By Constitution Staff

On July 9, the members of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) selected legislators to receive various awards for their performance in the 2014 session. The awards include "Lawmaker of the Year" and "Freshman Lawmaker of the Year," as well as the dreaded "RINO" (Republican In Name Only) award.

The nominations for the awards are based on the legislator's score on the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper's annual Conservative Index. OCPAC helps select the ten votes used in the Conservative Index to rate the legislators each year.

State Senator Anthony Sykes (R-Moore) was named "Senate Lawmaker of the Year." He scored a 93 percent conservative rating this year and his lifetime cumulative average is also 93%. Sen. Bill Brown (R-Broken Arrow) was runner-up. He scored 100 percent this year and has an 83 percent cumulative average. Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow) also scored 100 percent this year and was named "Senate Freshman Lawmaker of the Year." This is his second year in the Senate and he has a 95 percent cumulative average. The runner up was Rob Standridge (R-Norman) who scored 90 percent and has an 85 percent cumulative average.

State Representative Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) was voted "House Lawmaker of the year." He scored100 percent in the 2014 session, and has a cumulative average of 100 percent. This is his sixth year in the Legislature and he has scored 100 percent every year. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City) was runner up. She had a 100 percent score this year and a cumulative average of 96 percent.

The "House Freshman Lawmaker of the Year" was Rep. Dan Fisher (R-El Reno) who scored 100 percent this year and has a cumulative average for his two years in the Legislature of 97 percent. Representative Jon Echols (R-Oklahoma City) was the runner up. He scored 90 percent this year and has a 90 percent cumulative average.

The group also selected the "RINO" (Republican In Name Only) award recipients. The most liberal Republicans in each house are nominated for this dubious honor.

Senator James Halligan (R-Stillwater) was named the "Senate RINO of theYear" with a score of 20 percent. His lifetime cumulative average is 47 percent. He was also the recipient last year. The runner up for this year's Senate RINO award was Kyle Loveless (R-Oklahoma City) with a 50 percent score this year and a cumulative average of 70 percent.

The "House RINO of theYear" was Rep. Katie Henke (R-Tulsa) who scored 35 percent this year and has a cumulative average of 53 percent for the two years she has served. The runner up for the "House RINO of theYear" was Rep. Randy Grau (R-Edmond) with a session score of 46 percent and a cumulative score of 72 percent.

The award recipients will be formally recognized and presented with their awards at a future date.