Sheriff's General Election, materials and signs

https://outlook.whp.owhc.net/owa/?ae=Item&t=IPM.Note&id=RgAA...

Sheriff's General Election, materials and signs

Mike Ford [mford@tulsagop.org]
Sent:Wednesday, March 16, 2016 4:14 PM
To: Laura McCoy [laura@johnfortulsa.com]; John Fitzpatrick [john@johnfortulsa.com]

John & Laura,

I'm reaching out to all the Republican Sheriff campaigns today regarding the General Election.
First of all, I want each of you to understand the appreciation we have for all the Republican candidates for
running, the commitment we have regarding our County Party remaining neutral during Primaries, and the
commitment we will always uphold to support our nominees in every General Election race, regardless of
who the winner is. Unfortunately, this particular race has a unique quality to it because of the compressed
election calendar for the office of Tulsa Sheriff, and how this affects the candidates from the recent
Primary who are choosing to run again.
Regardless, we as a County Party must move forward and win the April 5th election. It's our responsibility
as an organization to promote and campaign with the winner of each GOP Primary against the democrat in
all General Elections.
After March 2nd, we removed all of the candidate materials from our display areas in the office who were
no longer candidates for president or sheriff. This included all Republican candidates for Sheriff with the
exception of Vic Regalado, as he won the Primary.
Because we are extremely limited with office space, and have recently lost our storage space upstairs, we
are asking all candidates who were formerly on ballots to come and pick up their materials, if they still
want them. Unwanted materials that are not picked up or spoken for will be thrown away after next week.
If your campaign would like to keep any materials in the office, please let me know which day (Monday Thursday, 10:30am-2:30pm) that a representative from your organization can come by and pick them up
over the next week, and we will have them ready.
Also, we would like permission from all the former candidates to collect any signs we see out and about.
We would of course bring them to the office to be returned to each Republican, but again, it is important
we do not confuse the voters with all the signs out there.
It should go without saying that while the General Election is being conducted, the former Republican
candidates for Sheriff who are no longer filed and on a ballot should respect the will of the Republican
Primary voters in Tulsa as well as the job we have to do as a County Party, and refrain from publicly
campaigning during this General Election. This would definitely be a voluntary decision, but it is the right
thing to do, as having multiple Republican candidates who are not on the ballot running a public campaign
confuses voters, and both dilutes and minimizes the effect the Republican Party of Tulsa County can make
on this election to help defeat our democrat opponent on April 5th. While we cannot expect those who
intend to run again in the next cycle to publicly support Vic Regalado, we do expect all Republicans to
honor the Party process and avoid undue division during General Elections.
With that, I also want to communicate that any Republican who campaigns against our Republican
nominee during this General Election cycle will be considered as a surrogate for the democrat opponent.
Per State GOP Rules, such actions may sour their relationship with the Republican Party and make
participants ineligible to serve on Republican committees in the future. This could also prevent their
materials from being approved for display at the office, from their campaign's participation in other Party
activities, or access to data in future Primaries.
I don't foresee this as a problem, as all of our candidates have been extremely positive compared to other

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Sheriff's General Election, materials and signs

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https://outlook.whp.owhc.net/owa/?ae=Item&t=IPM.Note&id=RgAA...

races we have had in the past. However, I felt I should remind everyone that this simply cannot happen
during a General Election. Once this General Election is over in April, and the filing opens again for the
next election cycle, we will welcome the materials and efforts of all Republican candidates who intend to
run for office and officially announce their candidacy.
We thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,

Mike Ford
918-361-5126
Mford@tulsagop.org
Sent from my iPhone

4/7/2016 2:48 PM