Many have asked how I view the upcoming races on the Republican Primary Ballot. My thoughts are below. I have arranged my suggestions in the order they appear on the ballot. Sometimes I refer to The Tulsa Beacon or the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) for their comments on a candidate.

Governor

There are 10 candidates for Governor.  If no candidate receives over 50% of the vote, then the top two candidates will duke it out on August 28th.  I only consider 6 of the 10 candidates to have any chance of making the run-off – Fisher, Stitt, Lamb, Jones, Cornett and Richardson.

Fisher is what I call a true conservative. He believes in small government (both state and federal), low taxation, fewer regulations so the free market can actually work, state sovereignty, and he is pro-first and second amendments with a desire to increase state protections in these areas. A man of his word, Dan will govern just like he campaigned.

Dan Fisher is for proper government.  By that he means that our state government should focus on core functions (education, corrections, law enforcement, infrastructure, etc) and stay out of frivolous expenditures where government tries to pick winners and losers. A good example of frivolous expenditure is the subsidy our state has given to wind energy, exceeding over $100 million per year in recent times.

As Governor, Dan will work to return control of education to its rightful stakeholders: local citizens and their local school boards. Focusing attention on spending alone distracts us from focusing on the inefficiencies and over-regulation in our bureaucratic system. Our education dollars should be spent on teachers, classrooms, and students – not on duplicative administrative costs. The spending silos should be eliminated or reduced and spending decisions made at the local level.

As a former teacher and the husband of a teacher Dan supports the pay raise for teachers, but he is against the recent tax increase to fund the pay raise.  He is a signor of the petition to repeal the tax increase because he knows that the money for the pay raise is available without the tax increases.  The increased taxes simply grow government in the long term. The tax increases were nothing more than the liberals classic use of a “crisis” to achieve their long-term objective of more government spending and bigger government.

A pastor, Dan Fisher served two terms in the State House of Representatives.  He knows the Oklahoma swamp. Politicians are addicted to borrowing and spending, and  state bureaucracy is infected with waste, fraud, and abuse. Every agency should be thoroughly examined. However, Dan realizes that the Governor cannot change everything on his own. Dan believes the key to a successful term as Governor is strong principled leadership tempered with the spirit of diplomacy and effective use of the bully pulpit of the Governor’s Office.

None of the other candidates in the race for Governor are really true conservatives. Todd Lamb, Kevin Stitt and Mick Cornett all have a tendency to support the growth of government and increased taxes.  Stitt is the frontrunner in some polls, but he has serious legal problems in several states where he and his companies have been banned. Gary Richardson, to his credit, is also a signor of the tax petition, but my beef with Gary is that he ran for governor as an independent in 2002, receiving 14% of the vote and assuring Democrat Brad Henry won the race.  Gary knew that he could not win and he would siphon votes away from Steve Largent, the Republican candidate, and that is exactly what he did. I figure that if he turned on us once he sure might turn on us again.

All six of the candidates say they are pro-life, but I doubt five of them would do anything more than support laws to further regulate the legal murder of the unborn.  Unlike them, Dan Fisher wants to abolish abortion in Oklahoma and he has a plan to do so.

I plan to vote for Dan Fisher for Governor. We need Dan Fisher as Governor.  None of the other candidates bring a Biblical worldview to the table like Dan does.

Lieutenant Governor

Matt Pinnell was the leader of the Oklahoma Republican Party and by all accounts did very well in that job.  He went to Washington a few years ago and worked for the National Republican Party where again I am told he did very well.  Now he wants to be Lieutenant Governor, probably as a stepping stone to Governor.

Dana Murphy serves on the Corporation Commission and I think she is one of the better commissioners.  But OCPAC says she is pro-abortion and quite liberal and I am afraid they may be right.

Eddie Fields serves in the state senate representing Osage, Kay, etc. counties.  I met him last year at an event and was reasonably impressed, but his conservative rating is only 53% and only 16% in 2017.

I know very little about Dominique DaMon Block, but OCPAC says he seems to have the best understanding of limited government of the group.  However, it is very unlikely he will win.

Although I have some reservations about whether Matt may turn into an establishment Republican, I am assured by those who know him well that he is solid. Therefore, I recommend Matt Pinnell for Lieutenant Governor.

State Auditor

I think Cindy Byrd is the best choice for State Auditor. She has served in the Auditor’s office for some 20 years and is endorsed by Gary Jones, the retiring State Auditor.

Attorney General

This is a tough race to make a recommendation. Mike Hunter, the current Attorney General who was appointed by Governor Fallin when Scott Pruitt left to become Administrator of the EPA, and Gentner Drummond, a Tulsa lawyer, businessman and Osage County cattleman, have been at each other’s throats for weeks.  It got so bad I started looking at the third candidate Angela Bonilla, but it did not take me very long reading her website to realize she was a liberal in sheep’s clothing.

OCPAC has picked (not an endorsement) Gentner Drummond.  The Tulsa Beacon has endorsed Mike Hunter. The negative campaigning sours me on both men, so I rate this race as a toss-up; but I lean toward Gentner Drummond since he is a newcomer.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

I voted 4 years ago for Joy Hofmeister to replace Janet Barresi, and I do not regret that one bit.  Baressi had to go; she was pro-common core all the way.  But Hofmeister is common core light, and she now needs to depart.  Linda Murphy is the right person to replace her.  I worked some with Linda in 2014 when we were battling Governor Fallin and the legislature over common core and Linda was solid. I fully support Linda Murphy for Superintendent.

Commissioner of Labor

Cathy Costello, widow of former Labor Commissioner Mark Costello, is a successful business owner and a strong Christian.  She should have been appointed as Labor Commissioner by Governor Fallin upon the death of her husband, but wasn’t.  The person who was appointed is not in the race.

Her opponent, Leslie Osborn, served in the State House for a number of years.  She has actively campaigned for tax increases and to give away our state sovereignty says OCPAC.  We often don’t pay much attention to these regulatory agencies, but it is amazing the damage that can be done financially and socially by agency heads that do not respect conservative principles.

I strongly endorse Cathy Costello for Commissioner of Labor.

Insurance Commissioner

This is a race that points out the downside of term limits.  For the last eight years Oklahoma has had, arguably, the best Insurance Commissioner in state history.  John Doak fought for the citizens, and it is a shame that he is term limited.

Donald Chasteen, one of two candidates for the position, owns an insurance agency.  He is a conservative Christian. He believes in smaller government and supports Trump’s efforts to “drain the swamp.”

His opponent, Representative Glen Mulready, is a career politician with plenty of insurance experience, both on the job and in the House.  His planned move from the House to head of an agency is a typical career path of career politicians (term limits don’t really work; the politicians just shuffle around to other jobs where they may even do more damage than in the Legislature.)

OCPAC and Tulsa Beacon both support Donald Chasteen.  I do too.

Corporation Commissioner

Bob Anthony is one of three Corporation Commissioners.  His seat on the Commission is up for reelection, and he is running again.  Bob is supported by OCPAC and the Tulsa Beacon.

Brian Bingman served for 12 years in the State Senate.  He has worked in the oil business for most of his life. I am not too keen on sending a career politician to yet another government job, but one could argue that is exactly what we would be doing if we reelect Bob Anthony.

Harold Spradling, a pastor, is 84 years old.  I see nothing in his background to suggest competency in the myriad of technical issues the Corporation Commissioners must deal with.

Although I have some personal issues with Bob Anthony, I agree with others that he has fought against corruption during his time on the Commission.  I recommend returning Bob Anthony to the Corporation Commission.

Representative to Congress for the First District

Andy Coleman is my hands down choice to replace Jim Bridenstine as our First District Congressman.  Andy is a lawyer, a military veteran and a past employee of Voice of the Martyrs.  He is a committed Christian who has lived out his beliefs in service to the persecuted church. Andy refers to himself as a battle-tested conservative who will help President Trump drain the swamp. He has proven courage, tested character, and is a true conservative. I consider we are very fortunate to have a person of the caliber of Andy to represent us in Congress.

If Andy were not running then Nathan Dahm would be my choice for Congress.  Nathan too is a dedicated Christian who has served in ministry overseas. He is an independent businessman. Some criticize Nathan because he chose to rerun for the State Senate in 2016, although he most certainly knew that he intended to run to replace the term-limited (self-limited) Bridenstine, thus deserting his constituents half way though his second term.  I think Nathan is not as well qualified as Andy Coleman and we need Nathan more in the State Senate right now than in Congress.

Kevin Hern, an owner of a number of McDonald’s franchises, is the best funded of the First District candidates.  My respect for Kevin has declined considerably in the past week or two due to his unfounded accusations against Andy Coleman. I think his true colors emerged when he felt threatened.

Andy Coleman is my clear choice for Congress.

State Representative District 11

Martin Garber has served on numerous State Commissions and Foundations. He helped start the Bartlesville Education Promise, a foundation to help raise funds to support Bartlesville education.  He served 27 years on the Board of Regents of Tulsa Community College, and his entire career was involved working with the state legislature.  Martin is well qualified to serve the citizens of District 11.

I will vote for Martin Garber for District 11 State Representative.

State Representative District 10

Travis Dunlap is the current District 10 Representative and I believe he should be reelected. Travis has taken a lot of heat from local educators and even the local newspaper because he did not support the tax hike.  Travis did not support the tax hike because he promised his constituents to oppose unnecessary tax increases and he kept his word.  He is correct in stating that the tax hike was not necessary to fund a pay raise for teachers.

I appreciate a principled conservative, a person willing to take the heat for what he believes is true and right, and I support Travis Dunlap in his bid to serve the citizens of District 10 another term.

District Judge – District 11

Curtis DeLapp, the current sitting judge, is running for reelection. Also in the race is Linda Thomas and Alan Gentges.  Curtis is a Christian, but unfortunately he has handed down some rulings in which many of us fail to see the fairness and the gentleness we expect of our judges.

My only suggestion on this race is that worldview matters. The day will come when even Bartlesville courts will rule on matters where the worldview of the judge may decide the outcome of the decision.  Today there are many judges across the land who do not interpret the Constitution, and the First Amendment in particular, as the founders intended.  They let their false worldviews taint their understanding of the Constitution. I will vote for Curtis DeLapp because I believe that he fundamentally has a Biblical worldview in spite of the fact that he apparently has trouble at times exhibiting it.