Teegarden Announces For Statewide Office

Amanda Teegarden

   The Oklahoma Republicans are "ramping up" for a big convention in a couple weeks. All of the preliminary county conventions have completed their biennial leadership selections. What transpired in many counties is worth some observation. County elections statewide are signaling a significant shift in party coalitions and elected party officials.

   The emergence of the Tea Party grassroots movement is bringing about a major realignment of priorities for many long-standing party members. The days of banking lobbyists and ruling class blue-bloods running the party.... may be diminishing even more.

   The national politics of gun control, socialized medicine, federal debt, and bloated bureaucracy is becoming the driving force of Oklahoma's Republican Party Growth. Like any growth, certain sectors within a large group become more influential. 

   The pro-family activists who established a plurality victory for Rick Santorum in last year's Oklahoma presidential primary are finding themselves largely aligned with the 'constitutional conservatives' who preferred Ron Paul.

A contentious 2012 OKGOP convention

   What may be driving many of them to each other's aid is the propensity of the 'business-class' Republican leadership who skirted many party rules at a number of Republican conventions, last year. When Mitt Romney outlasted many of his opponents in the Spring months of 2012, his people wasted no time setting up shop at the RNC and started sending directives to many state party leaders. Long-standing traditions and rules of process were suddenly scrapped for convenient outcomes-based processes which the rank & file found either embarrassingly tolerable or an outright theft of due process. Even the 2012 state convention chairman was a hand-selected business attorney.

A protest convention after the 2012 Oklahoma Convention

   Since no one is currently an active surrogate for a declared presidential candidate, we can focus on our own state party's integrity and message. Part of that celebration includes open and spirited debate and elections of our own party leadership. This week a couple more names are emerging as candidates for state chair & vice chair.

    One solid leader for State Chairman is Amanda Teegarden. Is the executive director of OK-SAFE, She will be touted by many of the pro-family, pro-life, & pro-sovereignty advocates. Many leaders of Ron Paul's 2012 Oklahoma campaign have expressed admiration for Teegarden's successful defeat of the North American Corridor which would have divided Oklahoma into 2 separate land masses with Mexico and Canada having free-flow in an 'international zone', right through our state.

   This writer is confident in Amanda's qualifications, competence, people-skills, and most importantly; CONVICTIONS. The challenges of the office to heal some substantive distrust, will be accelerated by the choice of this consensus candidate.  The Tulsa 912 Project director, Ronda Vuillemont-Smith, is also giving strong support to Teegarden.

   The Oklahoma Republicans will choose on April 20th, at their state convention.