Rep. Hern raises $300k in Q3, endorsed by Tulsa metro mayors

Kevin Hern raises over $300k in Q3, announces local endorsements

TULSA, OK – After closing books on fundraising in the third quarter, Kevin Hern announced this morning that he raised over $300,000 during the July-September fundraising period, indicating powerful support for his re-election campaign.

“A strong showing of support this quarter is a direct response to the radical policies of the far left,” said Hern. “Oklahomans see what is happening in our nation’s capital when people like Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff call the shots and they are horrified, as am I.”

Following Hern’s formal campaign launch in early August, he received endorsements from a number of mayors in Oklahoma's First Congressional District:

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum
Bartlesville Mayor Dale Copeland
Owasso Mayor Chris Kelley
Coweta Mayor Evette Morris
Bixby Mayor Brian Guthrie
Broken Arrow Mayor Craig Thurmond
Sand Springs Mayor Jim Spoon
Glenpool Mayor Tim Fox
Collinsville Mayor Bud York
Wagoner Mayor Albert Jones 

“After nearly a year in office, I’m excited to see support for my re-election from constituents and local leaders,” said Hern. “It shows that putting business principles to use in our government works. It has worked for President Trump for the last 3 years, and it is working in Congress. Together, we’re seeing a revolutionized economy, skyrocketing consumer confidence, and the lowest unemployment numbers in a generation. I’m glad to have the support of so many great Oklahomans heading into next year’s election!”

Congressman Hern was previously endorsed by House Freedom Caucus founder Jim Jordan who held a rally for Congressman Hern in early August and by both U.S. Senators from Oklahoma. 

Tulsa Mayor Bynum: "I don’t jump into the fray on state initiative petitions"

File this under A Tale of Two Cities Mayors.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum weighed in the other day on the initiative petition that aims to stop permitless/Constitutional carry from going into law. His position? Not that of fellow Republican Mayor David Holt of Oklahoma City, who signed the petition.

Bynum won't jump in on the petition. Commenting about his aim to work as a bridge-builder among a diverse set of viewpoints and political positions, Bynum said "I don’t jump into the fray on state initiative petitions" or other political dividing lines, as it could negatively impact his efforts in city government.

Read his full statement below:


Bynum wrote:

Please pardon me for a lengthy but important aside. Some things don’t fit in sound bites...

When I ran for mayor, I pledged to the citizens of Tulsa that I would focus on bringing our city together to focus on our greatest challenges. We’ve done that, and I am incredibly proud of the way Tulsans have gone about it. Racial disparities, LGBTQ rights, welcoming immigrants, police/community relations, 1921 graves - these are all potential controversies but we are being transparent and working as a community to address them.

And we’re working together on basic municipal issue areas too. We have a bipartisan City Council working with a bipartisan Mayor’s Office as a team - an approach we haven’t historically enjoyed in Tulsa. The City and the County are working as a team - most notably during the recent flood. Tulsa and our suburbs are working as a team to grow our economy - we’re excited about Milo’s Tea in Owasso and the outlet mall in Jenks.

How do we do work together in such an unprecedented way on issues that historically were avoided due to controversy? My approach as mayor has been that we do that by picking our fights.

We recognize that good Tulsans voted for different gubernatorial candidates last year, and good Tulsans will vote for different presidential candidates next year.

Good people disagree. And it becomes harder and harder to work together if you continually point out your disagreements.

So if you’re in a job like mine, you focus on the things you can really make a difference on - and you bring together people who otherwise disagree on the other stuff to fix those things within your purview. You sacrifice your right to express your opinion on every issue in service to the job you’ve been given.

So, I know it makes some of my friends angry that I don’t weigh in on every Trump or AOC tweet. I don’t sign a group letter telling Jim Inhofe and James Lankford how they should vote on a bill in the US Senate. I don’t jump into the fray on state initiative petitions.

As a citizen, you should feel free to do all of these things. As a citizen, I have opinions on all of them too. But as mayor, I have a responsibility to pull our city together so we can move it forward.

Some think this is playing politics. Hate to break the news to those analysts, but the politics on all of these issues is pretty simple in Oklahoma. If that’s what I cared about, I’d just go with the flow.

But I love Tulsa like most people love their mom. I’ve got 473 days left in the term you gave me to channel the passion and energy of every Tulsan into making this the best city we can make it. And “every Tulsan” means all you awesome folks who are upset with one another about these other issues. We need your help in making this a safer city, a city of opportunity for everybody, a city we will be proud to leave to our kids.

I post this because it has become an issue in the last week, and I see it only getting more frequent as we head into next year’s national elections. I want you to know why I am doing what I’m doing. Feel free to disagree with my approach, but I hope you can at least see the reasoning behind it.

Most importantly: I hope you’ll join me in trying to make Tulsa a better place.

Stitt, mayors ask Corps to expedite Tulsa levee feasibility study

GOVERNOR STITT AND MAYORS BYNUM, GUTHRIE AND LEE REQUEST CORPS EXPEDITE FEASIBILITY STUDY ON TULSA LEVEES

Oklahoma City, Okla. (July 8, 2019)— Governor Kevin Stitt, Mayor G.T. Bynum (Tulsa), Mayor Brian Guthrie (Bixby) and Mayor Robert Lee (Jenks) sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requesting the feasibility study on the Tulsa-West Tulsa Levee System be expedited and completed by December 2019.

The feasibility study is needed for further improvements and upgrades to be implemented to the levee system, which provided protection to tens and thousands of Oklahomans during the recent major flooding events in Oklahoma.

The letter is available here and copied below.


Assistant Secretary James and Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite,

Throughout the months of April and May, the state of Oklahoma underwent devastating severe weather and flooding events. As a result of these conditions, state government declared a state of emergency for all 77 counties in Oklahoma, and the Trump administration was quick to respond both in its FEMA approvals as well as on the ground support from the Corps and a visit from the Vice President of the United States. Oklahoma greatly appreciates this administration's pro-active and close coordination during the events and your ongoing support as residents undergo a long road to recovery.

We specifically want to draw your attention to the historic flooding experienced in Eastern Oklahoma. This area was fortunate that the Tulsa-West Tulsa Levee System held back water for weeks, compared to the last major flooding event in 1986 that lasted less than a day. If these 75-year-old levees had been breached, the damage would have been catastrophic to the communities of hard-working Oklahomans protected by the levee system.

The 2018 Water Resources Development Act instructed your agency to conduct a Feasibility Study on our nation's levees, for completion by September 2020. Oklahomans simply cannot wait that long. In 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rated the Tulsa-West Tulsa Levees as "unacceptable". Based on your own assessment, it is clear you, too, recognize the urgency for modernization and upgrades.

We are writing to request the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite the Feasibility Study for completion in December 2019. This will allow for much needed upgrades to be addressed before the close of the 116th Congress. Any deadline past December runs the risk of delaying the rebuilding and recovery process several years for this vital infrastructure.

The Tulsa-West Tulsa Levees provided protection to tens of thousands of Oklahomans, spanning from as north as Skiatook to as far south as Muskogee and Webbers Falls. These levees also protected $2 billion in infrastructure and two major oil refineries, both of which provide gasoline to a large section of the mid-continental United States. The risks are too high for this not to be resolved soon, but there is a clear solution and path forward for expediting upgrades if the Corps will finalize this important report by the end of this year.

Sincerely,

J. Kevin Stitt, Governor of Oklahoma
G.T. Bynum, Mayor of Tulsa
Brian Guthrie, Mayor of Bixby
Robert Lee, Mayor of Jenks

Coburn talks Jackson, Bartlett, Bridenstine endorsements with Pat Campbell

Tulsa talk radio host Pat Campbell had former senator Tom Coburn on his program this morning to discuss Coburn's endorsements of Jarrin Jackson (2nd District), Dewey Bartlett (Tulsa mayor) and Jim Bridenstine (1st District).

The interview begins with the 2nd District race, and Coburn's reasoning on why he came out against incumbent Markwayne Mullin and supports his challenger, Jarrin Jackson.

Regarding Mullin, Coburn said, "Integrity is the only thing that really counts in politics. and when you tell somebody, you make a commitment to somebody that you're going to do something, and then you start wavering on that commitment, you have no standing with me at all after that." Coburn called Mullin after news broke that he was wavering on his term limits pledge, and Mullin still refused to say he would keep his pledge. In the interview, Coburn goes on to say "[Markwayne Mullin] doesn't have the integrity to keep his word, and to me that's the most important thing."

On Jarrin Jackson, Coburn said "He'll be another Jim Bridenstine if he's elected."

Campbell and Coburn talked about the Tulsa mayoral race. Coburn endorsed Dewey Bartlett in his first race, and supports him for reelection. Coburn appreciates Bartlett's business background and desire to serve Tulsa without making a career in politics. He went on to say "The criticisms I've heard of Dewey are minor in comparison to the risks of having some young guy with really no real world experience except politics - I mean, that's all there is, there's nothing there except politics - being the mayor of Tulsa."

When the conversation moved to the 1st District race, Coburn said "Bridenstine was the easiest endorsement I've ever done in my life. He votes right. Every time. I don't have to worry about how Jim Bridenstine votes, because he's going to look at the Constitution, he's going to look at limited government, he's going to vote that way. Every time, no matter what the rest of the Oklahoma delegation does."

Listen to the whole interview below:

Coburn Caucus Expands; Treat Wins SD47 Special Election

State Senator-elect Greg Treat casting his ballot this morning

With just over 41% of the vote, Greg Treat has won the special election in State Senate District 47, the seat vacated by now-Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb. Treat defeated fellow candidates Carol Hefner (28%), Todd Brawley (17%), Steve Dobbs (7%) and Kenny Goza (6%) in the winner take all primary election. No Democrat or Independent candidate filed to run for the seat.

As fellow blogger Ron Black pointed out, in the State Senate, Treat will join another fellow (and now former) staffer for U.S. Senator Tom Coburn - State Sen. Josh Brecheen (R-Coalgate). Brecheen was elected to the State Senate this past November.

In addition to Brecheen, Treat joins two other current elected officials who have close ties to Sen. Coburn: Tulsa city councilman G.T. Bynum (elected in 2009) and State Rep. George Faught (R-Muskogee; elected in 2006). Bynum served on Coburn's staff, and Faught's oldest son serves on Coburn's staff.*

One could call this a Coburn Caucus. With the success these four have had, and Sen. Coburn set to exit elected office in 2016, don't rule out more Coburn-tied candidates joining the "club".

(* - in addition, Dr. Coburn delivered Faught's two youngest children.)