Tulsa Area Republican Assembly endorses City Council candidates (UPDATED)

The Tulsa Area Republican Assembly held a candidate forum and endorsement meeting, Saturday morning, August 27, 2011. Following speeches and answers to audience questions from the candidates in attendance, TARA members voted to endorse a candidate in five of the eight Tulsa City Council Republican primaries to be held on September 13. A 2/3rds supermajority is required to receive TARA's endorsement, which is also binding on TARA's state and national organizations, the Oklahoma Republican Assembly and the National Federation of Republican Assemblies.

The TARA-endorsed candidates:

TARA is one of several local GOP clubs. TARA's members are grassroots Republicans who are active in local politics. Several elected officials are also members of the group. They support the idea of government staying within its limits. In contrast to Chamber of Commerce types, they tend to oppose crony capitalism and corporate welfare. They operate independently of the local party organization and hold monthly meetings that often feature elected officials or candidates as speakers. TARA is affiliated with the Oklahoma Republican Assembly (OKRA) and the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA), a group that calls itself the "GOP Wing of the Republican Party."

A blog entry on the TARA website listed the candidates who were slated to speak at Saturday's TARA candidate forum. In addition, District 4 candidate Blake Ewing participated in the forum.

District 2: Judith Adams, Jeannie Cue, Matthew Foster
District 3: Dave Bell
District 4: Blake Ewing, (Rocky Frisco was slated to attend but was not present)
District 5: Sam Roop, Chris Trail
District 6: Jim Mautino
District 7: Steven Roemerman
District 8: George Gibbs
District 9: Robert Pinney, Kim Whiteman

All candidates were invited, and I'd be suspicious of the conservative bona fides of any candidate who declined to meet with the group.

(I understand from someone in attendance that Rocky Frisco missed the meeting, although he was slated to attend. I know from a Facebook post that Frisco had been concerned when he hadn't received an invitation to the TARA meeting and actively sought the opportunity to speak with the group. Frisco received the TARA endorsement in the 2009 Republican City Council primary.)

UPDATE: Despite his omission from the list on the TARA website, District 4 candidate Blake Ewing was at the meeting to answer questions from the members. I've updated the list above and the paragraph lead-in to the list to reflect that.