State Representative Dist. 15

Political Party: Republican Hometown: Checotah Current Town: Kinta Education: Checotah High School, 3 Semesters of College Age: 40

Candidate Background: I was born, raised, and have lived in the district for over 40 years. I reside in Kinta with my wife Brooke and our son Sawyer. We are members of Stigler First Assembly of God. We are true Oklahoma Conservatives who understand the values and needs of House District 15.

In2003,Ibeganmylawenforcementcareer as a 911 dispatcher in Checotah and later moved into the role of Patrol Officer and Narcotics Investigator with the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office. In October of 2007, I was hired by the District 18 Office of the District Attorney, assigned to the Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force. During my time at the task force, I was assigned to McAlester Office Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for 5 years and was the director for over 6 years. In November 2016, I won my first of two elections as the Haskell County Sheriff and took office in December of 2016. I left the office in December of 2022, when I was named the Resident Agent in Charge/Deputy Director of the Gang and Intelligence Unit for the Office of Inspector General.

I have over 20 years experience of serving our district and protecting our citizens. I am a law enforcement and civilian instructor where I have taught a variety of subjects from leadership to identifying drug endangered children across the United States. As sheriff, I managed a multimillion-dollar budget and was able to help recover and restore indebtedness to the Haskell County Criminal Justice Center.

In 2022, I was appointed by Governor Kevin Stitt and confirmed by the Oklahoma State Senate as a Commissioner for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. I have served on many different state and local boards. I am a 32° Master Mason member of Stigler Lodge 121 and member of Bedouin Shrine.

During my career, I have blessed to have been awarded the following awards: 2016 Oklahoma Narcotics Enforcers Region 3 Agent of the Year, 2016 Oklahoma District Attorney’s Council Investigator of the Year, 2019 Oklahoma Narcotics Enforcers – Narcotics Agent of the Year, 2020 Oklahoma Sheriff’s Association Medal of Valor Award, 2021 Oklahoma Sheriffs Association Sheriff of the Year.

1. Have you ever failed to pay any taxes or court ordered judgements? No 2. Have you ever been convicted of a felony? No

What are the top three messages of your campaign?

1. Protect our public schools and public school teachers. We live in a district where public education is vital. We must make sure our students and teachers are protected and the proper funding is available.

2. Protect our citizens by working to secure our border. An open southern border means an open Oklahoma border. We must fight to protect our state from domestic terrorists along with human and drug traffickers.

3. Rural Oklahoma Healthcare is suffering. We need to fight to protect our elderly from medical costs that they cannot afford from normal doctor’s visits to prescription costs. We must work to get our Nurse Practitioners full authority to treat citizens within our district. We need to fight to protect our hospitals and work to help bring specialty clinics closer to our rural areas.

What are the top three most pressing issues facing rural Oklahoma? How would you address these issues if elected?

1. Mental Health – I will work to bring better oversight to the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health. We need to work to get more mental health beds and facilities in rural Oklahoma. If we treat mental health properly, we will see a reduction in substance abuse, domestic violence, and other crimes.

2. Tax Reduction – I will work to help promote tourism and small business growth. This will create more jobs and bring in more sales tax revenue. Once we can sustain a sales tax revenue increase, we can then start looking at larger tax cuts for rural Oklahomans.

3. Agriculture – I will work to help shut down all illegal marijuana grow operations. These operations are polluting our groundwater and soil with the chemicals that are being used. This is causing a great impact on our farming and ranching lands. I will work to make sure Oklahoma Cattlemen and Cattlewomen’s beef production is protected. I will work to fight the outside sourcing of beef being imported from foreign countries and sold as USA Beef. This issue alone is costing Oklahoma Farmers millions a year in revenue that is being sent outside of America’s soil. I will work to make sure we keep the federal government overreach away from our farmers and ranchers.

Explain your positions on economic development as it pertains to rural Oklahoma in general and Eastern Oklahoma in particular.

House District 15 is unique as we are a district with the largest bodies of water. I believe that we need to utilize these bodies of water and build and promote the environment around them. We need to first help our rural water districts seek funding that they may need to provide needed maintenance, upgrades, and the capability of providing services to new houses and business. If we promote and work to build better infrastructure in this tourist area, we will see a great increase in sales tax revenue for our cities and communities across the district. Once we have seen a greater increase in sales tax revenue, we will then see larger tax cuts for Oklahomans along with better roads and bridges.