Blogger: Do Christian beliefs belong in public life?

Blogger Larry Jackson posted the following thoughts on his website today, asking the question, "Do Our Christian beliefs have a place in our public lives?" I have been pondering the question posed in the title of this post for quite some time. I believe the main source of this pondering is the furor that is ongoing in America over the rights of individual business owners, who happen to be Christians...

Inhofe, Coburn, Bridenstine rank high in Club for Growth's 2013 scorecard

Club for Growth issued their 2013 scorecard yesterday, and some members of Oklahoma's delegation ranked very high. Sen. Jim Inhofe received a 94% (7th in the Senate), Sen. Tom Coburn got a 93% (8th in the Senate, and Rep. Jim Bridenstine received a 92% (8th in the House). For the rest: Rep. Markwayne Mullin:...

KJRH airs anti-homeschooling report

A recent KJRH news report on homeschooling was a real hatchet job, and Marla Bender has penned a great response at LibertyOnTap: On February 17, 2014, news reporter Breanne Palmerini of KJRH Tulsa, gave a slanderous report on homeschooling in Oklahoma based on some children who appear to be school-aged and unsupervised during school hours near some Section-8 housing (61st and Peoria) in Tulsa. The...

FULL LIST: Oklahoma's 2014 Federal & State Candidates

2014 is going to be a very active election cycle in Oklahoma. Here is a list of the announced candidates for statewide and federal office in Oklahoma, along with links to their websites. Names in red are Republican, names in blue are Democrat, names in gray are Independent, incumbents are underlined. FEDERAL OFFICES U.S. Senate - full term Jim Inhofe (website) Rob Moye (no website) Evelyn...

Lankford stops by Muskogee

Congressman @jameslankford speaking at his Muskogee town hall. #okgop #oksen pic.twitter.com/WP2SfhNWo6 — Jamison Faught (@JamisonFaught) February 20, 2014 Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate James Lankford made a campaign stop in Muskogee today, holding a meeting with county Republicans activists and a public town hall event. I attended the town hall, and live-tweeted from it, which you...

Lankford holding Muskogee town hall on Thursday

Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate James Lankford will be holding a public town hall meeting in Muskogee on Thursday (February 20th), from 1pm to 2pm at the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Lankford will be facing T.W. Shannon, Kevin Crow, Jason Weger, and Randy Brogdon in the GOP primary to replace Dr. Tom Coburn....

Mullin draws Republican challenger Darrel Robertson

Congressman Markwayne Mullin now has his first Republican primary challenger -- Grove rancher and professional fisherman Darrel Robertson. On his Facebook page, Robertson says "It is time for true conservative leadership in Washington D.C. I will fight to reign in this out of control federal government." Read more from...

Brecheen on SB 906: "A vote I regret"

UPDATE (8/6/2022): Congressional candidate Avery Frix is hitting Josh Brecheen over this vote. I will say this: Brecheen was humble enough to admit when he made a mistake, and to my observation of his career never again made a similar mistake. His legislative voting record after this was stellar and conservative to the core. Frix's...

McAffrey announces for 5th District

State Sen. Al McAffrey (D-OKC) officially announced his campaign for the 5th Congressional District on Thursday. McAffrey, the first openly homosexual member of the Oklahoma legislature, joins Tom Guild and Keith Davenport, and Marilyn Rainwater as the current Democratic candidates. Elected in one of Oklahoma's most liberal...

"Legislative fools": State Senate passes Popular Vote bill

To borrow a phrase from blogger Michael Bates, 28 Oklahoma State Senators just proved themselves to be legislative fools. Today, the State Senate passed Senate Bill 906, a bill that would bind Oklahoma presidential electors to the national popular vote, rather than the winner of Oklahoma's popular vote (as under the Electoral College system today). The following 28 state senators (16 Republican,...

Brogdon switching to run for Senate?

According to the folks at TheOkie, it now appears that Randy Brogdon may be switching to run for US Senate. From TheOkie: *UPDATE, 12:02 pm: The disclaimer on his website now reads “Brogdon for U.S. Senate.” His campaign website has been scrubbed of anything saying “Governor” and the fundraising link has been disabled- both telltale signs that this once Gubernatorial candidate may be looking at the...

Report: House GOP selects Hickman as Speaker

The Oklahoma House GOP caucus met this morning to select their candidate for Speaker, following T.W. Shannon's resignation last week. The first reports from the caucus meeting are slim on detail, but say that Rep. Jeff Hickman has defeated Rep. Mike Jackson as the Republican caucus' nominee....

County-by-County Majority/Plurality Party Map

This year, I decided to create a map showing the majority/plurality party in each county. Majority Republican: 21 counties Plurality Republican: 8 counties Majority Democratic: 41 counties Plurality Democratic: 7 counties The counties closest to going from Democrat plurality to Republican plurality are Custer (Dem: 44.12%,...

Map: GOP Voter Registration Growth

Continuing the voter registration maps series, here's the updated GOP growth map (compare to 2012). Again, the GOP grew percentage-wise in 75 of 77 counties, but as slower rates than in 2013. Keep in mind that the state election board just went through an inactive voter purge, and that the 2012 election cycle drove up registration...

House Ethics committee considering investigating Mullin

From the AP: The House Ethics Committee will consider an investigation of Republican congressman Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. A spokeswoman for the congressman says Mullin is cooperating with the House Ethics Committee and believes he is in full compliance with all ethics rules. Ethics Committee chairman Michael Conaway and ranking Democrat Linda Sanchez said Thursday they had received a referral...

County-by-county voter registration swings, 1/2013 to 1/2014

Updating my voter registration maps series, we now look at the overall direction voter registration moved in each county from January 2013 to January 2014. Overall, 75 counties posted swings to the GOP, while the Democrats only had two counties where they outgrew the Republicans. The growth for the GOP was slower than in...

Chickasha professor to join GOP primary for U.S. Senate

Dr. Kevin Crow Dr. Kevin Crow, associate professor of history at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, plans to announce his candidacy for U.S. Senate next week. According to an announcement on his Facebook page, Crow, a Chickasha resident, will make his plans public at the Canadian Valley Technology Center...

Oklahoma Voter Registration Map, January 2014

Continuing a series from last year, here is an update on voter registration in Oklahoma. Republicans continue to make gains, increasing by 0.76%, while the Democratic Party lost 0.71%. Independents decreased by 0.05%. No county changed hands this year, in terms of plurality party. However, if you this to compare to...

6PM TONIGHT: Ham debates Nye on Creation vs. Evolution

Don't forget, tonight, Ken Ham debates Bill Nye on "Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern, scientific era?" You can view the debate for free at DebateLive.org, starting at 6pm CST (7pm EST). Pre-order your DVD copy of 'Uncensored Science: Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham' toda...

Lankford leads Shannon 54%-18% in first poll

According to a poll released today by Harper Polling, Congressman James Lankford leads state house Speaker T.W. Shannon 54% to 18% in the race to replace Sen. Tom Coburn. From Harper Polling: Lankford’s advantage is driven by his popularity in the Oklahoma City media market where he leads House Speaker T.W. Shannon 77-9%. In the state's other large media market Tulsa, Shannon trails by just 3%. The...