House Speaker T.W. Shannon announced a long list of supporters who have urged him to enter the Republican primary for the U. S. Senate and it’s expected he will do just that on Wednesday.
He said the business leaders from across the state have urged him to formally enter the race for Dr. Tom Coburn’s U.S. Senate seat.
“I can’t tell you how humbling it is to have these kind of individuals tell me they will support me if I announce I am running,” said Shannon. “It’s not every day you get this kind of encouragement. I’m just blown away.”
Shannon said he has fielded hundreds of phone calls since he first indicated an interest in the seat, all of them positive and encouraging.
“The response has truly been overwhelming,” said Shannon. “When I first began to think and pray on the race, I never imagined this level of support. I am so thankful to the men and women who have joined my exploratory committee, and I am thankful for the countless others who have offered support and donated.”
Shannon said he expects to make an announcement soon. {It’s likely that will come on Wednesday morning.}
“There has been a lot of praying and talking with my wife, and we will make an announcement some time this week,” said Shannon.
In the meantime, Shannon said he is preparing for the upcoming legislative session.
“Just because this U.S. Senate seat is opening up doesn’t mean everything else has been put on hold,” said Shannon. “I’ve been meeting with my staff, my leadership team and our fellow House members to make sure we have a solid conservative agenda in place for this session.”
Shannon said his priorities for the upcoming session will be tax cuts, maintaining the 1% rate for horizontal drilling, reforming our activist-controlled judiciary system, and opposing any new debt.
“The first thing we have to do is restore the tax cut that was taken away by the Supreme Court, and make that cut even deeper,” said Shannon. “Several in the House and Senate are working on a plan to take the rate below 5%. It would be fantastic if we could make that work.
“It isn’t just the personal income tax rate we need to address. We must also make permanent the one percent tax rate for drilling horizontal wells. The oil and gas industry here in Oklahoma is a tremendous economic engine. We shouldn’t raise taxes on them just because some people want to grow government and spend more money.”
Shannon ended with another note of caution on adding more debt.
“I know there is a great deal of pressure to add more debt,” said Shannon. “I have opposed this approach because I believe government shouldn’t spend more than it takes in. Because of this, we have actually reduced our bond indebtedness by $89 million over the past two years and are on track to reduce it by 10% over the next two years. Until we have a plan to reduce our $11 billion pension liability, we need to resist the temptation to spend money we don’t have, and continue reducing our debt load.”
The exploratory steering committee includes:
Jeff Bashaw, Tulsa, Managing Director, XCorp
MG (R) Lee & Terry Baxter, Lawton, Founder, Signal Mountain Associates, Inc.
Doug Beall, Oklahoma City, Chief of Radiology Services, Clinical Radiology of Oklahoma
Susan Binkowski, Oklahoma City, Owner, Esperanza Real Estate Investments, LLC
Rick Braught, Duncan, Owner, The Territory Golf & Country Club
Mike Brown, Lawton, Owner, CDBL, Inc.
Bill Burgess, Lawton, Senior Partner, Burgess, Burgess, Burgess & Hightower
Tom Clark, Tulsa, President, Tulsair Beechcraft
Larry Derryberry, Oklahoma City, Partner, Derryberry & Naifeh, LLP
Bob Drake, Davis, Rancher, Drake Farms
Don Greiner, Edmond, President, Grace Living Center
Frazier Henke, Tulsa, President & CEO, American Bank and Trust Company
Rick Henry, Altus, Owner, Val Verde Dental Associates
David House, Tulsa, President, Jireh Resources, LLC
Mike Jackson, Enid, State Representative HD 40
Steve LaForge, Chickasha, Ace Investments, Inc
Mike McDonald, Oklahoma City, Co-Owner, Triad Energy, Inc.
Ed Martin, Edmond, Chairman, Ackerman McQueen
Tom McCasland, Jr., Duncan, Chairman, Mack Energy Co.
Tom & Brenda McDaniel, Oklahoma City, President Emeritus, Oklahoma City University
Larry Mocha, Tulsa, President, Air Power Systems Company, Inc.
Rick Nagel, Norman, Partner, Acorn Growth Companies
Brad Naifeh, Oklahoma City, Owner, Central Liquor Company
Xavier Neira, Oklahoma City, Director of Business Development, Manhattan Construction Company
Russell Perry, Oklahoma City, Owner & President, Perry Publishing & Broadcasting
David Rainbolt, Oklahoma City, President & CEO, BancFirst
Carl Renfro, Ponca City, Former President, Pioneer Bank & Trust
Jim Richie, Tulsa, Chief Auctioneer & Co-Founder, Kruse Energy & Equipment, LLC
Frank Robson, Claremore, Owner, Robson Properties
Ambassador Francis Rooney, Tulsa, CEO, Rooney Holdings, Inc.
Lee Allan Smith, Oklahoma City, President, Oklahoma Events, Inc.
Tom Stapleton, Oklahoma City, Co-Owner, Triad Energy, Inc.
MG (R) Toney Stricklin, Lawton, Owner, TDRS, LLC
Warren Thomas, Oklahoma City, Managing General Partner, Tinker Business & Industrial Park
