And good morning.
Welcome to Community Connection here on K one AM fourteen hundred f M ninety three point three ninety five point one, as well as online at kwetv dot com. I'm Nathan Thompson and I'm joined by a gentleman that I have known a very long time, Earl Sears.
Of course we all.
Know him, former principal at Central Middle School, and that's where I wasn't at Central, Earl, I was at the.
Unimatic Great Cup. There you go.
I was a Mustang instead, but I won't hold that against you. Was also on city Council, and then of course in my professional life he was in the House of Representatives and dealt with him quite a bit. And Earl, thank you so much. It's always good to see you.
Well, Nathan, it's lackwise. We're excited to be here, and I'll introduce my guests in a second, but I just always have to give a shout out to the Potter family that allows the community connection that you know, people talk about their nonprofits, but they also have that segment that allows community members to bring people in in regards to the political world, because we do have people and
we want good people in public offices. And that's why I'm here today is we have a guest in Barterersville today. It's John Eccles. John Eccles is running for the Attorney general the great state of Oklahoma. John and I served in the House of Representatives and then he was the floor leader in the House for eight years. But just he has a great track record in regards to moving Oklahoma forward and just a wonderful individual, has a great family.
But he's made a decision to run for Attorney General and so I've asked him come to barswaw today meet and greet some people. So John, welcome to Barsville, Oklahoma. And I'm going to turn it over to you. And I'm just I know you're going to be very successful in this campaign, and I know you're going to make a great attorney general. So John, welcome to Marsall.
Absolutely and John, yes, I echo. Earl welcome to Barlows Villa.
Course, you were the House leader up until you returned limited in twenty twenty four.
And Oklahoma City boy, right.
I am yeah, born and raised in South Oklahoma City and went to ou Fondergrad OCU Law School. Actually married my high school sweetheart who's in Oklahoma. But my family goes back in Oklahoma five generations. We as a matter of fact, still have the land run far and we got Cherokee outlet out in Oking.
Right, Yeah, absolutely absolutely.
And so you are also worked for Crow and Dunlevy. Correct in Oklahoma City.
I did.
Right out of law school, I went to work for Crow and don Lovey. I you know I when I tell my story, I married my high school sweetheart, had our first child in law school. To the listeners, I don't recommend that well. She was finishing her elementary education degree, did fortunate to do well in law school, went to work at Crow, and then later left there and started my own business and really enjoyed that time.
Yeah. Absolutely.
And so you are seeking the Republican nomination for Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma.
Right, I am.
After turning out in the Oklahoma House Representatives, I was blessed. I got to serve eight years as majority floor leader, got to serve with some credible people like my dear friend Earl.
Except for your dear friend, I will.
Tell you there is nobody in the state that knows more about the budget than Earl series.
It's very sure.
I mean nobody, and the more we listened to them, the better we did. But really excited when we went embarked on this campaign four months ago. We're talking about making a safer, free, or stronger Oklahoma. I want to take that background as a small business owner, as a conservative legislator that knows how government works and knows how to be a good steward of the taxpayer dollars, and take that into the attorney General's office.
And what wasn't really that motivated you to take this next step?
I mean, public office is a harder.
Thing to do, but as far as what meets you make the decision that you were going to put your name out there for attorney general?
Yeah, I get that question a lot too, especially with my background. I didn't come from the political or social elite. I wasn't politically connected before I ran for office. I didn't work for a congressman or a senator. I was a frustrated dad and husband that wanted things to be better. And as I served twelve years in the House and then eight years as floor leader, one of the things I saw over and over again is we needed to make sure that while we passed laws in the state legislature,
the government is being accountable to the citizens. Well, in the legislature, that's not one of the things you do legislature, you make policy. But in the attorney General's office, I'm going to take that same level of responsiveness and conservatism and faith that always guides me and take that into the attorney general's role. And I'm really excited about that possibility.
What are the biggest challenges that you feel is facing the state of Oklahoma right now and what would the office.
Of Attorney general in those those circumstances.
Absolutely, you know, in the legislature, I say all the time there are two types of legislators. There's there's work courses and the show ponies, and I'm a work course. Well, what we're going to bring into the oklahom Attorney General's office is somebody who's going to focus on public safety. I'm proud to have endorsed by twenty six sheriffs and the Faternal of Police already. We're going to focus on protecting your freedoms. I'm endorsed by SEAPAC, the largest conservative
organization in the nation. And then we're going to focus on making a stronger Oklahoma, which is fiscal responsibility, and those are what I see the Attorney general can do to be responsive to the citizens of the state of Oklahoma.
Yeah, and are current Attorney General getting A Drummond kind of a local boy here for us you he has made the decision to run for governor for the state. But I do know that you did work with Attorney General Drummond last leg the last Legiscay Lader session before you were turned out on some important immigration reform as well for Oklahoma and how to deal with that.
Absolutely.
So I ran the bill to support President Trump and making illegal occupation in the state of Oklahoma a crime, an Oklahoma crime. I ran that bill on the Oklahoma Representation four for three hours, taking questions from Republicans, mostly from Democrats. And one of the things I said, I'm going to stand with President Trump as that and I'm going to stand with him and enforcing our illegal immigration laws and get a Drummond was critical in drafting that bill.
He helped get that drafted. We worked work closely together. We also worked closely together.
On illegal medical marijuana inside the state of Oklahoma.
I shouldn't even say.
Medical illegal marijuana in the state of Oklahoma. The Attorney General's office now does a lot to go after those illegal actors, and that's something I'm going to continue on doing as attorney general.
You know.
And here within the recent months, maybe even the past couple of years, we've seen some disagreement between Governor Stett and the executive office, as well as with the Attorney's General office, and even with the state school Board. We're not going to get into that with you today, but but you know, conflict like that even within a supermajority Republican administration, as well as for the chief law enforcement
officer for the state of Oklahoma. What are your thoughts on that friction that's going on right now.
So a little bit of friction is a good thing, a little bit of friction inside government. I don't like the Twitter wars going on right now, and.
I don't like them either, honestly.
At the end of the day, what I tell people is the Attorney General's office does not belong to getting a Drummond or John O'Connor or Mike Hunter or anyone else. The Attorney General's office and every office belongs to the citizens of the state of Oklahoma. That is their office. And if you are fortunate enough to be blessed with their trust. It's your job to wake up every day and figure out what can you do for them? That is the goal of the job. And as my job
is floor leader, what I will bring. If we talk in spiritual terms, my spiritual gift would be a peacemaker if we're a If we talk in nonspiritual terms, we'd say a deal maker. I'm gonna wake up every day and remember that I work for the citizens of the state of Oklahoma, and my job is to move that forward.
Well, one final question for it, because I know you guys have got the r Vest Friday Forum to get to as well, so I know you probably have.
Viera breakfast this morning's wonderful. There you go. That's that's incredible breakfast. There you go.
You know, here in northeast so Oklhoma specifically, we've been very much impacted by the McGirt decision, and you know, Attorney General Drummond right now has really gone into and to bat for tribal sovereignty in this particular area.
As your if you were elected.
As Attorney general, what would you see your relationships with tribal governments here across what is now the Cherokee Reservation.
Yeah, I think we need more compacts, less lawsuits. I think we need strong relationship and ships and to cut deals with our tribal partners, because what happens when you govern through lawsuits, You're giving all the power to the federal government. I'm a Republican. I love President Trump. I think he's doing a great job in the White House. But I think even in President Trump would agree we want Oklahoma's to govern Oklahoma. I have a great relationship
with our tribal partners. Our tribal partners are like everybody else. They don't get everything they want. Hey, I'm married to my high school sweetheart, love of my life. We disagree sometimes, I change my mind. I disagree with me sometimes. But I think there's an opportunity for a reset in the executive branch and to continue to work with our tribal partners to move this state forward.
Having a discussion today with former Representative, former House Leader John Eccles, running for Attorney General at the State of Oklahoma. John, where can folks go to learn more about you and maybe even support you?
I would love your support.
Go to www dot John Eccles dot com. That's j on Echols dot com. John eccles dot com. And we're going to be spending a lot more time in Bartlesville as we are going through out the state with our message of a safer, free, or stronger Oklahoma.
All right, very good, Well, I know you got to get to that RvEs Friday Forum. Anybody who's interested in doing that over the Community room on the east side branch.
Earl Seers of course here as well.
He facilitates that and it's always a fire hopper over there, I tell you.
Nathan again, thank you very much for letting us have absolutely have our guests today. And John again, welcome to Washington County and Bartersville, and my friend you just said you're going to come back up more and we want you to. And I'm confident once the people Washington County meet and greet you and hear more of your message that they will feel very, very comfortable in supporting you as our next attorney general. So again, Nathan, thank you very much.
Absolutely, both of you. Thank you very much.
You've been listening to absolutely you've been listening to community connection here on K one.
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