingent on further negotiations with the media partners and any future violation of RNC could result in the debate being unsanctioned.

“The 2016 cycle is underway, and I can tell you it will be a landmark election for Republicans,” Chairman Priebus said. “By constructing and instituting a sound debate process, it will allow candidates to bring their ideas and vision to Americans in a timely and efficient way. This schedule ensures we will have a robust discussion among our candidates while also allowing the candidates to focus their time engaging with Republican voters. It is exciting that Republicans will have such a large bench of candidates to choose from, and the sanctioned debate process ensures voters will have a chance to gain a chance to hear from them. The American people are tired of President Obama’s policies, and I am confident the debate process will enable candidates to communicate their ideas and ultimately help us elect a Republican president in 2016 to get our country back on track.”

In the coming weeks and months the RNC and the broadcast partners will make additional announcements of conservative media partners and panelists.

The nine debates sanctioned between schedule is listed below:

1. Fox News
August 2015
Ohio

2. CNN
September 2015
California

3. CNBC
October 2015
Colorado

4. Fox Business
November 2015
Wisconsin

5. CNN
December 2015
Nevada

6. Fox News
January 2016
Iowa

7. ABC News
February 2016
New Hampshire

8. CBS News
February 2016
South Carolina

9. NBC/Telemundo
February 2016
Florida

PENDING

Fox News
March 2016
TBD

CNN
March 2016
TBD

Conservative Media Debate
Date TBD
Locations TBD

A few paragraphs from the story:

For many state parties, the party may soon be over.

State party officials across the country say the explosion of money into super PACs, nonprofit groups and presidential campaigns has made fundraising more difficult. And some of those outside groups are starting to take over the traditional local roles state parties play, spending big on voter contact and outreach operations.

The effect is that candidates can be more beholden to national organizations or single-issue groups rather than state party leaders. That’s leading to a change in candidates and their beliefs and the issues that come up in elections and statehouses.

The GOP takeover of North Carolina in 2010 and 2012, for example, was bankrolled largely by the network founded by GOP megadonors Charles and David Koch and primarily directed through the nonprofit Americans For Prosperity. AFP’s former chairman, Art Pope, now serves as North Carolina budget director.

In Texas, two Democratic outside groups have essentially built a party organization outside the official Texas Democratic Party. Several Obama campaign veterans are running the group Battleground Texas as a field and turnout operation, while the Lone Star Project is doing opposition research and tracking against Republicans.

In New Jersey, labor groups funneled money into legislative elections through a group now called General Majority PAC, a free-spending outside group headed by a former top aide of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

In Wisconsin, it was labor money that drove recall fervor against Gov. Scott Walker and several GOP state senators in 2011. State Democratic officials were quietly hoping tonegotiate with state Republicans — before ultimately backing the labor-driven recall efforts.

Read the full article at Politico.com 

Rep. James Lankford led national Tea Party favorite T.W. Shannon in a survey of Oklahoma GOP primary voters commissioned for an organization supporting the congressman.

The Tarrance Group poll, conducted May 12-14 for Families for James Lankford, showed Lankford with 43 percent and Shannon at 33 percent with 18 percent undecided. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percent.

Lankford, who serves in House Republican leadership as the Policy Committee chairman, is battling Shannon, a state legislator who recently stepped down as state speaker, for the seat being vacated by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

In the survey memorandum obtained by the Washington Examiner, GOP pollsters Ed Goeas and B.J. Martino wrote that Lankford begins this contest with significant advantages.

Read the complete story on washingtonexaminer.com

You're invited to the grand opening of my campaign headquarters in Tulsa! Come on out tomorrow afternoon! pic.twitter.com/bIg2hBheoM

— Randy Brogdon (@RandyBrogdon) May 14, 2014

In January 2013, T.W. Shannon established two milestones.

He became the first black speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. And, at the age of 34, he became Oklahoma’s youngest House speaker in history.

Also noteworthy is that this young black American is a Republican.

Now T.W. Shannon is making new headlines. He has stepped down from his position as House speaker to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn.

Should Shannon succeed, he would become the second sitting black U.S. senator, joining South Carolina Republican Tim Scott.

I met this brilliant young conservative several years ago and it is hard for me to contain my enthusiasm for his candidacy for this Senate seat. Needless to say, the prospect of a new, courageous, and unapologetic conservative in the U.S. Senate is a something I find most appealing.

Read the complete story on savannahnow.com

Speaking in a room crowded with conservative voters Wednesday, three Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate agreed that out-of-control spending and federal overreach have put the nation on a path to ruin.

Former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon, U.S. Rep. James Lankford and former state Sen. Randy Brogdon spoke during an Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee candidate forum. Each made the case that he is the most conservative candidate in the field.

The three are vying to fill the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Tom Coburn, who plans to step down early next year.

Brogdon, of Owasso, warned voters that future generations will see a weak economic outlook if the country doesn’t change directions quickly. The country is “spending ourselves into oblivion,” he said.

Brogdon, who served in the Oklahoma Senate from 2002 to 2011, blamed the federal Environmental Protection Agency for driving jobs overseas and called the federal government “the greatest threat to our liberty and our economic prosperity.”

Shannon, of Lawton, cited his record as House speaker as proof of his conservative credentials, including refusing to expand Medicaid as a part of the federal Affordable Care Act.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee to lead T.W. Shannon Liberty Rally
Cruz Makes First Senate Endorsement of Shannon

LAWTON, OK (April 16, 2014) — Republican U.S. Senate candidate T.W. Shannon announced today that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has endorsed his campaign. Sen. Cruz will join Gov. Sarah Palin and U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, for a Liberty Rally next Thursday, April 24 in Tulsa. The endorsement is Sen. Cruz’s first endorsement in an open seat in the 2014 cycle.

“T.W. Shannon is a strong Constitutional conservative who will fight for individual liberty and help turn our country around,” Sen. Cruz said. “T.W. embodies the American dream. I’m proud to offer T.W. my enthusiastic endorsement because not only will he vote the right way, but he’ll stand up and fight with us in the Senate to stop President Obama’s assault on our liberties and defend America’s founding principles.”

“One of the things I keep hearing as I travel the state is that my fellow Oklahomans feel like their personal freedoms are under assault,” said T.W. Shannon. “Whether it’s the government mandating health insurance we don’t want, or invading our privacy, or forcing people to violate their conscience by providing abortion drugs—Oklahomans now fear their own government is taking away their liberty.

“But it doesn’t have to be this way. Thomas Jefferson said when the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. If conservatives here in Oklahoma and across America will unite, we can protect our God- given liberty, and take back this country.

“We need to send a message to Washington, D.C., and make our voices heard. I hope my fellow patriots from here in Tulsa and all across the state will join me with Gov. Palin, Sen. Cruz and Sen. Lee as we rally for Liberty here in the heartland.”

The Liberty Rally featuring Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee will take place Thursday, April 24 at 6:00pm at the Green Country Event Center located at 12000 E. 31st St. in Tulsa. The Rally is free and open to the public.

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Taylor Deceives Mailer implies a Tulsa Beacon endorsement

November 7, 2013

Without actually stating that the Tulsa Beacon has endorsed Kathy Taylor, a widely distributed deceptive mailout implies that Taylor is editorial choice of the newspaper.

That is not true.

The flyer quotes a column from Dan Keating, who writes a weekly opinion column for the Tulsa Beacon, in which Keating criticizes Mayor Dewey Bartlett. Keating endorsed Bartlett the last time he ran for mayor and Keating was a constant critic of Taylor when she was mayor.

For the Tulsa Beacon’s view of the mayor’s race, turn to the editorial on page 6.

“Kathy Taylor is an attorney and she is careful not to tell direct lies but she and her campaign are loose with the truth,” said Tulsa Beacon Publisher Charles Biggs. “The Tulsa Beacon has never endorsed her. She is a ruthless politician with sights set on higher office. She is a tax-and-spend progressive who wouldn’t stand a chance in this election if she had not loaned her campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Read the complete story on tulsabeacon.com

The election for Oklahoma City Mayor is approaching on March 4th, 2014, and there are already signs that national Democrat groups are getting involved in favor of Councilman Ed Shadid’s candidacy against incumbent Mick Cornett. Though the race is officially nonpartisan, Cornett is a Republican and Shadid is a registered Independent who describes himself as a member of the Green Party.

The Oklahoman reports:

“Brett Di Resta of the Maccabee Group, part of a political operatives’ consortium called Democracy Partners, has filed at least five requests for information from the city. He’s asked for Cornett’s travel records, including reimbursements, since 2004; Cornett’s office expenditures since 2004; and a list of mayor’s office staff members and their salaries, also since 2004, which is when Cornett became mayor. Di Resta also is acquiring a list of city contracts since 2004 and all of Cornett’s campaign finance records, including contributions and expenditures, since 2001.”

The Shadid campaign denies any involvement. The full article can be read here.

Councilman Shadid has made opposition to independent campaign expenditures one of the central tenets of his political career, even discussing the subject in the online bio for his mayoral campaign:

“Dr. Shadid’s election served as a warning of the implications of the recently passed Citizen’s United decision when hundreds of thousands of dollars of anonymous money enter (sic) the city council race. In sharp distinction, Dr. Shadid became the only member of the City Council to not receive any donations from PACs.”

Despite denying involvement and despite his stance against the kind of activity apparently underway, Councilman Shadid has not denounced the actions of Democracy Partners. On his Twitter account, he simply wrote “That person is not associated with my campaign. End of story. Couldn’t be any clearer.”

On its web site , Democracy Partners describes itself as providing “cutting edge strategies for progressive values.” It further states:

“Everyone on the team at Democracy Partners shares the same values. We’re in business to elect Democrats and to create issue campaigns that turn progressive principles into progressive policy. We never back down from an important fight. But no matter what the odds we’re all about finding a path to victory.”

On its web site, Democracy Partners shares some of its previous work, including commercials on behalf of Obamacare, and an ad attacking MSNBC for putting conservative leader Tony Perkins on air.

National progressive leaders have taken interest in Shadid’s political career before. The night he was elected to the Oklahoma City Council in 2011, former Green Party Presidential nominee Ralph Nader announced the election results over speaker phone to Shadid’s supporters, according to one report from Green Party Watch.

With national Democrat support, can a Green Party candidate succeed in Oklahoma where so many Democrats have failed? The Okie will continue to monitor the race…

Latest campaign finance reports show Rep. James Lankford, of Oklahoma City, led the state delegation in fundraising in the third quarter, while Rep. Tom Cole, of Moore, has the most cash in the bank.

By Chris Casteel

WASHINGTON — Members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation and potential challengers filed campaign finance reports this week with the Federal Election Commission. Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, raised the most money between July 1 and Sept. 30, while Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, had the biggest war chest on Oct. 1.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

Kyle Kondik, House Editor

In winning his special election victory on Tuesday night, incoming Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) joined a dubious but sizable bipartisan House caucus: The Underachievers.

Many House observers — including the Crystal Ball — have focused, understandably, on the small number of House members elected from districts won by the other party’s presidential nominee. These represent obvious targets for the other party, although there are only a handful of these districts (nine Democrats reside in seats won by Mitt Romney, and 17 Republicans occupy seats won by President Obama).

So in an effort to expand their maps, strategists from both parties will also look at The Underachievers, who ran behind their party’s presidential nominee in their districts. Sanford is in the club because he won about 54% of the vote in the special election, but Mitt Romney won about 58% in the district in last November’s presidential election. Close to three of every 10 House representatives are members of The Underachievers. These 60 Democrats and 63 Republicans could be vulnerable in a primary or general election, but there are plenty of extenuating circumstances that explain their underperformance, too.

Click to see the chart’s on www.centerforpolitics.org