My picks for the 2018 Oklahoma GOP runoff

Early and absentee voting is underway for the 2018 Oklahoma runoff election, with the bulk of ballots to be cast on Tuesday. As is my custom, I will be discussing my picks for the Republican races in this post.

Some of these candidates I am in wholehearted support of. Others will receive my vote with some reservations or primarily because the other options are worse. If I've written a separate post on a particular race or candidate, their name will be hyperlinked, and you can read in more detail by clicking the link. Candidates that I enthusiastically support will be in bold.

Governor: Kevin Stitt
I will be voting for Kevin Stitt without reservation. The vulgar and crude direction Mick Cornett has taken with his campaign speaks volumes about his lack of character. Under Kevin Stitt, I believe we would have a Governor who is willing to hold the line and rein in government. Stitt is the only choice for conservatives in this runoff.

Lieutenant Governor: Matt Pinnell
I 100% support Matt Pinnell, and anticipate him making a great Lieutenant Governor.

State Auditor: Cindy Byrd
As Deputy State Auditor under Gary Jones, Byrd has been an major part of the work the Auditor's office has done during Jones' tenure. In the last eight years, she has uncovered over $10M in fraud and waste, leading to the indictment or resignation of six elected officials. She will carry on that stellar performance, and will continue to uncover waste in government. She has earned the endorsement of State Auditor Gary Jones, and I concur with his pick.

The Auditor's race is one of the most crucial offices that we as Oklahomans vote on. If we get it right, the potential for holding government accountable and uncovering waste goes up. Get it wrong and corruption gets hidden.

Charlie Prater is running a crooked campaign, and is literally supported by disgraced former politicians that the Auditor's office got convicted of crimes. Prater should not be allowed anywhere near the office of State Auditor.

Attorney General: Mike Hunter
I will be voting against Gentner Drummond. The race for Attorney General has been extraordinarily negative. Drummond in particular has been running a slimy race that is disgraceful of any person seeking the position of top law enforcement officer in the state.

Hunter isn't clean as the wind-driven snow in this race, either, with both candidates exhibiting the worst stereotypes of slick, dirty lawyers slinging mud at each other. I'm quite frankly disgusted by this race. However, Drummond has far surpassed Hunter in dirty campaigning.

Michael Bates makes a good argument (as usual) in favor of Hunter and in opposition of Drummond: "[I]n a time when freedom of conscience is under attack, particularly with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity, we need an Attorney General who will stand up for our rights, and Gentner Drummond is a major backer of a judicial candidate who believes that adoption agencies should be forced by government to violate their beliefs; Drummond himself refused to express an opinion on SB1140, which protects the rights of adoption agencies to make decisions in the best interests of the child and in accordance with their values."

I am not a Mike Hunter fan, but Gentner Drummond and his handlers are running one of THE sleaziest, dirtiest campaigns I've ever witnessed. I cast a protest vote in the primary, but will vote Hunter in the runoff to keep Drummond and his ilk far away from public office.

State Superintendent: Linda Murphy
Incumbent Joy Hofmeister is in the pocket of the leftist unions that are the biggest problem facing education in Oklahoma. Linda Murphy led the charge against Common Core, and will bring much-needed reforms to the State Department of Education.

Labor Commissioner: Cathy Costello
Cathy Costello will continue the work done by her late husband, Labor Commissioner Mark Costello. She is facing Leslie Osborn, who over the past few years has compromised and tossed aside just about every conservative principle she once espoused. Osborn led the charge for higher taxes, voted to make it easier for the Legislature to raise taxes, and called for war to be waged against the principled conservatives in the Legislature. Tom Coburn has endorsed Costello, and I fully support her candidacy as well.

Osborn has been running a nasty campaign against Costello, pushing bald-faced lies and misrepresentations about Costello's record and history. It should come as no surprise that she is being supported by the AFL-CIO and the same Hillary Clinton bundler that supports Mick Cornett, or that her campaign is being run by the same cabal that is running the extremely negative campaigns of Drummond and third-party groups attacking conservative legislators.

Corporation Commissioner: Bob Anthony
While I am not a fan of his having been on the Corporation Commissioner since before I was born, I do believe Anthony has been a solid conservative in his position (the same can't be said for most who have been on the Commission). His challenger is former State Senate Pro Tem Brian Bingman, who ended his legislative career with a less-than-satisfactory Conservative Index score of 59. This is Anthony's last eligible race due to term limits.

1st Congressional District: Tim Harris
Kevin Hern's campaign has been supported by the moderate establishment wing of the DC GOP. Meanwhile, Tim Harris is being supported by OKWU President Everett Piper and former Congressman Jim Bridenstine's dad. The two best choices in this race were eliminated in the primary, and neither Harris nor Hern have major points that push themselves ahead of the other in my view. If I was in the 1st District, I'd vote for Tim Harris, while not expecting either of the two candidates to come close to Jim Bridenstine's conservatism.

Legislative races
The future direction of the Oklahoma Legislature is at stake this primary season. This past few legislative sessions, conservatives in the Legislature have fought and stood up for the taxpayer against an overwhelming onslaught of higher taxes and liberal policies, pushed by their own GOP leadership and governor. Freshmen classes for the last several elections have been major disappointments, co-opted by power-hungry moderates who have decided to wage civil war on conservatives.

It is vitally important that proven conservative incumbents be reelected, and that new conservatives win in open seats or oust liberal compromisers.

I don't know about candidates in all of the races, but I feel comfortable enough to make the following recommendations.

HD10: Rep. Travis Dunlap
HD14: Rep. George Faught
HD20: Rep. Bobby Cleveland
HD27: Dave Spaulding
HD30: Kent Glesener
HD36: Rep. Sean Roberts
HD41: Denise Hader
HD63: Rep. Jeff Coody
HD68: Nicole Nixon
HD79: Dan Hicks
HD80: Rep. Mike Ritze
HD101: Rep. Tess Teague

Tulsa County Assessor: John Wright

OTHER VIEWPOINTS:

Michael Bates of BatesLine.com has a great post with his thoughts on the runoffs here. I agree with almost everything he wrote.
KFAQ's Pat Campbell has done radio interviews with many statewide and legislative candidates here (some were eliminated in the primary).

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.

Hern touts poll with him leading Harris 50%-34%

Poll Shows Kevin Hern Leading Harris by 16-Points in CD1 Republican Primary

Tulsa, OK – The Kevin Hern Campaign released the following statement regarding a new poll showing Kevin Hern leads Tim Harris in a survey of Oklahoma 1st Congressional District GOP primary voters by double digits.

“These poll results show the momentum our campaign has gained since the June election including our powerful grassroots operation,” said Campaign Manager Johnny Moyer. “While we are pleased with these numbers, our campaign will only continue to spread Kevin Hern’s conservative message in support of President Trump and against more spending from career politicians in Washington.”

The Tarrance Group poll revealed that Hern's positive momentum in the recent weeks finding Kevin Hern with a 16-point lead (50%-34%) over Tim Harris in the upcoming Republican primary run-off election.  In addition, Hern holds a 9-point lead (29%-20%) among voters who have made a definite choice on the ballot. In a further sign of the positive image Hern has with GOP run-off voters, fully 61% of voters who have an impression of Hern think of him as a conservative.  In contrast, just 43% of voters with an impression of Harris think of him as a conservative.

As the campaign enters this final stretch, Kevin Hern is well positioned to win this GOP primary run-off election.  He has a double-digit lead on the ballot. This impressive lead is driven by his strongly favorable image with voters that includes being well defined as a conservative who will be a strong ally for President Trump.

Responses to this survey were gathered August 7-9, 2018. All respondents interviewed in this study were part of a fully representative sample of N=301 registered likely Republican primary run-off voters.

Hern hits Harris in new TV ad

Kevin Hern, running in the 1st Congressional District's GOP runoff, is out with a new TV ad hitting his opponent, former Tulsa DA Tim Harris, on earmarks, term limits, and attacks him as a career politician.



Ironically, back in June, Hern issued a challenge to the other GOP candidates to refrain from negative campaigning, saying, "I’m committing to a clean campaign and asking my competitors to do the same. The opportunity at hand is too important to waste by wallowing in the mud and allowing outside groups to influence the people’s vote—we should demand better. I’m also calling on each candidate to join me in making a public commitment to denounce any negative campaigning and ensure we hold all third-party groups accountable to any messages they push. I look forward to hearing from each of my opponents in joining me in this commitment."

Furthermore, while Hern did sign a pledge to co-sponsor and vote for the U.S. Term Limits amendment (3 House terms, 2 Senate terms), much like Markwayne Mullin did, he has made it a point to say that he personally won't hold to a self-imposed term limit (unlike Jim Bridenstine and Tom Coburn).

Term limits for thee, but not for me, apparently. I consider it to be hypocritical to claim support for term limits only if everyone else is required to hold to them as well. If you truly believe that term limits are a good thing, then you do what Jim Bridenstine and Tom Coburn did and actually follow through on that belief with action.

Harris leads Hern by 11% in new CD1 poll

In the latest poll of the 1st Congressional District GOP runoff, former Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris has a commanding lead.

Harris emerged from the primary with a 5% lead over second-place candidate Kevin Hern (27.48% to 22.68%). Most of the attention on the race was focused on the battle between Hern and Andy Coleman (who placed third), while - at least in my estimation - Harris was underestimated and slipped under the radar into the lead.

SoonerPoll/News9/News on 6 CD1 GOP Runoff Poll (link) 

811 likely Republican voters, conducted July 18th to 20th.
Overall MoE +/- 3.43%. 

• Tim Harris - 37.5% 
• Kevin Hern - 26.4% 
• Undecided - 36.1%

You can view the full crosstabs here.

Runoffs Galore!

Well, primary election day contained a lot of surprises, but relatively few races were resolved. There is a glut of runoffs that will now occur on August 28th to settle the party nominees for many races.

There's a lot to process from the primary. The GOP gubernatorial race left Todd Lamb standing outside of the runoff, and no candidate in a statewide race with three or more people running was able to reach 50%. The 1st Congressional District race ended with former DA Tim Harris surprising most people with a first place finish, while Kevin Hern held off Andy Coleman and Nathan Dahm for the other runoff spot.

Of the conservative legislators that opposed the recent tax hikes and who drew primary challengers, only Sen. Mark Allen won his race without a runoff. Reps. Chuck Strohm and Scott McEachin are gone, trounced in their reelection efforts, receiving 36% to 38% of the vote. Reps. Bobby Cleveland, Jeff Coody, Travis Dunlap, George Faught, Sean Roberts, and Tess Teague all came in first, but under the 50% mark, ranging from a 26.42% lead (Cleveland) to 0.63% lead (Coody). Rep. Mike Ritze is the only legislator to enter a runoff in second place, trailing by 2.92%.

Other Republican legislators in runoffs who voted for the tax hikes are Mark Lawson, John Pfeiffer, and Jadine Nollan, ranging from a 24.99% lead (Lawson) to 9.08% (Nollan). Also of note, Rep. Kevin McDugle currently leads by 3 votes over his challenger, with 10 provisional ballots to be reviewed on Friday.

Three incumbent Republican House members who voted for all of the tax hikes were defeated. Rep. Greg Babinec was crushed by one of his challengers 61% to 28%. Rep. Steve Vaughan lost to Ken Luttrell, who was the Democrat incumbent Vaughan beat back in 2010. Rep. Scooter Park lost to Toni Hassenbeck, who was a Democrat in 2014 when Park beat her by the same exact percentage that she beat him by on Tuesday.

In one of the few bright spots, RINO Sen. Ervin Yen lost his primary in a 60% to 40% thumping.

The State Senate is now guaranteed to have at least 12 freshmen out of 48 members (25%), while the State House is guaranteed to have at least 37 freshmen out of 101 members (37%). At least one-third of the legislature will be brand new.

Republicans have 34 runoffs -- 7 statewide races, one congressional, 4 state senate races, and 22 state house races. The Libertarian gubernatorial primary barely went to a runoff. Democrats have 13 runoffs -- one statewide race, four congressional, 1 state senate race, and 7 state house races.

Here are the runoffs for the statewide, congressional, and legislative races:

REPUBLICAN RUNOFFS
Governor: Mick Cornett (29.35%) vs. Kevin Stitt (24.41%)
Lieutenant Governor: Dana Murphy (45.85%) vs. Matt Pinnell (35.7%)
State Auditor: Cindy Byrd (49.45%) vs. Charlie Prater (42.08%)
Attorney General: Mike Hunter (44.46%) vs. Gentner Drummond (38.46%)
State Superintendent: Joy Hofmeister (46.84%) vs. Linda Murphy (31.05%)
Labor Commissioner: Cathy Costello (43.26%) vs. Leslie Osborn (35.92%)
Corporation Commissioner: Bob Anthony (47.17%) vs. Brian Bingman (38.42%)
Congressional District 1: Tim Harris (27.48%) vs. Kevin Hern (22.67%)
Senate District 10: Bill Coleman (48.47%) vs. Amber Roberts (27.46%)
SD16: Ed Crocker (44.41%) vs. Becky Maldonado (39.44%)
SD30: Lori Callahan (20.07%) vs. John Symcox (19.96%)
SD36: John Haste (34.71%) vs. Bill Day (25.6%)
House District 10: Rep. Travis Dunlap (46.11%) vs. Judd Strom (41.93%)
HD14: Rep. George Faught (44.61%) vs. Chris Sneed (28.48%)
HD17: John Hass (34.88%) vs. Jim Grego (29.02%)
HD20: Rep. Bobby Cleveland (43.04%) vs. Sherrie Conley (16.62%)
HD27: Danny Sterling (37.8%) vs. Dave Spaulding (37.45%)
HD30: Rep. Mark Lawson (47.48%) vs. Kent Glessner (22.49%)
HD36: Rep. Sean Roberts (33.04%) vs. Louise Redcorn (32.13%)
HD38: Rep. John Pfeiffer (42.55%) vs. Brian Hobbs (31.32%)
HD41: Roxanne Pollard (36.89%) vs. Denise Hader (29.83%)
HD43: Jay Steagall (33.73%) vs. Crystal Duncan (30.12%)
HD47: Brian Hill (40.18%) vs. Beverly Adams (32.8%)
HD61: Kenton Patzkowsky (42.07%) vs. Brad Raven (31.73%)
HD63: Rep. Jeff Coody (39.71%) vs. Trey Caldwell (39.08%)
HD66: Rep. Jadine Nollan (45.71%) vs. Brian Jackson (36.63%)
HD68: Lonnie Sims (33.4%) vs. Nicole Nixon (27.97%)
HD71: Cheryl Baber (43.44%) vs. Beverly Atteberry (24.29%)
HD79: Karen Gilbert (48.37%) vs. Dan Hicks (44.9%)
HD80: Stan May (39.48%) vs. Rep. Mike Ritze (36.56%)
HD82: Nicole Miller (33.87%) vs. Brad Martin (17.44%)
HD98: Laura Steele (29.32%) vs. Dean Davis (27.35%)
HD100: Julie Roach (41.55%) vs. Marilyn Stark (38.18%)
HD101: Rep. Tess Teague (37.99%) vs. Robert Manger (26.55%)

LIBERTARIAN RUNOFF
Governor: Chris Powell (48.92%) vs. Rex Lawhorn (32.4%)

DEMOCRATIC RUNOFFS
Corporation Commissioner: Ashley McCray (48.79%) vs. Blake Cummings (22.17%)
Congressional District 1: Tim Gilpin (34.5%) vs. Amanda Douglas (32.41%)
Congressional District 2: Jason Nichols (37.9%) vs. Clay Padgett (24.21%)
Congressional District 4: Mary Brannon (34.36%) vs. Fred Gipson (30.37%)
Congressional District 5: Kendra Horn (43.84%) vs. Tom Guild (17.91%)
Senate District 16: Mary Boren (34.59%) vs. Rep. Claudia Griffith (32.81%)
House District 26: Terry Hopkins (38.72%) vs. Bruce Bushong (31.76%)
HD41: Sara Peterson (39.11%) vs. Jennie Scott (37.75%)
HD53: Leslie Bonebreak (39.34%) vs. Cyndy Sutherland (36.14%)
HD68: Angela Statum (49.36%) vs. Michael Ross (32.94%)
HD91: Amanda Jeffers (45.08%) vs. Sonya Fergeson (30.49%)
HD99: Ajay Pittman (38.14%) vs. Nkem House (32.1%)
HD101: Madeline Scott (32.51%) vs. John Carpenter (28.81%)

You can view the statewide results here, or county-by-county results here.

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. 

Danny Stockstill joins 1st Congressional District race

TULSA POLICE CHAPLAIN STOCKSTILL TO RUN FOR US CONGRESS 

Broken Arrow native Danny Stockstill will announce his run for Jim Bridenstine’s Congressional 

seat Saturday morning before the Rooster Days Parade.

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Tulsa police chaplain, small business owner and pastor Danny Stockstill will return to his hometown of Broken Arrow on Saturday morning to make it official: He’s running to represent Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District in Washington, D.C. The district includes Washington, Tulsa and Wagoner counties and parts of Creek and Rogers counties.

“Sarah and I have two kids, Cobin and Brinlee, and they’re the reason I’m running,” Stockstill said. “Oklahoma kids need Oklahoma futures.”

Stockstill is expected to announce his candidacy at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 13 at The Main Place, 1800 S. Main Place in Broken Arrow. There, he’ll invite supporters to join him and his family at 10 a.m. as they march through the Rose District in the annual Rooster Days Parade.

The parade will begin on the south side of the intersection of South College and East Main streets and will continue south down Main Street to the front gates of Rooster Days.

Broken Arrow residents might remember the Stockstill name. Stockstill is the third of four children raised by Broken Arrow educators John and Penny Stockstill. He played football and baseball at Broken Arrow High School in the 1990s and was an All-State wrestler who won a wrestling scholarship to Central Missouri State University.

These days, Stockstill is the lead pastor at Brookside Baptist Church in Tulsa and owns two small Tulsa businesses. Grade Power Learning is a franchised learning center that tutors pre-K through college students. Philosophy: A Modern Academy builds on public and private education and offers flexible scheduling for students with specific educational needs.

Stockstill volunteers as a chaplain to first responders and the public and has been a bellwether in improving local police and race relations. He is vice president of the Brookside Business Association and a member of the Tulsa County Men’s Republican Club.

“There’s one thing I know about Republicans and Democrats, and I learned it from the friends I’ve made in third-world countries,” Stockstill said. “They taught me that people really aren’t that different. When our basic needs are met, peace and mutual respect become the norms. I wonder what we could accomplish if peace and mutual respect were the norms in Congress?”

Stockstill said a vote for him means a step toward overcoming “aisle intolerance” that has led to Capitol Hill standstills.

“I was in the car with my son listening to talk radio one morning, and the host was naming off all the people running for Bridenstine’s seat,” Stockstill said. “Then he said, ‘… and some other guy, but I can’t remember his name.’ I’m pretty sure he was talking about me. Maybe that’s how people can remember my name: “Less standstill, more Stockstill.”

For more information, visit www.stockstillforcongress.com.


Stockstill joins a wide field, with Republicans Andy Coleman, Nathan Dahm, Tim Harris, Kevin Hern, and Scott Pendleton already in the race (update: Pendleton dropped out in April and endorsed Kevin Hern).

Former Tulsa DA Tim Harris running for Congress

From the ORU Oracle:

[ORU] Adjunct professor and alumus Tim Harris running for congress

“I am announcing a congressional candidate,” said former District Attorney Tim Harris April 2017.

Tulsa County saw Harris serve a record setting record 16 years as district attorney, aiming to fight for the rights for victims of crime.

Recently, Congressman Jim Bridenstine has not endorsed Harris’ campaign, but encouraged him to run. Bridenstine is “self-term limited by his own choice” according to Harris. Bridenstine is also in line to be considered for the director of NASA inside the Trump Administration

Harris reports if he gets that appointment there will be a special election called by Gov. Mary Fallin no early than 60 days after Bridenstine vacates the position. On the normal cycle for election the primary is set for June of 2018; however with this change, it could be a special primary set for September and October in 2017.

“That’s why I’m announcing now,” said Harris. “If this is the Lords call, and he has told me to run, God never tells you to do something without equipping you to do it.”

Currently an adjunct professor of law at ORU, Harris, a self proclaim constitutionalist, has had his heart set on justice in the court of law for as long as he can remember.

“I wanted to be a lawyer since I was eight or nine,” said Harris. “Went to college did a couple years, I was visiting my brother in South America and ended up going for eight months. That’s where we did our mission work, it was one of the most amazing trips of a life time.”

After spending time in the mission field, Harris found himself as a construction worker with a dream still inside to become a lawyer. Later he returned to school at the University of Wisconsin to achieve his undergraduate in Behavioral Science and Law.

“My parents came through Tulsa and picked up a brochure on the O.W. Coburn School of Law [ORU’s former law school]. I read that, and started calling around,” said Harris as he was looking to continue on into law school, and encountered ORU in the early stages of the university.

The ORU O.W. Coburn School of Law would attain accreditation while Harris was in attendance, and after successfully passing his Bar examinations, the now Lawyer, from Milwaukee, found himself quickly at the District Attorney office in downtown Tulsa.

“My senior year here I started interning with the district attorneys office, the prosecution bug bit me,” said Harris. “All of a sudden it was like the Tulsa County Courthouse, I can advocate for victims of crime and children. I can move the ball forward at this mission field called the courthouse.”

After serving the people of Tulsa in public service for close to tw0 decades, Harris felt the need step away in the 2014 election.

“In late 2014 the Lord tapped me on the shoulder and said He has another chapter for me. Four different election cycles in four-year terms, I was supposed to be there. This was my mission field.”

In 2013 the Tulsa World released an article entitled ‘Tulsa Count District Attorney Tim Harris will not seek re-election in 2013,’ covering the details of his service through 1998-2014. Although this transition to Steve Kunzweiler the current DA looked like a career retirement, for Harris it was a preparation season for what dreams lay ahead.

“I kept seeking His face what is this new chapter, and the Lord told me to put my team together, so that’s what I am doing,” said Harris. “I see our constitutional rights being eaten away; our religious liberties are being taken away from us. I want to go to Washington for the people of the first district for people of Oklahoma and America to keep our constitutional rights in tact.”

Following years of serving as the first director of Crimes Against Children and being apart of the first specialty child abuse team in Tulsa County history, Harris is passionate to take his ideas to the market for the state.

“Our crime rate is up,” said Harris in response to the 82 reported murders last year inside of Tulsa County, which is an all time high, the former DA feels his duty as a prosecutor affects state value. “We have to have a safe environment to grow our economy but who is going to come to an area where they don’t feel safe?”

In 2013 after his retirement, the Tulsa County honored Harris by renaming the Victim Witness Center after him. In this same center Harris plans to make his official announcement of candidacy on the 8th floor in the Tulsa County Courthouse on April 24. Prior to this public announcement, Harris has already placed everything for his campaign in order, filling for FEC and preparing Facebook and web pages.

“No matter what happens, I’ll never go negative, if I cant win this race in the marketplace of ideas about what I stand for then God’s got a different plan,” said Harris.