Chairman Of Oklahoma Republican Party Intends To Resign

The chairman of the state Republican party, Randy Brogdon, has indicated he intends to resign, although party officials say no official letter of resignation has been received.

GOP party members say Brogdon emailed a brief notification Wednesday of a meeting for September 12, at which they would elect a new chair of the state party.

Thursday, Brogdon confirmed through a text message that he intended to change the date of the meeting, so as to comply with party rules, which state that there must be at least 30 days’ notice prior to an election.

Brogdon, a former state senator from Owasso who ran for Governor in 2010 and U.S. Senate in 2014, has been embroiled in controversy almost since he took the reins of the party in April.

Many of the party faithful were especially upset that Brogdon hired, and then defended the hiring of Thomas Clint, "T.C." Ryan, as the state GOP's executive director, despite the fact that Ryan had a 2012 domestic assault and battery conviction on his record.

Ryan eventually resigned from the party, but only after Governor Mary Fallin weighed in, expressing her belief that it was inappropriate for him to hold a leadership position in the state GOP.

A Facebook post that Brogdon made in July, which likened poor people to animals, brought more criticism and forced him to issue an apology.

A couple of weeks later, Brogdon put himself again in the spotlight when he stated that Oklahoma couldn't be forced to abide by the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe vs Wade ruling.

Observers say Brogdon destroyed his effectiveness as a party chair.

"With his selection of his friend back there when he first got into power," said political analyst Scott Mitchell, "the focus was off of what the party needs to do which is raise money -- that's a function he's just simply not going to be able to do."

Assuming Brogdon's resignation does become official, party Vice Chair Estela Hernandez would become interim chair until the election.