Jason Doyle Oden
By Jason Doyle Oden
The Republican Party of Tulsa County is making moves to put more Republicans on school boards. The filing period for school board and municipal races in Oklahoma ends at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Those races are considered non-partisan, but the Tulsa County GOP wants to put its brand on education with Chairman Mike Ford promising to “make these races partisan” this year.
A recent email sent to more than 4,000 Tulsa Republicans said Ford would reveal the party affiliation of sitting incumbents and give campaign assistance to any registered Republican opposing a non-Republican candidate.
“We are targeting these races in particular: So far, we know Wilbert Collins and Lana Turner-Addison in Tulsa Public Schools (District 2 and 3) are registered DEMOCRATS. They need to be replaced with Republicans. Kevin Morrison in Collinsville (District 2) is a registered Independent (Unaffiliated). He needs to be replaced with a Republican. Craig Crystal in Liberty Public Schools is a registered DEMOCRAT. He needs to be replaced by a Republican,” wrote Ford.
Ford has been vocal about supporting conservative candidates for every race. He points to the recent gains made by Republicans in the November General Election.
“Our job is to raise money and get Republicans elected, and that’s precisely what we intend to continue doing, regardless of whether or not they are partisan elections. In the most recent election, we made over 111,500 robo calls to voters on behalf of our candidates. In addition, the volunteers in our phone bank made almost 16,000 phone calls to voters, just during the last 30 days of the election cycle. We were also able to purchase thousands of dollars in radio and social media ads on behalf of our candidates, as well as campaign signs and other expenses that proved to be very effective for us. I believe resources like these will be even more advantageous for candidates running for school board,” said Ford.
The Tulsa GOP has paid for social media ads recruiting Republican candidates for education based races.
Ford also warned that Republicans who supported Democrats over fellow party members could expect to be targeted during their re-election bids.
