 Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman John Bennett has broken with traditional practices of the party office, endorsing multiple candidates for office (most prominently Jackson Lahmeyer against U.S. Sen. James Lankford), and is now running for Congress. Indications from his OKGOP staff, some of whom appear to be doing double duty on his congressional campaign, are that he has no intention to step down as chairman until at least after candidate filing. For comparison, in 2006 and 2010, then-OKGOP chairman Gary Jones resigned within days of announcing his candidacy for State Auditor to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest (in 2010, he filed on Wednesday and resigned on Monday). State Party rules are silent on the issue of party officials endorsing in primaries or running for public office while holding party positions. Bennett's decision to do both has broken no rules. However, there are many party activists who find both actions to be inappropriate for a state chairman to do. I've heard from some of those individuals, and decided to reach out to party officials within the 2nd Congressional District to see how widespread that sentiment was. Based off some of the input I had already received, I asked the following questions of the county central committee (chair, vice chair, two state committee members) of each county Republican Party in the 2nd District:
I received responses from up and down the now-28 county district. I am keeping respondents anonymous in order for them to feel free to speak their mind on this issue. The results were interesting and a learning opportunity.
Read more »by Jamison Faught - March 19, 2022 at 10:15AM |
 "He should resign": Bennett faces criticism among CD2 GOP officials Click the title to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico |
Saturday, March 19, 2022
"He should resign": Bennett faces criticism among CD2 GOP officials
