Congressman John Sullivan is George Bush with an Irish surname. The son of wealthy Tulsa family, Sullivan is an unaccomplished politician whose appeal derives from an affable personality that makes him the kind of guy you'd want to have a beer with. While Sullivan's friendly demeanor is enough to endear Tulsa's influential power brokers, ordinary constituents are tired of weak representation in Washington.
Although our chances of taking down Sullivan looked bleak, an incredibly promising challenger filed at the last minute in this Tulsa-based district. Her name is Georgianna Oliver and she's ready to give John Sullivan the fight of his life.
Back before the Republicans became as influential as they are today, Tulsa was known as the one Republican stronghold in an otherwise reliably Democratic state. Even when LBJ destroyed Barry Goldwater in 1964, Tulsa bucked the rest of the state and went for Goldwater. Nevertheless, the right kind of Democrat can win in this district. Jim Jones (not the crazy People's Temple guy) was a Democrat who served from 1973-1987 before he ran unsuccessfully against Don Nickels for a seat in the Senate (Jones would later serve as our Ambassador to Mexico in the Clinton administration).
Furthermore, Brad Henry, our current Democratic governor, won OK-1 in his re-election campaign with over 60% of the vote (I don't remember the exact number). When you combine Henry's re-elect numbers with the number of Democratic state Senators and Representatives from OK-1 in addition to Tulsa's Democratic mayor, it's hard to say that a Democrat can't beat Sullivan.
The successful CEO of Evergreen Solutions, a technology consulting company, Mrs. Oliver is a born and bred Oklahoman who left the state to pursue her business endeavors. A proud Oklahoman, however, Mrs. Oliver recently returned to Tulsa so she could raise her son here in Oklahoma. As she proudly displays in her websites biography, however, "she did not come back empty-handed." With Mrs. Oliver came an office for her incredibly successful company that provided good paying jobs for a struggling city.
In addition to her business credentials, Mrs. Oliver also has experience in the innermost circles of government. Beginning in 1991, she has worked in federal housing programs as a Legislative Assistant for the Ways and Means Committee.
I'll be honest.. Mrs. Oliver isn't the unapologetically progressive Democrat that I am. Nonetheless, she is a Democrat. Considering that our current representative is a do-nothing member of the ultra-conservative Republican Study Committee, it's unwise for any proud Democrat to throw a purity party in a red district like OK-1. Mrs. Oliver is the "fiscally responsible and socially moderate" alternative that Sullivan's conservative constituency deserves.
Like Andrew Rice, our promising U.S. Senate candidate, Mrs. Oliver plans to run a campaign that emphasizes her bipartisan approach to politics. Her message of cooperation and bipartisanship will contrast sharply with John Sullivan's unabashed partisanship. Most importantly, Oliver understands how Tulsa's representation has become too closely aligned with the GOP in a Democratic Congress. This message will resonate with ordinary voters in this district, especially younger voters drawn into politics because of Barack Obama.
And while it's unfortunate that money has become such an essential component of campaigning, Mrs. Oliver has the resources to self-fund. I briefly met her a couple of weeks ago. As we talked about Alan Gentges and Doug Dodd, Sullivan's two previous Democratic opponents, Mrs. Oliver emphatically declared that Sullivan is in store for his biggest challenge yet. Let's hope she's right. Her campaign's still young but her candidacy definitely looks promising.