By Mike McCarville
Senator Anthony Sykes has done it again.
Still smarting from criticism of his (non) handling of Senator Kyle Loveless’ civil asset forfeiture reform bill, this time Sykes has ticked off a longtime GOP donor, one who incidentally, donated $3,500 to Sykes.
The disrespect Sykes showed donor Rod Thornton of Norman has angered GOP activists and officials who have heard about it.
Thornton is so ticked he posted an email he sent Sykes and Thornton doesn’t care who sees it.
A source close to Thornton tells the story this way:
Rod is a huge Republican donor from Norman. He has given tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republicans from Oklahoma at the state and federal level over the last decade. He is a self made multi-millionaire in the oil and gas and construction industries. He also owns quite a bit of land and likes to hunt – including hunting feral hogs. He is the main driving force behind the bills allowing more hunting of feral hogs.
He spent a lot of time this session at the Capitol meeting with legislators on the hog bill(s).
Rod was there Friday thanking legislators. He saw Sykes in the hall and stopped him to simply tell him thank you for his support of the hog legislation. In typical Sykes fashion, he didn’t want to stop and talk so Rod said, “I”m a longtime Republican donor from Cleveland County.” Sykes replied, “You must not be too big a deal in Cleveland County because I have never heard of you.” and proceeded to walk off.
Well, Sykes forgot that Rod Thornton gave him $3,500 back in 2006 when Sykes challenged Democrat Daisy Lawler for the seat and won.
Rod sent Sykes an email reminding him of this! Of course, no reply from Sykes! Rod is understandably hurt and has already shared this with new Senate leader Mike Shulz. Rod has also committed tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to the Senate Republican PAC. Could this mark a new day in the Senate leadership’s treatment of Sykes? It’s not very wise for an experienced member of the Senate Republican caucus like Sykes to blow off a leading contributor like he did.
We didn’t ask Sykes for his side of this story; he’s always ignored our requests for comment in the past.
The criticisms of Sykes in the past have been many; his behavior this year, however, seems to have generated a new level of distrust.
Sen. Sykes sounds like an arrogant political hack, who tops it off by being stupid!
Is he subject to term limits?
There is no excuse for rudeness. I don’t care if it was a big time donor or some school kid Anthony Sykes should put his big boy britches on and apologize.
Why run for public office if you have no interest in talking to the public? Sykes never seems to have time for anybody. Not even to tell his side of the story, he finds it easier to just dodge the press at every opportunity. This kind of arrogance must be dealt with by the people in his district. Boot him.
Only a crass, mental midget would use a phrase like, “you must not be too big of a deal”.
Public SERVICE is a terrible vocation for people who don’t like people. Sykes political future is BEHIND him and for any public servant to treat ANYONE in this fashion should be grounds for the GOP Senate Leadership to demand Sykes resignation.
There’s another person who won’t be writing Sykes a check when he runs for attorney general.
I am not aware of this situation. In the past, I have voted for Senator Sykes but I am disappointed in his voting record this past legislative session. I am ready for a change even to the point of voting for a Democratic opponent, if need be. The Republican party had better run someone against him.