OCPAC e-mail - OCPAC election results & Ok House Republican leadership

[Charlie Meadows]

Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC)

++  AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

++  ANNOUNCEMENT

++  TIDBITS

++  AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

I must keep this short as Linda and I left right after last week’s meeting for a few days in Branson and didn’t get back until Monday afternoon. As always, I have a lot to do when we return.

I want to extend a big welcome to all the new subscribers to OCPAC’s weekly newsletter, primarily as a result of reading my infamous “Charlie’s Picks”. The weekly email will contain the agenda for our weekly meeting, announcements for other events or organizations and then conservative commentary and insider information about Oklahoma politics, government and the culture war right here in our own state.

Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, November 12th 2014, will be held at Olivet Baptist Church, 1201 Northwest 10th street in OKC. Though today is Veterans Day, we will take time during our Wednesday meeting to recognize all the veterans, reservists or active duty folks attending our meeting. We will ask every veteran to identify their branch of service, where they served and their rank when they left the service. I am trying to get a Korean Vet to speak in more detail to his experiences.  

++  ANNOUNCEMENT

*  TUESDAY EVENING  -  GUTHRIE AREA  -  The Logan County Republican Women’s club will host their monthly meeting tonight, November 11th beginning 6:30 p.m. at the Guthrie Pizza Hut located near the intersection of Highway 33 and I-35. Men are welcome and folks gather earlier if they want to eat. The speaker for this meeting will be pastor Paul Blair of Reclaiming America For Christ. Paul’s presentation at this meeting will focus on State’s Rights.

*  DATE IS SET  -  DEL CITY AREA  -  Next year’s annual Clouds Over America conference will be held on Friday, February 13th and it will be in a new location. It will be held on the campus of Christian Heritage Academy. The evening session will be the OCPAC awards banquet. Speakers and subjects are currently being finalized. Please put this on your calendar for next year as it is one of the most important conferences to be held in the state.   

++  TIDBITS

*  ELECTION OUTCOMES  -  For the general election night OCPAC had endorsed and or contributed to 14 candidates on the ballot. We won 13 of those races. Some of the races such as Lt. Governor, Labor Commissioner and 5th Congressional District (we don’t contribute to federal races) were not really in contention and they all won handily. Some of the other races such as some of the representatives running for re-election were not too worrisome. However, there were 4 races in which we had invested a good deal of money and we were watching them very closely. Three of those 4 candidates won their elections. 

The 2 biggest wins were Joseph Silk in Senate District 5 which includes Hugo, Broken Bow and Idabel. Joseph is the first Republican to be elected in this district since statehood and won with over 54% of the vote. Joe is very conservative and if he is able to communicate his conservative positions to his constituents, he may well be re-elected 4 years for now. The other big win was that of Scooter Park in House District 65 which runs from Marlow down to the Texas border. Scooter won with 52% of the vote and again he is the first Republican to be elected to this district since statehood. 

Another important race for us was the Senate District 42 race where Midwest City Mayor Jack Fry was running to replace the term limited Cliff Aldridge. Senator Aldridge was one of the more conservative Republicans in the Senate and we needed to replace him with someone as conservative if not more so. I believe Senator elect Fry will be that person. He won with a fairly strong margin of 60% after winning a close race to a liberal Republican in the primary. 

The one race we lost was that of David Tackett in House District 12 which includes parts of Broken Arrow, Coweta and surrounding areas. David received 47% of the vote which is about what he received 2 years ago. I am not sure, but I don’t believe we have ever had a Republican represent this area in our history?

I want to thank all of our dues paying members who make our efforts possible and thanks to our members who attend our meetings and contribute to the vetting process for the many candidates. We are not interested in just electing more Republicans, but rather electing a more conservative group of Republican lawmakers. 

All dues collected from this point forward will go toward next year’s membership.

*  NEW REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP IN THE HOUSE  -  Earlier this year Speaker Jeff Hickman (R-Dacoma) was unofficially elected to serve a second term as Speaker of the House. That was made official during last Friday’s caucus meeting in OKC. Speaker Hickman has a lifetime average of 59 on the Conservative Index which covers 10 years in office. He ranks as the 63rd most liberal Republican out of the 72 in the House. Representative Lee Denney (R-Cushing) was elected as the Speaker Pro Tem and thus will control the chair. Representative Denney has a lifetime rating of a 56 and is the 68th most liberal Republican out of 72. These positions will be made official by the full House on January 6th, but that is only a formality.

Now for caucus positions. Representative David Brumbaugh (R-Broken Arrow) was elected as the caucus chairman. His lifetime rating on the Conservative Index is a 90 and he is tied for the 6th most conservative Republican in the House. Representative Elise Hall (R-OKC) was elected as the caucus vice chairman. Her lifetime rating on the conservative index is an 81 which makes her the 15th most conservative House member. Katie Henkie (R-Tulsa) was elected as the caucus secretary and was un-opposed for that office. Representative Henkie has finished her freshman term and her two year lifetime average is a paltry 53 which ranks her as the 71st most liberal Republican in the house out of 72. 

Speaker Hickman and Speaker Pro-Tem Denney will both be termed out in 2 years. Keep you eye on Earl Sears (R-Bartlesville) as the Republican establishment’s pick to succeed Speaker Hickman. Sears’lifetime average is a 63 making him the 52nd most liberal Republican in the House. 

Therefore, I ask this question, with the conservative leadership provided by T.W. Shannon gone and the establishment Republicans firmly back in control, how do we get conservative legislation passed? How do we stop liberal legislation? This year’s freshman class may provide that answer, but don’t hold your breath. Last year’s freshman class turned control back over to the establishment. We will see, I hope I am wrong, only time will tell. 

*  BEN CARSON TO RUN  -  This past week retired surgeon Dr. Ben Carson announced he will be a candidate for President in 2016. So far I am impressed with Dr. Carson. He has been in Oklahoma several times already and will surely return in the future. The fact that he has not held public office before is one of the appeals for me. The race for President has now started. God help us if Chris Christy, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, or others of their stripes becomes our nominee. Should any of these guys win in Oklahoma, I may have to become an independent, not wanting to be associated with an organization that would be made up of some many people so vacant of wisdom. 

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.

Charlie Meadows

Charlie...@gmail.com 

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