The Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce has broken ranks with the Senate Republican leadership in its endorsement of a Democrat challenger in the Senate District 6 race.Opposing a Senate GOP incumbent, the Chamber has stepped out of its usual pattern of supporting incumbents, especially those in the party in power.
Sources tell The McCarville Report that Senate leadership, which passed such important Chamber initiatives as workers compensation reform, had asked it to stay out of Senator Josh Brecheen’s race in Senate District 6.
It was the premier race four years ago when Republicans won a seat in southeastern Oklahoma.
Brecheen, however, had angered the state chamber in opposing several
of their pet projects, and now, the sources claim, they’re planning to make an example of him, to help keep future GOP senators in line.
The chamber is endorsing a vast majority of Republicans; the list is in the story following this one.
That solves that. Anyone backed by the State Chamber of Commerce is no friend of mine, or my kids. They’ve been pushing Common Core down our children’s throats and aren’t going to stop til they federalize our classrooms to create “model employees” that don’t think for themselves and will be happy paying high taxes.
This is a big deal and we’re not going to sit back and let them screw up Oklahoma. Josh Brecheen deserves the support of every freedom loving voter in Oklahoma. I’m sending him a check right now!
According to the REID webpage, Research Institute for Economic Development, a task force made up Chamber members “evaluates the extent to which individual Oklahoma legislators act to advance business interests through their service in the legislature.” Since Senator Josh Brecheen’s cumulative REID score was 90%, then clearly he is business friendly and should be endorsed by the Chamber. This is a political move by the Chamber who backed Common Core and Senator Brecheen repealed it. And now every OK business-friendly person should shake Josh’s hand because their future employees will will be taught math in a way that is business-friendly. Oh, and thank-you, Senator Brecheen, for co-authoring the Worker’s Comp legislation and all your help on getting tort reform passed. I am sorry the Chamber is ungrateful for your efforts.
First it was those ads paid for by that Stand for Children bunch funded by Rahm Emanue based in Chicago, and now the State Chamber? That just shows what a great Senator we have when all them big money folks from Oklahoma City start gunning for him. He stuck his neck out for us to kill Common Core, and here they come locked and loaded. Josh Brecheen is standing between them implementing Common Core in Oklahoma (and probably nation wide), and his being on the Tourism and Wildlife committee in the Senate keeps them away from our water down here in Southeastern Oklahoma, which I’m sure they hate. That’s why I like Josh. He’s nobody’s errand boy.
Senator Brecheen is a man of integrity and posses character that many of our elected officials should follow. In 2010, he made several commitments on the campaign trail. If I recall correctly, one of them was to reduce government waste. Supporting pet projects that are of only a special interest and contributes to additional wasteful spending would be a compromise of his character and completely wrong but Senator Brecheen has not done that. Josh is a phenomenal leader that has stood up while others would take a seat. It is absolutely amazing to me to see how candidates will swing whichever way they need to in order to get contributions or otherwise support of special interests. I, along with thousands of southeastern Oklahomans, hold Josh in the highest regard and so proudly stand behind him in faith for his success in office and leadership.
This is truly most embarrassing for the state Chamber, in my opinion. Instead of honoring their incarnation as an organization geared to supporting free-market economy, we see the them act as Mafia boss – you don’t do it they way we want, we’ll break your arm – or in this case, take you out of an election. Though I will defend the State Chamber’s right to endorse whom they deem appropriate, I think it important to examine the punitive nature of this particular endorsement. Do they really believe the Democrat will stand with them on important legislation, or is it more about making an example of this particular legislator as the article assures?
Of course it is. Senator Josh Brecheen had the gumption to do something most other Oklahoma Senators wouldn’t – he stood up to Senate leadership with the backing of his constituency – and fought to restore education to the local level where it belongs. He fought alongside other parents (and teachers!) in his district to return their ability to direct their child’s education in public school and for that he is given a ‘contract’?
Of course the Chamber doesn’t care about parents, just their progeny. As they’ve said over and over, they need students prepared for college and training in the workforce – that is their goal. They certainly care less about parental rights and responsibilities than what they can promise businesses in the way of a workforce.
Senator Brecheen believed in the rights of parents over the rights of the state – apparently a position in diametric opposition to the Chamber. I hope parents – especially those that run businesses in the state of Oklahoma – hear this judgement clearly. The State Chamber has an agenda to follow and while Senator Brecheen wants to protect children and families, the Chamber’s agenda is all about what families can do for THEM.
I stand with Senator Brecheen.
The chamber has proven time and time again that it is no friend of small government. What a disgusting display of politics. These democrats would shut our oil & gas sectors down if given the chance. Josh is a patriot if it weren’t for him we would still have common core. He’s a man of principle and integrity. We should all take this opportunity to vote with our wallets and contribute to this mans campaign.
The State Chamber also targeted me and I won. I informed the public on many Facebook groups that they were going to target Brecheen. That’s old news!
It may be old to you, Paul, but the official list just came out…so that makes it new and news.
The Chamber makes mistakes sometimes. This is a big one.
The Chamber’s endorsement of Hill has nothing to do with Common Core. Otherwise, why would they endorse Rep. Nelson, who sponsored Common Core repeal in the House? The Chamber is opposing Brecheen because he joined with the Democrats in supporting a tax increase on the state’s largest industry.
Nope it looks like they are mad that Josh Brecheen didn’t give in to special interest pressure….
http://www.theredriverchronicle.com/josh-brecheen-oipa/
Wonder what Joe “Bought” Hill promised?
Pretty funny that we’ve come to a point where trying to double taxes on private industry like Brecheen did somehow makes you a conservative champion. Ive always thought conservatives were for lower taxes and smaller government