Mark Thomas - OK State Senate district 22

[invisible]

I have met with Mark Thomas, and there is no question that he is a solid liberty candidate. When I asked if there were any statewide or national political figures he would consider to be aligned with on a philosophical basis, he answered "Ron Paul" without any hesitation. In attending a meeting with him and his volunteer campaign staff, I was left with the impression that this is a great candidate, a great campaign that can win, and a lot of excitement among those involved. He is running against two other candidates in the primary, is absolutely in it to win, and understands the effort it will take. As the campaign continues to roll out and release information, I will continue to post updates. Look for many good things to come out of this campaign!

website here: www.MarkThomasOK.com

[lib3rtarian]

FB? Twitter? In this day and age, these are essential.

[jurgs01]

I do like that he has my favorite Bastiat quote in his website.

Is he going to publish any concrete positions on civil liberties and privacy?

[invisible]

FB is here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Thomas-for-Oklahoma-Senate-District-22/1454511984761336?ref=br_tf
Not sure about a twitter feed, but will find out. If he doesn't already have one, I'm sure he will have one shortly.

Not sure about published positions on civil liberties and privacy, but in talking with him, he said something like "Our 1st Amendment is nearly dead. Our 2nd Amendment is under attack. Our 4th and 5th Amendments are nearly dead. Our state legislatures are the best chance we have to restore the Constitution." This is not an exact word for word quote, but is the best that I remember it from my first conversation with him. In the time that I have spent with him so far, I don't think there is any doubt that he is a defender of civil liberties.

[invisible]

In addition, if anyone has questions and wanted to ask them directly, the campaign is quite responsive. I don't think anyone would have trouble getting a response from the candidate or his campaign manager via either FB or email.

This is an open seat, and will be an exciting campaign for a great candidate!

[invisible]

FB? Twitter? In this day and age, these are essential.

Yes, there will also be a twitter feed coming soon. Both twitter and the FB will be linked to from the website in the near future.

[Danke]

invisible has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space.

[invisible]

Sorry about that, try again now. I'm one of those "save correspondence" people, and always keep it close to the limit. :rolleyes:

[FSP-Rebel]

Are you in or around this district? And how's he sitting in terms of volunteers?

[invisible]

Are you in or around this district? And how's he sitting in terms of volunteers?

The nearest edge of his district is across town from me, covering the NW suburbs of OKC. I don't know if the actual numbers are cleared for release by the campaign, but we do have an excellent group (pretty much all of them Ron Paul supporters) of volunteers that has come from throughout the metro area, and should be able to pull off a very effective ground game. The district that Kenny Bob Tapp is running for covers the panhandle, so unfortunately I won't be able to do much in the way of volunteering there. Both Mark and KBT's districts fall within CD3.

[invisible]

The campaign has now released some videos, which can be viewed either on the campaign website or youtube:
http://markthomasok.com/bio-info/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ffnjZUOGUg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ffnjZUOGUg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-VzIzRENA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-VzIzRENA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFRZ5uG-1Vk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFRZ5uG-1Vk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LCYe9k115M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LCYe9k115M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY_LCYmGVtQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY_LCYmGVtQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpQmwIumjHw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpQmwIumjHw

[invisible]

Phone banking for Mark is starting, and any additional volunteers would be most welcome. This will be an automated phone-from-home type of system, so it can be done from any location. Organization will take place tonight via conference call at 9PM central time.
To join the conference call, all you have to do is call (712) 775-7200 at 9PM central time.
If you somehow have trouble getting into the conference call, call Toni at (405) 681-5545.
This is a great way to help out an excellent Liberty Candidate if you do not have money to donate (of course, Randy Brogdon's campaign is also looking for phone banking volunteers).

Mark's campaign is continuing to fire on all cylinders, and has been getting an overwhelming positive response! If anyone would like to volunteer for phone banking and is not able to make the conference call, the opportunity will continue to be available.

Remember that we have lots of excellent Liberty Candidates running in OK, see here for a full list:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?453044-More-Oklahoma-Liberty-Candidates!-Still-time-to-donate!-(June-24-primary)

[invisible]

There is an access code for the call: 339906
Starting now. Don't be shy, come on in if you have any interest.

[invisible]

WOW! Just got off the conference call. This campaign has already been quite exciting, and now the excitement has grown so much it's about to pop. We were treated to a small bit of advance info that has not been cleared for release yet, but something major is about to happen in Mark's campaign. Something incredibly cool and literally jaw dropping! I will put word out on this as soon as the info is cleared for release. No, I'm not trying to pull a Collins here and hype you all over nothing, there is some incredibly good news about to come out from this campaign! Stay tuned, or even better, volunteer for some phone banking or donate!

[invisible]

Onward to the runoff! It looks like Mark had about the best showing of any Liberty Candidate in OK, percentage-wise. This is a very winnable race:
http://www.news9.com/category/193017/election-results
Bice 37% 3,375 votes
Mark Thomas 33% 3,012 votes
Francel 30% 2,685 votes
Note how close the vote totals are, and how relatively few votes are needed to win in elections for state legislatures. Remember this is deep red territory, where a win is the primary is virtually an automatic win in the general.

A very cool thing has happened with Mark's campaign: endorsements from both Nathan Dahm and Charles Key. But both of these gentlemen not only endorsed Mark, they actually went out and helped us knock doors, and campaigned personally on his behalf. For anyone who does not know who they are, Nathan Dahm and Charles Key are about the two best possible state level endorsements existing (and both also supported / endorsed / campaigned for Ron Paul, of course).

Nathan Dahm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpNqNPkhkvI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpNqNPkhkvI

Charles Key has many articles written by and about him here: http://www.okcbombing.net/site_map.htm He has been pretty much THE leading Constitutional Conservative in OK for many years until being recently term limited out. He would have been the ideal CD5 candidate but unfortunately declined to run.

[jurgs01]

The establishment is going to come gunning for the liberty candidates in these runoffs (just like they have been doing). Mark Thomas and Kenny Bob Tapp will need huge grassroots effort to win.

[invisible]

The establishment is going to come gunning for the liberty candidates in these runoffs (just like they have been doing). Mark Thomas and Kenny Bob Tapp will need huge grassroots effort to win.

Yes, this is very true! I don't know about KBT's scenario, but I expect it's similar. Runoff opponent bice is chamber of commerce backed, and they were running radio ads on her behalf. We can't forget Duane C, either. All 3 of these guys are genuine 5 star Ron Paul supporting Liberty Candidates who would be excellent in the state legislature. They are all about to have the kitchen sink thrown at them. Now we're going to have to double our efforts. Remember, our state level candidates are our next batch of Massies and Amashes. They are also the quickest and easiest way to regain our freedom, and give us the most bang for the buck both in the short and the long run. These candidates need to be supported not just here, but in every state! In another thread, you had mentioned difficulty in vetting state level candidates. I've always found them very easy to communicate with, and have just called them up on the phone, emailed, or gotten to know them by dropping by their office (if already elected and in office).

[jurgs01]

Who is Duane C?

[invisible]

Who is Duane C?

Duane Crumbacher, State Senate district 48. Another solid Liberty Candidate and Ron Paul supporter. He's also been working on Mark's campaign, and is just only now unfolding his own because he was unopposed in the primary. His general election opponent is a statist democrat with an awful record as a State Rep. I'm told his campaign FB just went up, and I didn't think to ask him about an actual website last night (I'm sure it's coming, if not already up). I'll make a thread for him and report website / FB link soon. I did write a little more about him in the "More OK Liberty Candidates" thread.

[jurgs01]

Duane Crumbacher, State Senate district 48. Another solid Liberty Candidate and Ron Paul supporter. He's also been working on Mark's campaign, and is just only now unfolding his own because he was unopposed in the primary. His general election opponent is a statist democrat with an awful record as a State Rep. I'm told his campaign FB just went up, and I didn't think to ask him about an actual website last night (I'm sure it's coming, if not already up). I'll make a thread for him and report website / FB link soon. I did write a little more about him in the "More OK Liberty Candidates" thread.

Awesome. Thanks!

[invisible]

http://www.reddirtreport.com/okieleaks/glenn-coffee-revealed-errand-boy-dark-money-group-catalyst-oklahoma


OKLAHOMA CITY – OkieLeaks received a tip yesterday regarding the identity of someone linked to the mysterious dark money group Catalyst Oklahoma, which has been linked to OKC United and OK United.

As our tipster informed our crack researcher and intern Ian Carr, on June 12, 2014, Glenn Coffee, the former State Senator and Secretary of State under Gov. Mary Fallin (until early 2013), made independent expenditure reports to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission on behalf of three Republican candidates prior to the June 24th primary. This included Ervin Yen, now in a runoff in Senate District 40 against Steve Kern; Stephanie Bice in a runoff in Senate District 22 and Jon Painter, who lost in the primary to Chris Kannady.


And now this secretive, non-transparent group - Catalyst Oklahoma - now has a name linked to it – Glenn Coffee. The bigger question, of course, is where this money is really coming from. In state? Out of state? Why is the source of this money being kept in the dark, as it were? Could Glenn Coffee be bankrolling it or is he simply an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill?

It will be interesting to see what comes of this. Hopefully it will develop into a full-blown scandal in time to affect the runoff, and this group will be exposed. It would be great to see the chamber candidate go down in flames and Mark to win by a landslide.

[invisible]

http://www.news9.com/category/193017/election-results
Mark Thomas 47% 2381 votes
bice 53% 2693 votes

Mark Thomas lost to chamber candidate bice by less than 350 votes. Mark said tonight that he was outspent by something like a 5 to 1 margin. Mark had an excellent ground game, with extremely well-organized and hard-working volunteers. Liberty Candidates could be winning these state-level elections, and chamber of commerce PAC's are pumping money into their opponents.

Mark's watch party tonight was a lot of fun, with Liberty Candidates Robert Hubbard, Charles Key, and Duane C. also in attendance. I feel honored to have been a part of this campaign, we worked very hard and all had a lot of fun!