Chairman Pinnell: Democrat Runoff Side Effect of Lost and Divided Party

(Oklahoma City)- The Oklahoma Republican Party released the following statement in response to the upcoming August 28th Democrat runoff in the 2nd Congressional District. Despite the overwhelming support of former Governor Brad Henry and many other current and former Democrat officeholders, candidate Rob Wallace was unable to avoid a runoff.

"It is telling that with the full force of what remains of the 'Democrat machine' in Oklahoma, Rob Wallace was still unable to win the Democrat nomination without a runoff," said OKGOP Chairman Matt Pinnell. "Democrats in the 2nd District have been bombarded over the past several weeks with appeals and endorsements from the likes of Brad Henry and Drew Edmondson, yet Rob Wallace still only outpaced his closest challenger by less than 5 percentage points. The inability of the ODP and the Democrat Establishment to pull Rob Wallace across the finish line is yet another nasty side effect of a Party that is lost and divided," continued Pinnell.

During the primary election, Wallace's opponent Wayne Herriman ran ads attacking Rob Wallace's business record, claiming among other things that, Rob Wallace "owned a mining company fined thousands for breaking the law," that a "judge garnished Wallace's wages for $57,000 after he failed to pay his creditors," and that the state "even revoked his permit to business."

Wallace responded to Herriman's claims by calling him, "disgusting, despicable, and desperate," and by attacking Herriman for using "his own personal wealth" to "try and buy this election."

"While the mud continues to fly on the Democrat side, we will focus on the fact that a vote for a Democrat in the 2nd District will be a vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House and a vote to continue the Obama agenda," continued Pinnell. "We've had nearly four disastrous years of Democrat control in Washington D.C. It's time the people of the 2nd District get the common-sense conservative representation they deserve. We look forward to working with our Republican nominee to make that a reality this coming November."

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Tags: Brad Henry, CD2, Drew Edmondson, OK2, Oklahoma Democratic Party, Rob Wallace, Wayne Herriman

About the Author: OKGOP