News On 6 to host CD2 runoff debate between Brecheen, Frix on Tuesday

Republican voters in the 2nd Congressional District will get a chance to watch a live debate between Josh Brecheen and Avery Frix on this coming Tuesday, August 16th, on News On 6 (KOTV-Tulsa).

GOP Senate candidates to meet in live, televised debate on Thursday

Five of the thirteen Republicans running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Jim Inhofe will be featured in a live, commercial-free debate hosted by OKC's News 9 and Tulsa's News on 6 this Thursday at 7pm.

OKGOP Chairman blasts Presidential Debate Commission over 'virtual' decision

 

REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN DENOUNCES DEBATE COMMISSION DECISION 

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, October 8, 2020 – The chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party said today he applauds Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West in denouncing the Commission on Presidential Debates’ (CPD) attempt to manipulate the next Presidential debate by making it digital and remote.

“Chairman West is absolutely correct, and I commend him for speaking out,” said David McLain. “The decision of the Commission on Presidential Debates to make the second debate between President Trump and Joe Biden a virtual affair is wrong. The fact that the Commission is using the President’s contracting of, and medical clearance from COVID-19 as the reason to change the format from live to virtual, is ridiculous. The fact is the debate can be staged safely just as the Vice-Presidential debate was. I support the President’s decision not to participate in the manipulated shell game the CPD is playing. The American people deserve to hear from both candidates live, in the same room, in the same city in front of a live town hall audience, as the debate was scheduled to be. Unfortunately, it appears the CPD prefers to play politics with the format by using President Trump as a pawn.”

Here is the announcement from the Commission on Presidential Debates:

CPD ANNOUNCES SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE WILL BE VIRTUAL

Washington, D.C. (October 8, 2020) – In order to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate, scheduled for October 15, 2020, The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced the following today:

The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which the candidates would participate from separate remote locations. The town meeting participants and the moderator, Steve Scully, Senior Executive Producer & Political Editor, C-SPAN Networks, will be located at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami, Florida. The White House Pool will provide coverage of the second presidential debate.

Hill accepts 5th District debate invite, applauds choice of Lankford as moderator

David Hill Accepts Debate Invitation

Hill applauds choice of Senator James Lankford to moderate discussion

OKLAHOMA CITY — David Hill, successful manufacturer and candidate for Congress, accepted an invitation to participate in a debate on May 29th hosted by the Congressional District 5 Republicans.

"Last week, we promised to appear in any debate, in any place, at any time, and we are happy to fulfill that pledge today," stated Abby Roesch, campaign manager for David Hill for Congress. "There are very real differences among the Republican candidates for Congress, and this will be a great opportunity to showcase how someone from the business world can better represent conservative values than those who have been a part of the political establishment," Roesch continued.

The debate will be moderated by Senator James Lankford and broadcasted live on local radio.

David Hill calls for debates in 5th District GOP primary

'Let’s Debate!' Hill for Congress Gaines Momentum, Calls for Public Debate

OKLAHOMA CITY (May 12th, 2020) — Republican businessman David Hill today called on the media, civic groups, and the other Republican candidates for Congress in Oklahoma to participate in a series of debates and forums.

"The stakes are extremely high," Hill stated. "This congressional seat could determine if Nancy Pelosi remains Speaker of the House. It is vital that Republicans understand the differences among their candidates and nominate a conservative who can fix Congress, and that starts with defeating Kendra Horn," Hill continued.

"We cannot let this pandemic keep voters from being informed," stated Hill. "Traditionally, civic clubs and others have provided forums where voters can hear directly from candidates instead of through 30-second television commercials or other forms of slick advertising. But because of the current crisis, these organizations are not meeting," Hill continued. "Our campaign is committed to helping them and media outlets to ensure voters at least have the opportunity to be well-informed."

"While the other major candidates have been in public office or have been a statewide nominee, our campaign clearly has the momentum," stated campaign manager Abby Roesch. "Look no further than President Trump or Governor Stitt to understand that it's not just the politicians who should be debating. The business leader should also be included."

The David Hill for Congress campaign has raised more than $340,000 as of the last Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing and has seen its social media grow with Facebook followers now eclipsing 3,200 — second most of any Republican in the contest.

"It might seem odd that the candidate calling for debates is the one without a political resume, but David is ready to share his business background and talk about the issues of great importance to him: protecting life, bringing manufacturing back to the United States, and supporting President Trump," Roesch concluded.

David Hill is currently CEO of Mar-K, the nation’s leading manufacturer of parts for classic cars. During his time as CEO of Kimray, Inc., Hill was named one of Oklahoma’s most admired CEOs. Hill co-founded the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and, along with his wife of 26 years, Shannon, co-founded Providence Hall Classical Christian School (now The Academy of Classical Christian Studies).

TW Shannon to Dems: Stop promising me 40 acres and a mule

Former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon had some strong reaction to the Democratic presidential debate last night:

This debate is embarrassing at best and disingenuous at worst. Every Time black voters are mentioned someone promises billions of dollars in free stuff. It’s offensive. Black communities like other communities need access to a quality education and job opportunities-not promises of free stuff the federal government can’t afford. The greater the freedom, the greater the prosperity. Stop promising me 40 acres and a mule. #woke

Rogers invites Emerson to SD37 GOP Primary debate

Cody Rogers, Republican candidate for Senate District 37, has challenged fellow Republican candidate Chris Emerson to a live, on-air debate to be held before March 15th.

Senate District 37 is currently held by Democrat Allison Ikley-Freeman, who won a 2017 special election by 29 votes. The seat opened up when Republican Senator Dan Newberry resigned to take a private-sector promotion. Given the narrow margin of victory in a special election, SD37 is a prime pick-up opportunity for the GOP.

Rogers' invitation is below:

OKGOP comments on Democratic presidential debates

OKLAHOMA REPUBLICAN PARTY STATEMENT ON DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK) - On Wednesday, June 26th, and Thursday, June 27th, the Democratic Party presidential candidates will meet in Miami, Florida for a two-part series of debates to be aired from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm CST on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo.

Both nights will feature two different sets of ten candidates who qualified for their places on the stage by of meeting certain polling or fundraising requirements set by the Democratic National Committee. In reference to the upcoming Democratic presidential debates, Oklahoma Republican Party chairman David McLain released the following statement:

"Tonight and tomorrow night, 20 Democrat presidential hopefuls will make their case who should be the next President of the United States during the first televised debates of the 2020 election cycle. These debates will be sure to feature some of the top issues of the 2020 Democrat platform: promising an ever-increasing amount of "free" things to the public, increasing burdensome regulations on American businesses, hiking taxes on hard-working American families, obstructing President Trump as he continues his work to Keep America Great, and continuing the Democrat assault on the American dream," said McLain.

"The Oklahoma Republican Party looks forward to working hard to re-elect President Trump in 2020 across all 77 counties of our state and continuing the positive impact that has been made nationwide through his Republican leadership."

You can follow the Oklahoma Republican Party and their Victory 2020 effort on Facebook by visiting https://www.facebook.com/OKGOP/, and you can make a contribution to the Oklahoma Republican Party at https://secure.anedot.com/okgop/okgop.

Harris and Hern to debate Friday night

Tulsa 9.12 Project and Tulsa Area Republican Assembly (TARA) to Host Republican Debate

1st Congressional District Republican Candidate Debate between Tim Harris and Kevin Hern

Tulsa – August 15, 2018 – Tulsa 9.12 Project and TARA announced today that they are hosting
a debate between Tim Harris and Kevin Hern, Republican candidates for the 1 st Congressional
District, on Friday, August 17th at 6:30 at Fellowship Bible Church, 5434 E 91st St. in Tulsa.

Pat Campbell with Talk Radio 1170 KFAQ will moderate the debate. Candidates will respond to
audience questions in addition to questions from the moderator, and questions each candidate ask
of one another.

The Republican primary runoff election is Tuesday, August 28th. On that date, Republican
voters will choose whether Harris or Hern will be on the November ballot. It is crucial that voters
understand where each candidate stands on critical issues that concern Oklahomans.
This debate provides voters one last opportunity to see the candidates side-by-side, addressing
the issues that are important to our state and our communities.

Limited seating - Registration suggested. RSVP at this link.

Thursday: Muskogee GOP holding Gubernatorial Forum at Lincoln-Reagan Dinner

Muskogee Republicans to host GOP Gubernatorial Forum at 'Lincoln-Reagan Dinner'

The Muskogee County Republican Party will hold its annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner on Thursday, July 19th, at the Muskogee Civic Center. A candidate forum featuring Mick Cornett and Kevin Stitt, the two Republican candidates in the runoff primary election for Governor, will be held. This event will give voters the opportunity to hear Cornett and Stitt discuss and debate the top issues facing Oklahoma. The forum will be moderated by Russell Mills of KRMG. Other local and statewide Republican candidates will also be present to visit with voters. In addition, six $500 college scholarships will be awarded to area students during the event.

The dinner will begin at 6:30pm. Advance dinner tickets are $30 if purchased by Sunday, July 15th, while tickets at the door will be $40. The public is invited to attend. For more information or to purchase advance discount tickets, email MuskogeeRepublicans@gmail.com or call 918-869-8930.

Coleman calls for 5 debates in CD1 GOP Primary

Coleman Encourages a Series of Five Debates Prior to the June U.S. House Primary

TULSA, OKLAHOMA:  Captain Andy Coleman today issued a call for all Republican candidates running for the GOP nomination in the First District U.S. House race to join him for a series of public debates in advance of the June primary.

Coleman is the first candidate in the race to publicly call for debates and encouraged his fellow Republicans to join him for debates around the First District.

“In order to drain the swamp in Washington, we need elected officials who are accountable and willing to answer the tough questions. I believe that if we expect voters to put their confidence in us, we should look them in the eye and answer the hard questions,” stated Coleman.

Coleman encouraged media and civic organizations to sponsor a series of at least five debates.  “Candidate forums are helpful, but debates are even more so.  With multiple candidate schedules to coordinate, it is important this process begin early.  Several organizations are already considering holding debates, and I’m grateful for their efforts.  I’m hopeful my fellow candidates will join me in participating in as many debates as possible,” added Coleman.

Captain Andy Coleman is seeking the Republican nomination for the open congressional seat in Oklahoma’s First District.  He is an Air Force Academy graduate and former intelligence officer who served in the Middle East.  He is the only candidate in the race with military, national security and experience working in the Muslim world – critical skill sets in short supply in the U.S. Congress. For six years, Coleman led extensive field efforts in some of the world’s most hostile countries to aid persecuted Christians as the the Middle East Regional Director for the Voice of the Martyrs, a Christian ministry based in Bartlesville. 

GOP Gubernatorial Debate tonight in Tulsa

The Tulsa Area Republican Assembly is hosting a Republican gubernatorial debate this evening, moderated by Russell Mills of Tulsa's NEWS102.3 & AM740 KRMG. Co-hosts of the debate are the Tulsa 912 Project and the Tulsa County Republican Men's Club.

The debate will start at 6:30pm, and will be held at Brookside Baptist Church, located at 36th and Peoria in Tulsa. At last check, 5 of the 6 Republican candidates had confirmed they would be in attendance.

Cimarron County GOP holding candidate forum for SD27 special election

The Cimarron County Republican Party is hosting a candidate forum and straw poll for the Senate District 27 special election on Friday, November 17th.

The SD27 special election was precipitated by the resignation of State Sen. Bryce Marlatt after he was charged with felony sexual battery.

Republican candidates for the seat are as follows (in alphabetical order, with links to their website if available):

• Army veteran Jeff Hall
• OKGOP National Committeewoman Carolyn McLarty
• Michael Medill
• State Rep. Casey Murdock
• Army and Marines veteran Tommy Nicholson 
• Educator Travis Templin

The victor of the winner-take-all GOP primary will face Democrat Amber Jensen in the February 13th general election.

Cruz schools Bernie on Robin Hood and taxes

U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) met on CNN last night for a debate on tax reform.

During the debate, Sanders referred to the GOP tax plan as "a Robin Hood proposal in the reverse". When Cruz got a chance, he tore that statement to shreds, educating Sanders (and leftists in general) about what Robin Hood really was doing.

Watch the exchange here:

Pence vs. Kaine: VP Debate Live at 8pm CT

The lone Vice Presidential debate between Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine will begin this evening at 8pm (CT). The debate is being held at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, and will be moderated by CBSN anchor Elaine Quijano.

Watch live from PBS here:

Livestream of the first Clinton vs. Trump debate (8pm CT)

The first presidential debate between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump is tonight. The moderator will be Lester Holt from NBC News, and the debate will run from 8:00pm to 9:30pm (Central Time).

You can watch a livestream from PBS below, starting at 8pm:


The debate will also be aired on most of the major television and cable channels (i.e. ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, NBC, PBS, etc).

Fox Business GOP Debate thoughts

As I have "poor man TV" (aka over-the-air broadcast), I watched the GOP debate last night online. Here are some of my thoughts.

Ranking/grade

• 1-T: Cruz (A) and Rubio (A)
• 2: Trump (B-)
• 3. Christie (B-)
• 4. Bush (C)
• 5. Kasich (C)
• 6. Carson (D)

For the first two-thirds of the debate, I thought Ted Cruz was winning big. He obliterated Trump on the "birther" question - the first candidate to clearly and thoroughly beat Trump in an exchange so far this election cycle. He failed to get time to respond to Marco Rubio's late shotgun blast, and that took wind out of his sails.

Rubio had some good moments early, but seemed to flail in the middle of the debate. He lost his exchange with Christie, but can take consolation  in the fact that Christie pretty much lied through his teeth on everything in that back-and-forth. He finished with a late but very strong attack on Cruz.

I think the debate was a Cruz-Rubio tie, possibly slight edge to Cruz.

Donald Trump exceeded my expectations. He had a masterful reply to the "angry" question, and had the best possible delivery of his "New York values" rebuttal. This was by far his best debate -- in fact, he continues to improve debate after debate.

Chris Christie was strong early, but as I mentioned above, blatantly lied about his record in the exchange with Rubio. He also has this terrible habit of interrupting substantive policy discussions with belittling comments about "the Senate floor", and "people don't care about this". Um, excuse me, but some people want to actually find out.

Jeb Bush was typical Jeb - bumbling and stumbling. I can't for the life of me figure out why he is so awful at speaking. He trips over words, sounds and looks awkward, and otherwise acts as if he's never done public speaking in his life. He'll get going on an intelligent and well-stated point, only to stumble through the ending. While he didn't have a disastrous debate, he needed an excellent performance, and didn't get close to it.

John Kasich was more coherent in this debate, and unlike every time before this sounded somewhat conservative at times. One of his (many) problems is that he constantly brings up how long he's been in politics (i.e. in Washington "during the Cold War"... which is an eternity ago in today's political world). He's probably the most tone-deaf candidate this cycle. This time, he managed to avoid last place.

Ben Carson bombed. Debates are not his strong point to begin with. He seemed caught off-guard by several questions, almost as if he was daydreaming. He had one or two good answers, but most of his responses were rambling. Especially on foreign policy, he sounded like he was reciting facts that he recently learned... but that everybody else knew already (in this debate, it was EMPs, dirty bombs, and cyber attacks). His campaign is floundering, and the reasons for his campaign to continue are dwindling fast.

Those are my thoughts. Leave a comment with yours.

Seven qualify for Fox Business debate; Paul, Fiorina demoted

Thursday's Republican presidential debate on the Fox Business Channel will be the smallest debate of the 2016 cycle for the GOP, as only 7 candidates made the cut.

Candidates qualified for the debate in one of two ways: be in the top six nationally in an average of the most recent live phone surveys, or be in the top five in Iowa or New Hampshire. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush all made it in by being in the top six nationally, while John Kasich got in by being in the top five in New Hampshire.

Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina, both present in the last debates, polled too low to make it in through either method. They will join Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum in the "undercard" debate, although Paul has said he will skip the junior debate altogether, as his "first tier campaign" deserves the "first tier debate".

Tuesday's GOP Debate: 8 in primetime, 4 in undercard

The FOX Business Network/Wall Street Journal GOP Debate on Tuesday will be featuring eight candidates in the primetime debate, and four in the undercard debate (aka "the kid's table"). This is the first debate this cycle with candidates being bumped off the main stage (Huckabee and Christie).

From FBN:

The four polls used in the average were conducted by the following organizations: Fox News, Investor’s Business Daily/TIPP, Quinnipiac University, and The Wall Street Journal/NBC News. To qualify for the prime-time debate, a candidate had to score 2.5% or higher in an average of the four most recent national polls. Candidates scoring under that had to receive at least 1% support in at least one of the four most recent national polls to qualify for the 7 p.m. debate. No online or automated (IVR) polls were used in compiling the data.

Here's the main event lineup (9e/8c), along with the candidate's average in the qualifying polls:

• Donald Trump (25.3%)
• Ben Carson (24.5%)
• Marco Rubio (11.8%)
• Ted Cruz (10.0%)
• Jeb Bush (5.5%)
• Carly Fiorina (3.0%)
• John Kasich (2.8%)
• Rand Paul (2.5%)

In the 7e/6c JV debate:

• Mike Huckabee (2.3%)
• Chris Christie (2.3%)
• Bobby Jindal (0.5%)
• Rick Santorum (0.5%)

Lindsey Graham, George Pataki and Jim Gilmore did not qualify for the undercard debate.

In addition to airing on the Fox Business Network, the debate will be livestreamed for free online. Additionally, for those who subscribe to cable or satellite but don't get FBN, Fox is temporarily "unbundling" the channel for subscribers to be able to watch.

Personally, I think a smaller debate stage is good. Ten people sharing the limited debate time doesn't allow enough time to delve into issues and get enough input from all the candidates. I think the race is starting to coalesce around four candidates (Trump, Carson, Rubio and Cruz), and most of the other candidates really need to consider dropping out.

CNBC debate moderators nuked by a Cruz missile

I missed most of this evening's presidential debate due to church, but wow, you have to check this clip out. Texas Senator Ted Cruz verbally firebombed the debate moderators.



By all accounts I've seen, this was the worst-moderated debate in recent history.