Fallin disapproves of salary TSET offered to Patrice Douglas

Governor Mary Fallin Does Not Approve of High Salary Offered to Agency Head

OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today said the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust’s (TSET) failure to file necessary hiring paperwork for a new, highly-paid chief executive position would violate the spirit of an executive order that she issued in February 2015.

The executive order prohibits new hires, employee raises or bonuses unless an exception is approved by the statewide elected official who directs and manages the agency or the appropriate Cabinet secretary. The agency so far has not submitted the paperwork for the new $250,000 position of chief executive officer. TSET has submitted required paperwork for other positions in the past.

“This agency needs to play by the same rules it has been playing under until it decided to create a new top-level position with such a high salary,” said Fallin. “At the bare minimum, TSET needs to submit the same paperwork for this position as it has for many others.

“This salary sends the wrong message when our state is facing a difficult economic and budget climate. These are public trust funds, and the public will lose trust in this important agency if this salary takes effect.”

Fallin said she has directed Health and Human Services Secretary Terry Cline to deny the proposed salary.  The most recent state study on agency director salaries recommended a maximum salary of $143,714 for the leader of TSET. State law enacted by the Legislature and Fallin in 2013 requires agencies and their governing boards to set chief executive salaries within the range recommended in the director salary reports.

TSET’s board of directors last week voted to offer Patrice Douglas the newly created post of chief executive officer.

“Patrice Douglas was a fine public servant who I expect would be a wonderful asset to TSET, but the board has to understand the concern about this salary,” the governor said. “The board never consulted me about this decision. If I had been, I would have strongly advised each of them to set a more appropriate salary.”

TSET is overseen by two boards that manage programs and its $1 billion in tobacco settlement money. Only the interest is spent on smoking cessation and other health-related issues.

The agency’s current executive director is paid $120,000 a year and will stay with TSET, which has 22 employees. By comparison, the state’s seven public pension systems employ approximately 150 workers overseeing combined assets in excess of $26 billion. No employee or director of a pension system makes more than $144,000 annually.

Oklahoma voters in 2000 approved a constitutional amendment that created the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Fund to invest payments from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. TSET programs and grants are funded by the earnings from the endowment fund.

A board of directors oversees the state agency’s employees and programs. A separate investment board manages investments.

The seven-member board of directors is appointed by several elected officials: the attorney general; state treasurer; speaker of the House of Representatives; state superintendent of public instruction; state auditor and inspector; president pro tempore of the Senate; and the governor.

Bridenstine endorses Russell in CD5 runoff

Congressman Bridenstine Endorses Steve Russell

[August 15th, 2014] Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Russell, GOP Candidate for Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District, is proud to announce the endorsement of Oklahoma's First District Congressman, Jim Bridenstine.

"I am honored to endorse fellow combat veteran Steve Russell for Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District," says Bridenstine. "I believe military experience is badly needed in Congress, and LTC Russell understands firsthand the sacrifice required to defend the Constitution."

Steve Russell says he is honored by the endorsement because Congressman Bridenstine understands the crisis America faces.

"With our declining veteran population in Congress, we need experienced warriors to help guide the country and defend our constitutional liberties. I'm looking forward to fighting for Oklahomans right alongside Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran Jim Bridenstine."

Congressman Bridenstine hopes voters will make the right decision by sending Lt. Col. Steve Russell to Congress.

Decorated for valor in battle, award-winning conservative lawmaker, acclaimed author, and owner of a rifle manufacturing business, Steve Russell brings the skills we rarely see these days. That is why 5th District voters are working hard to send this constitutional conservative warrior to Washington.

Pruitt to moderate OKGOP's CD5 Runoff Debate

The Oklahoma Republican Party will be hosting a debate between 5th Congressional District runoff candidates Steve Russell and Patrice Douglas on Thursday, August 21st. The moderator will be Attorney General Scott Pruitt.

The debate will start at 7:00pm, and will be held at the MetroTech campus in Oklahoma City (1900 Springlake Drive, Oklahoma City, OK). For more information, call the OKGOP at 405-528-3501.

Russell, a former state senator and retired Army Lt. Colonel, came in first in the June 24th primary election with 26.6%, while Douglas (incumbent Corporation Commissioner) took second with 24.5% of the vote.

The runoff election is August 26th.

Russell gets Tea Party Express endorsement in 5th District runoff, leads Douglas by 10%

Former state senator and retired Army Lt. Col. Steve Russell, frontrunner in the 5th Congressional District Republican runoff, has had some big news in the past two weeks. First, he was endorsed by the Tea Party Express, and today he released a poll showing him with a 10-point lead.

Tea Party Express Endorses Steve Russell for Congress

Sacramento, CA – Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest Tea Party political action committee, is proud to endorse Steve Russell for Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District.

Tea Party Express Executive Director Taylor Budowich said, “Steve Russell is exactly the kind of conservative leader we need to send to Congress. For 21-years Steve courageously defended the Constitution and protected our country as an Army Ranger. As a Lietutenant Colonel, Steve’s ability to lead, even in the face of danger and opposition is unquestioned.

“After serving our country in the military, Steve went on to serve Oklahomans in the State Senate. He fought to reduce taxes and protect the Constitution. After four years of service in the legislature, Steve decided to start a small rifle manufacturing business. At every turn Steve has worked to protect his country and improve his community. He is a dedicated public servant and a bold conservative,” Budowich concluded.

Read the rest of the press release here, complete with comments from various Oklahoma Tea Party leaders across the state.

Poll shows Steve Russell has commanding lead in 5th District Runoff

Lt. Col. Steve Russell, GOP Candidate for Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, shows a 10-point lead in a new poll released today. The poll was conducted by the JMC Enterprises on July 8th and sampled 419 voters in the 5th District.

The results are:
Lt. Col. Steve Russell: 41%
Patrice Douglas: 31%
Undecided: 28%
Margin of Error: +/-4.8%

“I am happy to see the voters of the 5th District responding to our positive campaign,” Steve Russell says. “This momentum is because the people believe that our country is still worth fighting for. I’m optimistic about our future and I think the voters join me in that feeling.”

Steve Russell won the June 24th GOP Primary with 26.6% of the vote in a six-person race. It appears he will maintain that lead into the runoff election on August 26th.

“We’ve had a great time meeting and speaking with voters almost every day,” says Russell. “I appreciate the groundswell of support from each and every one of them. Oklahomans want leaders to represent them in Washington who know how to get things done. I will not let them down.”

TheOkie.com has more of the crosstabs information here.

Two new Republicans running for 5th Congressional District: Turner and Sparks

The Oklahoma 5th Congressional District's GOP primary just got a lot more crowded: state rep. Mike Turner and pastor Harvey Sparks have thrown their respective hats into the ring for the Republican  nomination.

State Rep. Mike Turner is 26 years old, and was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2012.

In his news release, Turner said “After surveying the current field of candidates, many people approached me about running. There simply wasn’t a true, ‘across the board’ conservative on issues ranging from taxes and spending, social issues, economic growth issues like tort reform, and immigration.”  The 'tort reform' comment is likely aimed at fellow candidate Steve Russell, who was a very conservative state senator but opposed tort reform legislation.

News9 reports that Turner is willing to spend $500,000 of his own money on the race.

Harvey Sparks is a Baptist pastor, former missionary, and recent staffer for 1st District Congressman Jim Bridenstine. In his news release, Sparks pledged to serve only three terms, to "never vote for a debt limit increase, budget or continuing resolution that doesn’t include a plan to get us back on the road to fiscal solvency", and said that he "will not support anyone for House leadership, current or future, who doesn’t have a track record of taking seriously the fiscal situation that we are in."

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 district, McAffrey has no real shot at defeating the GOP nominee.

On the Republican side, candidates so far are Shane Jett, Patrice Douglas, Clark Jolley, and Steve Russell.

Latest Developments in U.S. Senate, 5th District races

U.S. Senate

Among the latest individuals thought to be considering running for Tom Coburn's seat is former governor Frank Keating. A resident of northern Virginia since 2003, Keating has some interesting voter registration information. Read this from a scathing article by blogger Michael Bates:

According to the most recent voter records I have handy, from July 2012, Francis A Keating II and Catherine H Keating are registered to vote in precinct 720071, with a residential address of 2121 S. Yorktown Ave. (a condo tower just east of Utica Square), Apt. 1203. No one named Keating owns property at that address, according to Tulsa County Assessor records, but Cathy Keating's mother, Frances Herndon Chandler, is listed as trustee of a trust that owns that unit.

But both Keatings list the following as their mailing address in their voter registration record (at least as of July, 2012):

820 NORTHEAST 23RD STREET
OKLAHOMA CITY OK 73105

Recognize that address? It's Oklahoma's Governor's Mansion, home to Brad and Kim Henry and their daughters from 2003 to 2011, and home for the last three years or so to Mary Fallin and her family. More than eleven years after moving out, Frank and Cathy Keating had not bothered to contact the county election board to change their voter record to their new mailing address. But they have continued to vote consistently, via absentee ballot. Presumably those ballots are being sent to a mailing address other than the one in their voter registration records.

It will be interesting to see if Keating decides to pursue this any further.

5th Congressional District

Joining announced Republican candidates Shane Jett, Patrice Douglas, and Steve Russell is State Sen. Clark Jolley (R-Edmond). Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Jolley is in the middle of his four-year term, and thus will only vacate his seat if he is ultimately elected Congressman.

On the Democratic side, State Sen. Al McAffrey has formed an exploratory committee. McAffrey was Oklahoma's first openly homosexual legislator.

More Dominoes: Corp. Comm. Douglas running for Congress

This morning, Corporation Commissioner Patrice Douglas announced her candidacy for the 5th Congressional District. With Congressman James Lankford running for U.S. Senate, Douglas joins Shane Jett as the first announced candidates to replace Lankford.

Douglas, a former mayor of Edmond, was appointed in 2011 to the Corporation Commission after Jeff Cloud resigned, and was elected without opposition in 2012 to finish the rest of Cloud's six-year term.

This announcement means that another statewide office will be open. So far, Coburn's bombshell has opened up three statewide or federal offices - U.S. Senate, 5th Congressional District, and Corporation Commission.

5th District Watch List

With James Lankford's near-certain candidacy to fill the rest of Tom Coburn's U.S. Senate term, there will be a crowded Republican primary for the 5th Congressional District. Here is a list of names to watch for in the coming days.

Former state rep. Shane Jett (already announced)
Former state rep. Kevin Calvey
State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft
State Sen. Clark Jolley
State Sen. Greg Treat
Corp. Comm. Patrice Douglas (soon to announce)
State Treasurer Ken Miller
Labor Comm. Mark Costello
Former state sen. Steve Russell

Leave a comment with your suggested additions or removals.