By Charlie Meadows

For over 10 years, the voting members of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) have selected the best Republican legislators, as well as exposed the most liberal Republican lawmakers, with the nominations based on their Conservative Index scores which are published in the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper.

Here are this year's results:

In the Oklahoma State Senate, Sen. Randy Brogdon (R-Owasso) was selected as the Senate Lawmaker of the Year. This makes the seventh year in a row he has won this award, with his only blemish being his first year in office, where he was the runner up. Sen. Steve Russell (R- Moore-Mustang) was selected as the runner-up for the award.

Sen. Anthony Sykes (R-Moore-Duncan) won the award for Senate Freshman of the Year, followed by Sen. Bill Brown (R-Broken Arrow), as runner-up.

Since senators serve a four-year term, we also issue a Senate Newcomer of the Year award, which was earned by Sen. Gary Stanislawski (R- Tulsa). The runner-up for the award this year went to Sen. Dan Newberry also a Republican from Tulsa. Sen. Newberry just edged out Sen. Russell for this award, with Sen. Bryce Marlett (R-Woodward) also in the mix.

This year's Senate RINO (Republican In Name Only) award goes to none other than Senator Harry (the turncoat) Coates (R-Seminole). No surprise here, as Senator Coates has won this award two other years and has been the runner-up on two other occasions. Of the 26 Republican senators, Coates has the lowest lifetime conservative score, a paltry 46. His average for the last two years, is 48. Between the House and Senate, there are six Democrat lawmakers who have a higher score than Harry, which is the true definition of a RINO. Thankfully, we have a true conservative Republican by the name of Tim Clem running to send Harry home. It is a Republican primary race only. If the Republican primary voters use wisdom, it will be a huge change in the Senate for the next session. We didn't issue a RINO runner-up award this year, as there was a tie for second place.

In the Oklahoma State House, Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) was chosen as House Lawmaker of the Year for the second year in a row. Murphey, just finishing his fourth year in office, is the only lawmaker in the state to have a perfect 100 lifetime average on the Conservative Index. Runner-up this year went to Rep.Mike Reynolds (R-South OKC). Reynolds has an incredible 96 lifetime average which covers eight years in office.

The House Freshman of the Year award goes to Rep. Mike Christian (R-South Central OKC) and the runner-up went to Rep. Jason Nelson (R-North Central OKC). To be eligible for this award, you must be a Freshman who draws an opponent, thus Rep. Mike Ritze (R-Broken Arrow) was not considered as he is un-opposed for his re-election.

This year's House RINO award goes to Rep. Shane Jett (R- Tecumseh). This is the second year Representative Jett has won the award, and in addition he has been runner-up on two other occasions. Of the 62 Republican lawmakers, Representative Jett ranks 61st with a lifetime average of a paltry 49 on the Conservative Index. The only House Republican Lawmaker more liberal than Jett is Rep. Doug Cox (R-Grove), this year's RINO runner-up winner. Cox probably wasn't selected this year because he drew no opponent for re-election, whereas Rep. Jett has decided to run for Congress.

Representatives Murphey, Ritze, Reynolds, Wesselhoft, Kern and John Wright, along with Senators Brogdon and Sykes will also receive awards for maintaining their lifetime Conservative Index scores at 90 or above. These awards will all be presented at next year's awards banquet, the date of which is still to be determined.

Charlie Meadows is chairman of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC). You may contact him at: Charliemeadows7@gmail.com