September 21st was to be the first State Committee meeting of this cycle.

Unfortunately for me and a number of other elected officials, I did not receive the official call until well past the required time limit stipulated in the Oklahoma Republican Party rules. Rule 10 - C: The State Committee shall meet at any time upon the joint call of the State Chairman and Vice Chairman, pursuant to ten (10) days written or electronic notice sent to all members of said committee stating such purpose, or if either of said officers is not available, or either of said offices is vacant, the other may call such a meeting. I actually never received the call at all but contacted the GOP state headquarters on September 16th after catching wind that there may be indeed a meeting. I was informed that neither I nor Tulsa Countys other State Committee Member had received the call. I was told that whatever the issue was that it had been fixed. Unfortunately I was unable to attend on such short notice but I was able to find a proxy in Karen Cuellar. I have asked her to write her thoughts on the meeting with the goal being that the process at the state level be as open and transparent to Tulsa County Republicans as possible. I am grateful that we have so many members of the Tulsa County GOP that are willing to give of their time to be a part of the process. If you would like to be on a proxy call list, please email me at TC_Ryan@yahoo.com so that we can take your information and make that happen! Big thank you to Karen for driving to OKC to be at the meeting at 9:00 am on a Saturday morning! -TC Ryan State Committeeman Tulsa County

State Committee Meeting Report Karen Cuellar, proxy I attended the State GOP Committee Meeting on Saturday and thought Id write my thoughts and convictions on the meeting. State GOP Chairman Dave Weston spoke for the majority of the meeting. I heard the phrase, politics is a team sport and honestly, it didnt sit well with me. Im quite tired of playing for this team especially when my vote has only gotten me more of the same once an elected official is in office. Seems the only time we are a team is during campaign season. After that, my elected officials seem to forget that Im the coach, and they are to listen to and represent me and the rest of their district, not the special interest groups or the party higher-ups. I sat through the passing of a hat to accept donations to the party after one of the speakers quoted Matthew 6 from the Bible. He indicated that where my heart is, there my treasure will be also, so we should all give to and fund the GOP. Im sure he meant well, but is the GOP the treasure Matthew was speaking about here? As a Christian, I was truly convicted by this verse being used in this context, as if the GOP should be my treasure that would be an ungodly idol. My

God, and eternity with Him, is my only treasure to which I will hold in that regard, and is what Matthew 6 is referring to. Afterwards, I listened to Dave Weston boast about our party, declare the criticisms against the GOP untrue, and pridefully defend the party with no regard for the ugly truth of the matter. I understand Daves position since he took the chair position has been unapologetic of the Republican Party, and he has said many times that there is nothing wrong with our message, only our communication. Some may be ok with that, but I strongly disagree. I wanted to say, But arent the statements about us true? And wont they continue to be true until we acknowledge our sin, and repent? Wheres the conviction and humility? We cant very well claim Christ in our donations and then turn and operate in a spirit of pride and rebellion about our faults. I would have liked him to be honest about our party, so we can fix the problems and move forward. In my opinion, leading requires humility, a teachable spirit, and the heart of a servant, and I just didnt see these qualities on display at the meeting. I was discouraged and somewhat ashamed by both the speech and the offering. We have lost our way. We have fallen and are apathetic as to why. We have shredded our Constitution, and many members of our party abhor any conversation having to do with it. Our leaders have lied, and continue to lie for money and for power. Many of our Republican representatives allow the elite to manipulate them and bypass the will of the people with absolutely no accountability from party leaders. This is something that I will not sit by and simply watch happen so I can play for my team or save its reputation. I answer to God, not the GOP. My party is blind, unrepentant, and prideful, and on top of that, is using/manipulating the Word of God in order to obtain my donation. I can assure them, had Jesus been present on Saturday, those tables would have been thrown over. On the other hand, had a speaker gotten up there, humbled himself, repented, and honestly spoke about where the Republican party has failed and why, I would have gladly given every dollar in my purse to support fixing it. Funny how that works. With all of the election and campaign talk that has been blooming, I was anxious to ask if the Republican Party was going to hold certain Republicans accountable to our party platform. As a mother of three who has spent countless hours fighting the Common Core battle for the last two years, I was curious if we were going to join together as a party and demand certain representatives follow our platform or risk the entire bunch of us rejecting them as a candidate even refusing to put them on our ticket. That would make sense, wouldnt it? I mean, if the RNC has two full pages of specific language against Common Core, and our Oklahoma platform has wording added to it that specifically rejects Common Core as well, why wouldnt the entire party enforce this? The opportunity came as another member of the Committee brought up issues in regard to the new software the GOP will be using and some statements made by Mr. Weston on its usage. Mr. Weston had made it clear in his explanation of the software that any kind of dissent or criticism of Republican leaders would not be tolerated on the site. He stated this several times in many

different ways, but made it clear we were not to bash or condemn any of our party legislators and leaders that we didnt agree with. In all fairness, he did say we were free to do that on our own private social media pages, just not on the County GOP websites. This was par for the course considering Mr. Westons definition of Liberty is, and I quote: Liberty is not doing what you want. It is doing what you should. I surely dont agree with our chairmans definition of liberty and I dont think it is right to sweep lies and deceit under the rug, or overlook them in order to protect the partys diminishing image. If our party is in ruin, its because of these tactics, fascist statements and ideologies, the lack of honesty, humility, and accountability, and refusing to purge our party of the sin its entangled in its certainly not because of people of integrity, that bow their knee to the Lord (not the GOP), are calling it out in an attempt to purify the party and bring us back to our roots. As I listened to Mr. Weston answer the question regarding what would not be tolerated, I was utterly confused, and frustrated. I finally asked Mr. Weston how we, as a party, are going to force those within our party to adhere to the platform if we have no say and are not to question them? Are there no repercussions for their actions? I explained that Ive spent hours of my life, away from my husband and children, fighting Common Core. What am I to do if the party will not hold Governor Fallin and Superintendent Barresi accountable to our platform? Does the GOP expect me to blindly vote for the R and undo everything I have worked so hard for, just to get those in office who are implementing it? You are utterly condemned and ostracized in this party if you dare to vote on principles alone, instead of playing for the team - especially if you do not vote at all because the lesser of two evils is still evil. So, what do I do? Would team players have me to vote for Fallin and Barresi anyway, undoing everything I have worked for and compromising my values to score one for the team? Would team players have me to throw my money in their hat, in the name of the Lord, and fund the very campaigns of the two people Im fighting against, who have sold out Oklahomans to private organizations? Team players will blindly follow and obey, and be led straight into captivity that is the very root of our problem in the GOP, and it happens to be our leaderships motto. In addition to those questions, I wanted to know why the entire party is not up in arms over this, demanding both women change their course. We have the numbers to do this, if we only had leadership that was willing to stand. Unfortunately, all I have seen in our leadership is cowardice, and more of the same. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Say nothing and do nothing, just score one for the team. Mr. Weston is more worried about our image than doing what is right, what is honest, and what would ultimately fix exactly what is wrong with this party. Thats not leadership thats idol worship - elevating a political party above God, His laws, His standards, and the laws of this nation.

If we want to claim God in our party, we have to claim all that He is and requires of us, not just the part that gets us donations. As I pleaded for answers, not just from Weston, but from the entire audience, I was shocked that our chairmans only response was frustration towards people who think like me. Im a dedicated/active member of this party and have been for 13 years. Ive done my duty for the team and Im ashamed at some of the people I helped put into office. I spend my Saturdays at meetings like this, getting involved, just to be looked at with disgust when I speak out. Westons face was red as could be during the questions and over someone in the audience filming him - apparently he doesnt like this tactic and personally addressed the woman from the podium. Again, a problem with accountability and integrity stemming from leadership. From the top down, we as a party are starting a descent from which there will be no return. Our pride will be the reason we fall, and our unrepentant leaders that justify their actions without remorse, refuse to be questioned, and refuse to be held accountable will be the cause. I dont think Mr. Weston liked my questions, even though they werent that difficult or even personal. I walked away knowing Republican leadership has no intention of taking a stand, or leading anything when it comes to our principles. Yet, in return, theyd like my money and undivided loyalty. I will say the crowd was a different story the majority in the room felt as I did. They are just as frustrated with Fallin and Barresi as I am and want to hold them accountable. The question now is: Will our leadership do what we are telling them to do, or go the way of Washington and do what they want regardless of what we say? We can surely expect to keep losing members and losing elections if this continues to be our mentality.