Okmulgee County Republicans will host their monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 14 at the American Legion located at 730 W. 6th Street in Okmulgee.

A business meeting will be held at 6 p.m. followed by the general meeting at 6:30 p.m.

The business meeting is open to all registered Republicans who want to become more involved in decision-making within the local group.

Featured guests will include Luke Holland and T.W. Shannon, candidates for Oklahoma Senator; Todd Thompsen, candidate for Corporation Commissioner and Logan Phillips and Bobby Schultz, candidates for District 24 State Representative.

Candidate biographies include:

LUKE HOLLAND

A conservative fourth generation Oklahoman, Luke Holland’s family settled in Bartlesville, where he grew up and attended school.

One of his grandfathers practiced as an attorney for Phillips 66 in Bartlesville after serving in the South Pacific during World War 2. His other grandfather served as a physician in Bartlesville and Holland’s father followed in his footsteps.

After high school, Holland received a scholarship to attend the University of Arkansas where he earned a degree in Finance from the Walton School of Business.

Under the Obama Administration, he was emboldened to get into public service to reclaim the things that make America great: our freedoms and our Christian values. So he joined Senator Inhofe, starting in the mail room and working his way up to Chief of Staff.

Holland believes America is the greatest country on earth because of our foundations in freedom and Christian values.

He believes these are under assault but knows our best days are ahead of us if we get back to the basics that made this country great in the first place.

Holland is a classic conservative who believes in limited government and individual responsibility. He will fight to have the strongest, best equipped and trained military in the world.

He will also seek to lower taxes and reduce the regulatory burden on the private sect.

Holland wants to unleash American energy so we become independent and are able to export our excess to our friends and allies around the world.

He is pro-life, wants parents involved in the classroom and will stand for Biblical values.

Holland has been fighting in the trenches with Sen. Inhofe for years to get America back on the right track and has been endorsed by Sen. Jim Inhofe to succeed him.

Having grown up attending the Grace Community Church in Bartlesville, Holland is now a member of New Beginnings Church in Bixby.

For more information about his candidacy, visit LukeHolland.com.

T.W. SHANNON

A banker, executive and entrepreneur, T.W. Shannon is a candidate for the United States Senate.

As a successful banking CEO, T.W. Shannon led his bank through some of the most historically difficult times in the banking industry, all while growing the bank's total assets from $130 million to just under half a billion in the first five years of his tenure.

Additionally, he has been an entrepreneur in his own public relations consulting operation for over a decade.

A former state legislator, Shannon made history at the age of 34, becoming the youngest Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, as well as being the first Chickasaw and African American to hold the post.

Speaker Shannon utilized his platform to champion common sense solutions. His signature legislative achievement was authoring the bill that reforme d Oklahoma's workers' compensation system to an administrative system. T. W. was successful in Oklahoma’s fight to repeal affirmative action, and he also successfully led the effort to overhaul the State’s welfare system by mandating a twenty hour work week for able-bodied adult recipients. Additionally, T.W. passed into law legislation which made Oklahoma the first state in the nation to provide a five thousand dollar tax deduction for parents of foster children.

Before serving in the Legislature, T.W. worked as one of five C-level officers in the role of Chief Administrative Officer at the Chickasaw Nation, which boasted annual revenue of over one billion dollars, and employed over seventy-five hundred employees. In his role with the Chickasaw Nation, he led the support functions for the most financially su ccessful tribe in the country.

T.W. has a Juris Doctor degree from Oklahoma City University and a Bachel or of Arts in Communication from Cameron University.

He is a Harvard University Kennedy School Fellow and a Rodel Fellow. T.W. has been married for more than 20 years to his college sweetheart, Devon, a college professor at the University of Oklahoma. They are the proud parents of Audrey Grace and Tahrohon Wayne, II.

For more information about his candidacy, visit TWforSenate.com.

TODD THOMPSEN

A trusted leader in the community, Thomsen was first elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2006, where he would serve the citizens of District 25 for the next 12 years.

During this time he was chosen for various leadership roles, including leadership on the Utilities Committee and membership on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. His appreciation and understanding of the economic infrastructure and resources of our great state is the driving factor in his run for Corporation Commission.

Thomsen was raised in Sapulpa and is a 35-year veteran of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

After high school, he became a proud Sooner, playing football for four years and helping his team win the National Championships in 1985 under famed coach Barry Switzer.

Thomsen graduated from OU with a degree in Management Information Systems and went to work for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, where he would spend the next 30 years guiding teen athletes and coaches in southeast Oklahoma to a deeper relationship with Christ.

Thomsen currently resides in Ada where loves to spend time with his family. His children, Menee, Aneli, Tovan, Tyde and the late Tal, are a blessing and make every day exciting.

For more information about his candidacy, visit GoToddThomsen.com or Todd Thomsen for Oklahoma Corporation Commission on Facebook.

LOGAN PHILLIPS

During his time in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Logan Phillips has served as the Vice Chairman of Natural Resources, Chairman of Technology, Chairman of the Rural Broadband Expansion Council and Chairman of Infrastructure and Broadband for the ARPA working group.

Phillips joined the United States Army at the age of 17 where he was trained at Fort Benning, Ga. as an infantryman. He would later cross-trained at Fort Gordon, Ga. as a signal corpsman.

After his initial training, Phillips served with the 2/45 combat engineers out of Bristow.

During his time in uniform, he served in Operation Noble Eagle Three and was discharged in 2006, having served six years.

During his time with the 2/45 infantry, he cross-trained as a Sapper 12B.

While still in the military, Phillips attended Tulsa Community College where he earned an A.S. in Business Administration.

He later attended Oklahoma State University where he earned a B.S. in Business and Information Technology and Education, followed by a Masters Degree from Oklahoma State University in Teaching, Learning and Leadership.

He moved to the Oklahoma State University Tulsa campus where he earned a second Master’s degree in Pedagogical Research and Curriculum Design while focusing on developing virtual education programs.

Phillips began his teaching career at Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater.

He taught mathematics for several years in Taiwan in the Yeong Der Senior High School.

Later in his career, he taught at the Tulsa Boys Home where he created the Virtual Education Academy, working with credit recovery for at-risk young men.

Currently, Phillips works as a Professor of Business and Information Technology at the Tulsa Community College northeast campus.

Outside of his teaching career, Phillips owns and operates a farm named Fancy Acres where he raises heritage breed turkeys and Hereford cattle.

For more information about his candidacy, visit Logan4House on Facebook or logan4house.com.

BOBBY SCHULTZ

Bobby Schultz is a candidate for State Representative of House District 24.

The district includes portions of Okmulgee, Creek and Tulsa counties.

Schultz announced several of the following reasons for his run for a spot in the state legislature:

• He wants to be a strong voice in state government for the citizens of the district.

• He wants to protect personal freedoms from government overreach.

• He wants schools to be adequately funded and ensure that all tax dollars are spent wisely.

• He also wants improved access to mental health services for rural citizens.

A graduate of Morris High School, Schultz attended Oklahoma State University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism.

While at OSU, he worked for the Morris News, Okmulgee Daily Times and provided color commentary for high school football on KOKL radio.

He went on to earn a Master’s degree in Indian Law from the University of Tulsa.

Schultz is currently the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Environmental Trust (The MET).

In that capacity, he works with one county government and nine municipal governments. Among those municipalities are Bixby and Glenpool.

The MET operates recycling centers throughout Green Country and employs 75 adults with developmental disabilities.

Prior to accepting his role at The MET, Schultz spent 33 years with Boy Scouts of America where he served Okmulgee County as both a District Executive and as Field Director.

He also served as Budget Director of the organization, where he developed and managed an operating budget of over 3.5 million dollars.

Schultz also served as CEO of two different Boy Scout Councils before accepting his role with The MET.

He has been married to Dr. Lahoma Schultz for 32 years. Together they have two children and three grandchildren.

Schultz has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the National Eagle Scout Association’s Outstanding Eagle Scout Award, Community of Christ’s International Youth Service Award and Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellowship.

For more information about his candidacy, visit Bobby Schultz for State Rep. OK District 24 on Facebook or www.schultzforoklahoma.org.

DISCLAIMER: OPINIONS AND VIEWS OF CANDIDATES DO NOT REFLECT THE OPNIONS AND VIEWS OF HENRYETTA FREE-LANCE STAFF.