Pat Key, Republican, is a candidate for Tulsa County Clerk and the only one of three candidates qualified for the position by both experience and temperament.

Key is currently the Chief Deputy in the Clerk’s office overseeing every department and responsible for recording and persevering all property records in Tulsa County.  The office manages payroll for the County, administers the County retirement system, processes payment for all County bills and produces the County’s annual financial report.  She has served as the Chief Deputy for the last eleven years and has been with the office for 13 years in total.

It is a detail demanding position with high levels of personnel management skill also required to keep the ever flowing cascade of public requests and legally required duties met within deadlines and expectations.  Key accomplishes these tasks with skill and grace.

Those that frequent the Clerk’s office – especially for property records – find her staff helpful and friendly.  Moral is high despite a significant daily workload.

Key has a degree in government from East Central University and a member of the Oklahoma County Officers and Deputies Association, the National Association of Clerks and Recorders and other professional associations.  A longtime Republican activist, Pat Key has served as both treasurer and president of the Republican Women’s Club of Tulsa County.

Prior to moving to Tulsa County, Key owned and operated a John Deere dealership and a cattle operation in McAlester, Oklahoma.

Key’s two opponents in this race have both had legal problems.  One with a driving while impaired charge and the other with IRS and child support problems.  (Click here for a Tulsa World story on those legal issues).  Neither were known to attend party functions prior to filling for office.

Pat Key is an active member of Victory Christian Center.  

Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris endorsed Key saying, “Pat Key, Chief Deputy in the County Clerk’s Office is an experienced professional with proven ability to manage that office.  Just as importantly, Pat Key embodies the high moral qualities and integrity one expects of a person who lives and works by the tenets of her faith.  She deserves our votes June 26th.”

Tulsa County is one of only five counties in the nation to be rated A+ by the Sunshine Review Project for Openness and Transparency and Pat Key was an important part of achieving that high standard.

Tulsa Today is proud to endorse Pat Key for County Clerk.

In the most closely watched race in Tulsa to be decided Tuesday June 26; Rep. John Sullivan is being challenged by Jim Bridenstine.

With considerable regard for Bridenstine; why does he think that his first attempt to win public office should land him in Washington?  Further, some of his supporters told this writer that even this national office is just a stepping stone to Senator Tom Coburn’s Senate Seat.  

America has one unknown that came from nowhere to become President of the United States and we don’t need to make that mistake again.  Bridenstine shows just a bit too much audacity in this, his first campaign.  Even more audacity than Barack Hussein Obama – is that possible?  Apparently it is in Bridinstine’s filing.  At least Obama served in his state legislature.

We would like to vote for Bridenstine for a local, county, or state office.  We would like to see him in action over time on issues of public concern in the heat of contentious debate.  

Bridenstine notes his swim team successes in stump campaign speeches.  Thankfully, he doesn’t talk about kindergarten awards, but what he does speak on is still not the level of leadership necessary on the national stage.

On a personal note:  I won a patriotic writing award from Francis Scott Key Elementary School, but that dropped off my resume many years ago.  I am also an Eagle Scout (with two palm award levels above) and a member of the Order of the Arrow, but that alone doesn’t qualify me for Congress.

Bridenstine notes multiple assignments as a combat Navy pilot.  All of which are honorable and patriotic, but not leadership – that’s command within a unique operational system not leadership of other equals free to ignore him.

Success claimed by Bridenstine at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum is disputed within the membership of the Board of Directors, click here to read the latest on that issue.

Further, Tulsa Today sees no reason to fire (not elect) a dedicated, skilled, and proven conservative representative with the advantage of tenure on important committees highly impactful to Oklahoma.

Rep. Sullivan has served in Congress now over ten years (not eleven years as Bridenstine mistakenly asserts) after earning broad support in eight years within the Oklahoma Legislature.  Sullivan is an active member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the most powerful and sought-after committees, and now serves as the Vice Chairman of the Energy and Power Subcommittee.  He is known among his colleagues as the expert in residence on oil and natural gas issues critical to Oklahoma.

In that capacity, Sullivan has passed two bills through Congress this year to protect American workers and to force the EPA to do a cost benefit analysis on regulations that reduce employment in the United States.  Sullivan will be a fundamental part of upcoming negotiations as Congress struggles to develop a comprehensive energy strategy all agree is needed.

It is odd that Sullivan is rated as the most conservative member of the Oklahoma Congressional delegation yet he is being challenged from someone claiming to be even more conservative.

Tulsa Today has disagreed with Rep. John Sullivan, but not that often.  We know he has made mistakes in the past, but he has owned up to those mistakes and the lessons learned have made him a better human being and representative of Oklahoma.  We are proud of Rep. John Sullivan and his service to Oklahoma.

Tulsa Today strongly endorses Rep. John Sullivan in this race.

Click here for debate coverage in this race.

Click here for more from Rep. John Sullivan’s campaign site.

This Corporation Commission race between Bob Anthony and Brooks Mitchell is the only statewide contest on the ballot Tuesday, June 26.  As both are Republicans; the difference is competency in the current decade.

Bob Anthony has, in decades past, worked hard for the people of Oklahoma.  However, for many recent years, he has coasted on past accomplishments and “phoned in” participation.  He is cantankerous, simple minded and oblivious to much including the character and conduct of his own staff which, according to the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, may soon result in the filing of formal grievances.

Avoiding term-limits (Grandfathered in) Anthony has held office for 24 years.  He thinks he owns the position and doesn’t have to earn it despite what his radio campaign commercials claim.

Brooks Mitchell, is a Conservative Republican that worked for nine years as the administrator of the Commission.  He often dealt with problems Anthony created and has the private support of the other Corporation Commissioners and the majority of Conservative Republican Legislative and Administrative government in Oklahoma.   Only a very few who have worked with Anthony enjoy the experience.

Mitchell is a hardworking, dedicated public servant that previously owned his own CPA firm and is detail orientated – a critical personality trait in a Corporation Commissioner.  Mitchell is also calm, serious and dedicated to advancing the best interests of all Oklahomans.

In all truth, the Corporation Commission is the most difficult, less known, but most detailed job in Oklahoma government.  They are the only Oklahoma government agency to meet daily.  The Commission deals with utility regulations and public rates, trucking regulations, oil and gas drilling, and telephone technologies.  (For example:  There are over 400 telephone companies providing service in Oklahoma.)

Without hesitation or reservation, Tulsa Today endorses Brooks Mitchell in this race.

Click here for a previously published interview with Brooks Mitchell.

Click here for the story, "Mitchell claims Anthony irrelevant, doesn’t know current issues."

Click here for coverage of employee grievances at the Corporation Commission.

Click here for Brooks Mitchell’s campaign site.