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Bobby Koefer, steel guitar wizard, RIP
Steel guitarist Bobby Koefer, one of the last surviving members of the Texas Playboys who recorded and toured with Bob Wills, has died at the age of 95. Here is Bobby's obituary, written by western swing historian Buddy McPeters for publication here at BatesLine: John Robert 'Bobby' Koefer, passed away...
Ron DeSantis for President
In my pre-presidential primary post, I provide a detailed explanation of the delegate allocation process for Oklahoma. As I mentioned in the same post, I am voting for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Oklahoma Republican Primary. A BatesLine reader asked me why the names of so many candidates...
2023 Tulsa sales tax & bond issues
City of Tulsa residents will vote on a new sales tax on August 8, 2023. Why are city officials pushing for a new tax more than two years before the current tax expires? Click to read ballot language, ballot resolutions, and lists of "specific" projects.
Oil in Oklahoma: Tulsa TV 50 years ago
I have finally gotten around to reading Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, in anticipation of the Martin Scorsese film to be released in October. I'm about halfway through, and I was skimming ahead. (It's OK. I already knew who the bad guys were.) I was surprised to...
Re-elect Ronda Vuillemont-Smith Tulsa GOP chairman
Tulsa County Republican Chairman Ronda Vuillemont-Smith is seeking a second two-year term in that office. During her first term, Ronda built a record of success in advancing Republican principles and Republican candidates. I first met Ronda sometime around 2010, as she became active in local politics through the Tea Party...
Oklahoma Primary 2022: Federal races
More short takes, this time on the races for Federal office on the June 28, 2022, Oklahoma Republican primary ballot: Both Senate seats, an open race in the 2nd Congressional District, and challenges to incumbents in Districts 3, 4, and 5. If you're on the home page, click the "Continue...
2022 Tulsa School Board campaign contributions: Keller, Lamkin backed by leftist establishment donors
Campaign contribution reports show that the two registered Democrats running for Tulsa school board, District 4 incumbent Shawna Keller and Susan Lamkin, running for the open District 7 seat, are heavily backed by Tulsa's leftist establishment -- the band of philanthropists, politicians, and their hangers-on who hate Oklahoma's conservative values...
Christian denominations in 1923
While searching for info on the state of Christianity in America circa 1923, when J. Gresham Machen wrote Christianity and Liberalism, I found the US Census Bureau's 1916 two-volume survey: Religious bodies : 1916 : United States. Bureau of the Census : Internet Archive This is Volume 1 of a...
An open letter to Tulsa visitors on the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
To journalists, photographers, and visitors, pilgrims this week of the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: Welcome to Tulsa. Some context may help you interpret what you see and hear this week.
Jenni White for Oklahoma Republican chairman
Jenni White is a principled conservative, an excellent communicator, and someone with a record of getting things done. She has the intelligence, organizational skills, and powers of persuasion to be a successful Oklahoma Republican Party chairman, and I ask my friends at the convention to give her their support.
Election Day 2020: Notes
I voted in person yesterday at 9:35. The line was out the door, but not very far, and I slid my ballot into the scanner and was finished in 20 minutes. The other, larger precinct that votes at the same church had a line across the parking lot, but I...
Tulsa Election 2020: Ty Walker for Mayor
What looked like a sleepy re-election run, for Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum IV as recently as the beginning of May, with one declared opponent and a perennial candidate in jail, turned into a free-for-all. As soon as he had some tough decisions to make, the smiley guy that everyone...
Oklahoma Primary 2020: BatesLine ballot card
Here are the candidates I'm recommending in the Oklahoma primary elections on June 30, 2020, plus links to detailed analysis and recommendations from other trusted voices.
Cheryl Baber for State Senate District 35
Cheryl Baber is the conservative choice in the Oklahoma Senate District 35 race to replace term-limited Sen. Gary Stanislawski.
2020 Oklahoma presidential primary; liquor sales on Sunday
Postdated to remain at the top of the blog until the polls close at 7 p.m. Today, March 3, 2020, is the Oklahoma presidential preference primary. Oklahoma is one of 14 states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia (Democrats only), and Vermont)...
Tulsa GOP 2020 precinct meetings
This Thursday night, January 30, 2020, starting at 6 pm, the Tulsa County Republican Party will hold precinct meetings, the first stage in the process for selecting delegates to the Republican National Convention and developing a party platform. The meetings are open to all registered Republicans. To simplify the logistics,...
UK Elections 2019
The United Kingdom will hold a general election tomorrow, Thursday, December 12, 2019. All 650 seats in the House of Commons, the popularly-elected house of the national legislature, will be on the ballot. Voters cast a ballot only for their local Member of Parliament (MP), but the leader of the...
Charles G. Hill, Doyen of Dustbury, RIP
A memorial tribute to Charles G. Hill, Oklahoma's best-loved and most-enduring blogger, who died in September 8, 2019.
2019 OKGOP convention thoughts
UPDATE: Generally a good outcome. David McLain was elected chairman. Former State Rep. Mike Turner was elected vice chairman. All of the rule changes were thrown out because outgoing state chairman Pam Pollard failed to provide the proposals to delegates by the 10-day deadline. Platform was on the agenda and...
What is the Republican Party?
Tom Nichols, a prominent "Never Trumper," and author of The Death of Expertise, has written an op-ed for The Atlantic to explain why he's leaving the Republican Party. It's hard to take Mr. Expert seriously when he uses the "GOP" as the subject of a sentence, as an entity with...
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