And a Letter to the Editor
Howdy!
Thanks much for your faithful impolite reporting on impolite
politicians. Speaking of unethical politicians - and this one may be a
new name for you - we real Republicans are being treated to the same old
song, seventeenth verse, in the State House District 79 Republican
primary. A young man named Clayton David Iiams decided last fall that
he'd like to run for State Representative, and his residence du jour
being in Tulsa County Precinct 120 (although he swore an oath to the
contrary on his Declaration for Candidacy, wherein he stated that he
resided in Precinct 79, which is not in the House District for which he
filed - the street address he gave for his residence is an apartment
about 400' inside the HD79 boundary) put him in House District 79. He
was not a Republican at the time, but noticing that the voter
registration in HD79 is 47.6% Republican and 34.6% Democrat, he reasoned
that his chances of winning the general election might be better if he
were to run as a Republican. He re-registered on November 21, 2019, to
change his party affiliation to Republican. Boy howdy - now there's an
original idea. He filed on April 9, 2020, to run for HD79 as a
Republican (his Declaration of Candidacy is on April 9, 2020, Election
Board Declaration of Candidacy form #228).
Of course this is in violation of the six-month party membership requirement of 26 O.S. Section 5-105. We've seen this happen so many times in recent years it makes me REALLY, REALLY, REALLY MAD!!! When will the official Republican Party organization start checking these candidate filings and making ugly, poster-boy examples out of these illegal candidates - and their sponsors, if applicable - and in this case is it ever applicable! His primary sponsor and financier is Chamberite kingmaker Chris Kannady, whose campaign has given Iiams $2,000. through June 15, 2020, (Iiams finance report is attached above) and may have helped solicit sizeable contributions from several other of your favorite Republican legislators, including but not limited to Kevin McDugle. All he accomplished by changing his party affiliation to Republican on November 21 was to make himself officially unqualified to run for HD79 as a Republican because he did so less than six months prior to the first day of the filing period (April 8, 2020). Even though the Oklahoma Election Board obviously has in house all the information necessary to check this important qualification, it refuses to do so in hope that it can get opposing candidates to pay it hundreds of dollars to do so. That's easy money if you can get it.
Of course this is in violation of the six-month party membership requirement of 26 O.S. Section 5-105. We've seen this happen so many times in recent years it makes me REALLY, REALLY, REALLY MAD!!! When will the official Republican Party organization start checking these candidate filings and making ugly, poster-boy examples out of these illegal candidates - and their sponsors, if applicable - and in this case is it ever applicable! His primary sponsor and financier is Chamberite kingmaker Chris Kannady, whose campaign has given Iiams $2,000. through June 15, 2020, (Iiams finance report is attached above) and may have helped solicit sizeable contributions from several other of your favorite Republican legislators, including but not limited to Kevin McDugle. All he accomplished by changing his party affiliation to Republican on November 21 was to make himself officially unqualified to run for HD79 as a Republican because he did so less than six months prior to the first day of the filing period (April 8, 2020). Even though the Oklahoma Election Board obviously has in house all the information necessary to check this important qualification, it refuses to do so in hope that it can get opposing candidates to pay it hundreds of dollars to do so. That's easy money if you can get it.
Before
I distract myself from a point I should have made earlier, Mr. Iiams is
a young man who often moves about the country, and records show that he
has lived in several cities in TX, in CO, NC, SC and OK in recent
years. He filed for office using a SC phone number. Election Board
records and another source indicate that he lived at three different
addresses in Tulsa County last year - with only one of them located in
HD79. Neither of the two young people who give him glowing video
endorsements on his Facebook page are registered Republican voters in
Oklahoma. Before you give up on my rambling email - it is going
somehere: to a case filed last week in the Oklahoma Supreme Court all
about which you may already know, but I'm writing just to make certain
of that - I want to say that if anything I've mentioned so far makes you
a little apprehensive regarding Candidate Iiams, it should put your
mind at ease to know that he is 100.0% absolutely certain that he will
win this election and serve as the next State Representative from House
District 79 because it is God's divine will that it should be so.
Maria
Mercedes Seidler was one of the three candidates in the subject 2020
Republican primary for HD79. She filed for this race using a Washington,
D.C. phone number! She was the odd gal out, finishing third with 25% of
the vote. That Clayton Iiams had filed his Declaration of Candidacy for
this race illegally was discovered just three and a half weeks ago. For
days following that discovery Tulsa County Republican Chairman Bob Jack
denied it, telling all who would listen that it was just a false
rumor. Why was Bob Jack so sure it was a false rumor when Iiams's
November 21, 2019, registration as a Republican had been verified in
writing by both the Tulsa County and Oklahoma Election Boards? I've
never yet heard him condemn it. Maria Seidler was not amused, but was in
fact fairly aggrieved by the development, so she has filed a Petition
in the Supreme Court of Oklahoma (case # PR-118912, attached above)
against the Oklahoma Election Board for not enforcing - 'applying' may
be a better choice of words - the laws that govern its elections, such
as 26 O.S. Section 5-105. It has in its own records all the information
necessary to access a candidate's Declaration of Candidacy and his voter
registration history. Maria Seidler is basically asking the Court to
set aside the results of the June 30, 2020, HD79 Republican primary,
disqualify Iiams and schedule a new election between just Seidler and
Margie Alfonso. There is a telephone conference scheduled for this
Wednesday between a Supreme Court Referee and the parties. Alfonso had
finished second in the primary with 29%. Alfonso had a unique twist to
her qualification for this race. She didn't have much money, but she
actually has a long history as a conservative Republican active in the
Tulsa County Republican Party. Imagine that: a real live local
Republican known to the Party filing to run for office! What will they
think of next? Alfonso was president of Tulsa Eagle Forum back in the
late 1970s, has served the Party as Precinct Chairman, District
Committeewoman, State Committeewoman, on Platform Committees, many-time
campaign volunteer and as a Delegate or Alternate Delegate to several
Republican National Conventions including this year, etc. She is not a
party to Seidler's action, but is certainly unhappy with the fraud that
Iiams and his sponsors are trying to pull on our Republican Party.
There
are always lots of little political dramas playing out in any election
year. I just wanted you to be up to speed on this one.
For Liberty,
Larry Williamson
