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Wednesday morning the newly elected members of the House of Representatives will meet to begin their next term in the next legislative body. It would be instructive for engaged citizens to familiarize themselves with the House Rules.
Among the orders of business are leadership nominations for each party. For this process, the members will enter into caucus meetings. Last Spring John Bennett competed for the post of Speaker, but Charles McCall prevailed. Many old faces have left office and the new House legislative body will have dozens of new faces. The Wednesday voting is not usually public record, but the details usually slip out and folks usually get some indication of who voted for whom. Constituents are CERTAINLY within their rights to ask their Representatives how they voted. Your elected official serves you and votes on your behalf. You are free to withhold future support from your representative if he refuses to be accountable to you. |
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The Two most influential posts are uncontested. Charles McCall is expected to be nominated by his fellow Republicans for the office of Speaker of the House. Charles is from Atoka, in South Central Oklahoma.
The Majority Floor Leader is expected to be Jon Echols. He is an attorney and Businessman from Southwestern Oklahoma City. The Republicans have contested elections for two of the races. Three candidates are seeking the role of Speaker Pro Tempore. John Bennett resides in Eastern Oklahoma, representing the Stilwell area. Charles Ortega lives in Altus and represents North Central Oklahoma. Harold Wright resides in Weatherford, in West Central Oklahoma. The Conference Chairman race pits two old friends who have been attending church together for years. David Brumbaugh resides in S.E. Tulsa County and represents Broken Arrow. George Faught resides in Muskogee and represents Muskogee County.Our understanding is that Katie Henke is to be named Republican Conference Vice Chair, and Elise Hall is to be named Conference Secretary. But last year these two women's roles were flipped; so we could have these two roles mistaken. |
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