5th District GOP hopefuls oppose defunding police
Three Republicans running for the congressional seat held by Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn said Thursday that police need more resources, not less, and one referred to protesters as domestic terrorists.
“We must restore l aw and order ,” Terry Ne es es aid at a forum at Oklahoma City Community College.
“We have descended into mob rule. It's an extreme disappointment when we see supposed leaders like( House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and (Utah Sen.) Mitt Romney locking arms and protesting with domestic terrorists in opposition of our law enforcement. It makes me sick.”
According to the Deser et News, a Salt Lake City newspaper, Romney recently marched with evangelicals in a Black Lives Matter protest in Washington, D.C. Pelosi joined a Black Lives Matter march outside the U.S. Capitol.
State Sen. Stephanie Bice, responding to the question of whether Black lives matter, said, “Yes, Black lives matter. I think that we need to do a better job of sitting down and having really difficult conversations in this country about race and how do we overcome this.
“The idea that people have been pushing for defunding the police is in my mind a completely wrong strategy. ... I think that we need to be training officers more, telling them how to deal with difficult situations but also supporting them.”
David Hill said people of different backgrounds should establish relationships and afford each other respect. And, he said,
“What we have to do is we have to give our police force more resources. The idea of defunding police is ridiculous. It's ludicrous. They need more help, not less help.”
The forum, hosted by the news website nondoc.com and streamed by News9, included questions about race, COVID19, health care, climate change, energy and other topics.
Five of the nine candidates were invited, based on a threshold of raising at least $10,000 in campaign contributions.
The primary is June 30. A runoff is expected for the GOP nomination in the 5th District, which includes most of Oklahoma County and Pottawatomie and Seminole Counties. Runoffs are scheduled for Aug. 25.
The Republicans said they were pleased with how President Donald Trump and Gov. Kevin Stitt have handled the pandemic and agreed precautions had to be part of a reopened economy. And most said they would have voted for the CARES Act package that committed about $2 trillion in aid.
Janet Barresi said she thinks the nation's $26 trillion dollar debt is immoral but that the bill was “absolutely essential.”
“This is what business needs in order to get open, stay open and keep their employees connected to their businesses,” she said. “There is nothing more critical than that.”
Hill called the bill “deeply flawed” and did not say whether he would have supported the legislation.
Miles Rahini said he would have voted for the package based on what he knew at the time. But he said some small business owners might have been frozen out while big organizations like the Los Angeles Lakers received aid.
“So we need to prioritize Americans and small businesses,” he said.
According to media reports, the Lakers had accepted a business loan but returned the money.
On health care, debate moderator Tres Savage asked the candidates for a show of hands of those planning to support the Medicaid expansion question on the statewide ballot on June 30. None raised a hand.
Meanwhile, campaign finance reports filed this week show Bice, of Oklahoma City, raised the most among the Republicans from April 1 through June 10: $210,233.
Hill raised about $170,000; Neese raised nearly $87,000; Barresi raised nearly $61,000. A new report from Rahimi was not available Friday afternoon.