By Constitution Staff

Oklahoma Republicans elected Randy Brogdon to serve as chairman of the party for the next two years. They also elected a hispanic woman, Estela Hernandez, to serve as vice chair. The selections were made by the delegates to the Oklahoma Republican Convention held in Oklahoma City on April 11.

Brogdon replaces Dave Weston who held the post for the past two years. Weston announced in December that he would seek re-election to the post. Former state Senator Randy Brogdon (R-Owasso), who was a candidate last year for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Tom Coburn, quickly announced for the position. Also joining the race was Pam Pollard, the current President of the Oklahoma Federation of Republican Women.

In 2013, Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell did not run for a third term and instead took a position with the Republican National Committee. Weston was the first candidate to announce a campaign to succeed Pinnell, and won the post at the state convention. Weston had been active in a variety of positions in the party, including fundraising. Weston presided over the 2014 election cycle in which Republicans held on to all federal and statewide offices, maintained the GOP majority in the state House, and expanded their majority in the state Senate. "Our vision for the party is to continue to grow and build upon the momentum that we have," Weston said. He also said the party was busy preparing to host the Southern Republican Leadership Conference scheduled for May in Oklahoma City.

While Weston is acknowledged to have done a credible job of keeping Republicans in office, critics say he has been lacking in other tasks. Unlike his predecessors, Weston had not been a visible spokesman for the party in the state and failed to identify the party with the conservative principles represented in the party platform.

Randy Brogdon had the reputation as the most conservative candidate in the race. After a long career as a private business owner, Brogdon entered politics. In 2010, Brogdon gave up his seat in the Oklahoma Senate to run for governor, losing to Mary Fallin. Fallin bested Brogdon, with 55% of the vote. This statewide contest in which he ran a strong race against a long-time officeholder in the Sooner State, gave Brogdon strong name recognition and supporters across the state.

During his time in the state Senate, Brogdon regularly scored 100% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index which rates state legislators. He was the first to garner a perfect score in the Senate since 1979, the first year of the Index which is published by the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper. During his tenure, Brogdon was known as a champion of the Second Amendment Right to Keep and Bear Arms, pro-life on abortion, opposed to violations of civil liberties, against the use of foreign law in Oklahoma courts, in favor of the Tenth Amendment and "states' rights," for local control of schools, in opposition to subsidies for big business and other crony capitalism efforts, against reckless government spending, for efforts to reduce taxes (such as repeal of the Death Tax), against efforts to unionize municipal employees, and pushed efforts to control illegal immigration.

Brogdon said he would have two priorities as chairman: "The first is to grow the Republican Party, and the second is to help more conservatives in blue counties get elected to office at all levels of government." Brogdon said the State Republican Party Chairman has a huge responsibility to carry the GOP message to those who believe in our principles but have not yet joined our Party. "The conservative message of limited government and the expansion of freedom can best be shared by someone who truly believes in them and has a track record of working to protect and promote those values," said Brogdon. He also said the party structure is designed to be led by the people rather than the political consultants, lobbyists, and special interest groups.

Pam Pollard said she entered the race to bring her nearly 20 years of experience to the position. Pollard has been elected 12 times to Republican Party posits. "The Republican Party is dealing with an identity crisis in today's political environment. We must bring in groups who vote Republican yet are not part of our party. It's about adding and multiplying not subtracting and dividing. We must get organized and give voters a reason and opportunity to be a part of the Republican Party."

As the Republican delegates from across the state gathered in the auditorium at Crossroads Church in Oklahoma City, the strength of the Brogdon supporters was evident. Brogdon had visibly more support from the delegates as evidenced by the number of delegates wearing Brogdon lapel stickers. In fact, the Brogdon campaign ran out of stickers and had to explain to supporters asking for stickers that they were all gone.

The convention chairman was former GOP chairman, and the current state Auditor and Inspector, Gary Jones. Jones called the convention to order somewhat past the scheduled 10:00 AM start and presented various speakers to address the convention while the Credentials Committee completed registering delegates and tabulated totals. It was expected that by about 11:00 AM the Credentials Committee would give their report so that the convention could proceed with official business. Jones pledged to complete the election for chairman and vice chair before the convention broke for lunch. As Jones exhausted the list of scheduled speakers and implored additional speakers to come forward, he kept reporting that they were close to having a Credentials Committee Report.

After the noon hour came, Jones asked the delegates if they wanted to break for lunch, or continue to wait for the Credentials Report. By a standing vote, a clear majority insisted on continuing. After a suggestion came from the floor of the convention that the nominations and speeches by the candidates proceed during the wait, Jones agreed. But, after that was accomplished, the Credentials Report was still lacking. Finally, after 1:00 PM the chairman of the Credentials Committee came with the report.

The list of delegates that had pre-registered, checked in, and the number certified as valid delegates for each of the 77 counties was to be displayed on the three large video screens in the auditorium. But, when that failed to happen, the numbers for each county were read from the podium. With the completion of the report, Jones asked if any counties found any discrepancy from what was reported. As the spokesperson for county after county announced a challenge, it was clear that there was a significant issue. The problems were attributed to computer and logistical issues. Jones then announced that apparently the numbers had only included those who pre-registered online, and the "walk-in" delegates who only registered at the convention were not included in the certified totals. Also, it was noted that those who pre-registered had been told that they could arrive after the close of registration and be issued credentials. This had made the validation of delegates a moving target. He then asked each county chairman to make a count of their delegates and bring the results to the committee to resolve.

As it was now approaching 2:00 PM, it was clear that it could be hours before a conclusive list of delegates could be certified. A motion was then made from the floor of the convention to forget about the Credentials Report and declare that all delegates who had been issued a delegate badge and ballots during registration, and were present in the convention at 1:55 PM would be considered valid delegates. Jones was intrigued by the motion, but when the question was raised as to how a quorum could be determined without a true delegate count, Jones came up with a solution. The total votes cast in the first vote, which would be the election of the party chairman, would be the number of delegates to base a quorum. The motion was then adopted by the convention, and the voting for chairman started immediately.

When the votes were counted, 1,253 delegates had cast votes, and Brogdon finished first with 47.45%, Pollard came in second with 29.11%, and Weston finished last with 23.43 percent. With Weston eliminated, a runoff between Brogdon and Pollard commenced. It was expected that most of Weston's votes would probably shift to Pollard, and that was clearly the case. However, Brogdon received enough support to win with 53.29 percent.

Estela Hernandez of Oklahoma City defeated John Lewis of Ardmore for vice chair. Hernandez received 58.12% of the vote. Hernandez holds a degree in Business Administration and she and her husband own and operate a local construction company. She is Chairman of the Community Engagement Committee for the Oklahoma Federation of Republican Women which reaches out to recruit new citizens to become Republicans.

One thing that the delegates almost uniformly agreed about was that Convention Chairman Gary Jones did as good a job as could be expected under the very difficult circumstances. "Jones salvaged the convention," commented one delegate, who described himself as not much of a Jones fan previously.

A very conservative platform was approved with little resistance, and the day ended when two proposed amendments to the party rules were defeated. The convention adjourned just before 5:00 PM, and the delegates finally were able to go to lunch.

When Brogdon took over operations at the party headquarters on the Monday after the Saturday convention, he found that there were more bills to pay than money in the bank, and laid off the entire paid staff. He issued a plea for financial support and said the party would be run with the help of volunteers until the financial issue was resolved.