OKGOP State convention Briefs

The Oklahoma Republican leaders and activists convened in Moore, OK; this weekend to select state leaders and refine their message.   Over 800 credentialed delegates decided key leadership posts. They chose to give Chairman Pam Pollard her first full term. She had been completing Randy Brogdon's unexpired  term. Robert Airy provided an alternative candidacy but Pollard held a large lead in rural support and carried her OKC home base. The final split was roughly 60:40   DeWayne McAnally was unapposed for the Vic Chair position.   Party rules were further honed through a series of proposals which were previously passed by county conventions.   The quotas of past generations were finally laid to rest when a multi-county committee proposed language to end the distinction of "committeeman or committeewoman. Each county now will send 2 "committee members" to the district and state committees.   A Resolution was passed which authorizes the party to send a letter to the legislature and governor, to support & enforce pro-life policies and statutes.

  A measure to require party nominees to state their position on party platform planks, very narrowly failed, by less than 1%. It brought serious questions about the accuracy of software being used to tabulate weighted votes.
Bloggers; Michael Bates and Al Gerhart are being given access to independent analyze the data and spreadsheets. we expect their work to be published in the coming days.

  The Platform was not given a vote this year because the body lost the minimum quorum before the matter reached a hearing on the convention floor. We now remain guided by the 2015 OKGOP Platform.

  The facilities of First Moore Baptist Church were excellent for the purpose of the convention. The Credentials Committee did their work flawlessly. The catered lunch was excellent. The Costs were well contained. The harmony of the floor was better than most years.
  Chairman Josh Cockroft and his parliamentarian, AJ Ferratti were mostly respectful, engaging, and constructive.  Perhaps no one will chair this body with the competence that Gary Jones mastered the disaster which was the poorly organized 2015 convention. Rep. Cockroft came as close as anyone, to the mastery of the job which Jones has demonstrated.

  In recent years we are seeing several great Republicans drop out of party participation. That is probably due to the disastrously contentious 2015 in-fighting. This convention was a pleasure for our family to experience.  We hope the party continues the good trends, repairs the bad practices, and reaches out to a greater base of conservative Oklahomans.

from Sooner Politics.org - Editorial http://www.soonerpolitics.org/editorial/okgop-state-convention-briefs