Gary Jones Endorsed by Tom Coburn

From The McCarville Report Online:

Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones said today he'll seek reelection.

Jones has been chairman during the GOP's historic increase in power, winning control of the State Senate and solidfying its control of the House. In 2008, Oklahoma was the only state in the nation where every county went red for the McCain-Palin presidential ticket, helping Oklahoma down ballot candidates, Jones said. McCain's 65.4% share of the vote in Oklahoma was the highest in the nation.

Senator Tom Coburn applauded the announcement by Jones: "Chairman Jones has put together a good team at the Oklahoma Republican Party that is proven and ready to lead us in the critical 2010 elections. Our statewide wins in 2008 helped take the majority in the Oklahoma Senate for the first time in state history, and we will need this type of leadership going into the 2010 election cycle. I wholeheartedly support Chairman Jones in his re-election," Coburn said.

Jones was instrumental in publicizing campaign finance irregularities in the campaigns of former Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahan, who subsequently was convicted on multiple felonies in federal court and now faces nine years in prison. Jones opposed McMahan in the 2002 and 2006 general elections.

This confirms our report that Jones was in, with Vice-Chair Cheryl Williams his only opponent, thus far. And this article from the Norman Transcript confirms our source that said Jones would not run for Auditor.