Minutes after The McCarville Report broke the news that Rep. Leslie Osborn was replaced as budget chair, Oklahoma Democrats voiced their support for the Republican lawmaker.
“Rep. Osborn recognized the critical funding situation and worked to try to fill the enormous budget hole we’re in,” said Drew Edmondson, a former Attorney General who is now the front-runner to become Democratic nominee for Governor. “Now she’s being punished for speaking truth to power. I am troubled that reasonable voices are no longer welcome in our legislature. As Governor, I would invite Rep. Osborn’s continued participation in the budget process.”
Democratic Leader Scott Inman, also a candidate for Governor, tweeted: “It’s a shame @leslieosborn1 can’t speak truth to power w/o losing her job!” 
Other Democratic House members came to Osborn’s defense as well.
(A note from The McCarville Report: Rep. Virgin may want to send apologies to former Democratic Rep. Cleta Deatherage of Norman, who was the first woman in the United States to chair a House Appropriations and Budget Committee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleta_Mitchell)
The public employees union, OPEA, even came to Osborn’s aid with numerous tweets and retweets of support.
Notably absent was any public statement of support from Republican House members. In fact, no Republican elected official or group has yet to voice support for Osborn. The McCarville Report will continue to monitor the situation and post any developments.
Predictably, we will not hear any supportive statements from Republican members of our Legislature. I am a Republican and have had personal conversations with Leslie Osborne. I have found her to be an advocate for the people of Oklahoma, not her agenda. Not the agenda of Legislative leaders. Not the agenda of the Oklahoma Republican Party. All of the preceding points are the cause of our problems in Oklahoma. Charles McCall made this statement in the news after this story broke, he said, when asked if removing Osborne was due to their disagreement on DHS appropriations, “Absolutely not.” While it is clear today that this was indeed the reason for removing Osborne, McCall has either told a bald faced lie to the press, or he is ignorant to how the facts present his decision.
Those Democrats didn’t celebrate when Leslie Osborn was supporting smaller government, traditional family values or Work Comp reform. She was a hero back then and she was representing the values of people like me in Mustang. Now that she is much more liberal perhaps she should run as a Democrat and allow the fine people of her district to elect a Republican who supports their values.