By D.E. SmootMuskogee Phoenix
A controversial campaign ad that purports to connect Westville businessman Markwayne Mullin to a federal firearms case drew fire Tuesday from authorities with knowledge of the case.
The ad was released this week by state Rep. George Faught, who is competing against Mullin for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District race.
The ad questions Mullin’s alleged involvement with a former employee who was convicted of a federal firearms charge.
Mullin’s campaign, which has asked that the ads be pulled, released statements from Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz and David O’Meilia, a former federal prosecutor. Both described Mullin as a law-abiding citizen and said there was no evidence Mullin did anything considered inappropriate by law enforcers.
Glanz went a step further, describing Faught’s campaign material as “totally ridiculous and truly out of line for someone seeking public office.”
“I find it totally out of context for political gain,” Glanz stated in a letter released by Mullin’s campaign.
Good for Markwayne! Faught seems to be making some poor campaign decisions right now that will probably cost him.
Pretty nasty ad. Can’t be doing Faught any good.
First, Mullin is not a “Westville businessman”. He has never even voted in a US Congressional District 2 race. He had been ragistered in District 1 until he registered to vote in D2 in July 2011 but still resided at his primary residence in Coweta which is in District1. His business, Mullin Plumbing, is in District 1. When he filed for the State Labor Commissioner race in the 2010 election cycle he listed Coweta, District 1, as his address.
Second, a sitting Sheriff, in District 1, attempting to label a campaign as “out of context for political gain” is in itself out of context and smacks of political cronyism.
Third, a “former” prosecutor doesn’t get to decide if an act or a person commiting a certain act, is indicted or prosecuted.
Wake up District 2, you are being snookered.
Hope: we may be ‘snookered’ but it’s with our eyes wide open.
1st: Living in the district isn’t a requirement for running for office, but I’ll take Mullin’s word for it that he has residence in Westville.
2nd: Anyone can comment on any campaign, and I can appreciate Mullin’s desire to have a sheriff state that he is law-abiding, especially the sheriff of the county in which his opponent says Mullin is guilty of a crime.
3rd: The former prosecutor is the prosecutor of the the Saylor case; I would assume that he would be more aware of the facts in the case than someone who happened to find the court records. Also, if we cannot discount former prosecutor Rob Wallace and his comments (see article with Elisha Krauss’s comments), then there is no need to dismiss O’Meilia.
Cheers, Hope.
Representative Faught is taking some risks by going negative but these are things the voters need to know and they sure won’t hear them from MM.
I believed from the beginning that Faught is the right person to represent Eastern Oklahoma and still do. We know Rob Wallace in this neck of the woods. I sure would not be willing to roll the dice and risk not having a candidate on the ballot in November.
It’s interesting the power role that political consultants play in this state. AH stratgies Fount Holland seems to be running things behind the scene, he is one of Mullin’s consultants and has a way of persuading his other clients…. Question is Ken Miller did his own vetting of Mr Mullin. Did he know that Mullin doesn’t know what single payer, insurance exchanges are or that he didn’t know the difference between Medicare and Medicade. Or in the recent debate he thought that Rep. served a 6 year term? Did Mr. Miller know that in a Tulsa radio interview when asked about these issues that most people in District 2 at least have a passing knowledge about, unless they have been living under a rock for the last year. Mullin’s response was “i’ve been to busy campaigning to study this issues. Wow, really. Youre on the biggest job interview of your life and that’s all you’ve got and you’ve been at this for a year. Every pick up a paper or watch the news out there is Westville or Catosa or where ever you live?