Will Brian Maughan face J. D. Johnston in a run-off for the Oklahoma County Commissioner, District 2?  The only sure thing at this hour is that incumbent Rinehart and his cartoon antics were sent packing by voters.

One must wonder if Rinehart will soon become a full time cartoonist. After all, it is his greatest accomplishment as noted by Glenn Church of the Foolocracy Blog.

Excerpt :

Throughout the comic, Rinehart says he has stood up to the “liberal good ol’ boys”. County Assessor Leonard Sullivan, a fellow Republican, said he does not know who the “liberal good ol’ boys” are. “I’ve really encouraged him on more than one occasion to get professional help. He really needs it,” said Sullivan.

Maughan Rises Above Rinehart

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department’s Fraternal Order of Police has given a no confidence vote in county Commissioner Brent Rinehart.

The vote comes after Rinehart lampooned Sheriff John Whetsel in a campaign comic book that also criticized Attorney General Drew Edmondson and gays.

FOP President Larry Grant says deputies have been frustrated with Rinehart for years and the comic book is “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Rinehart is also facing felony campaign corruption charges, a recent poll suggests his re-election campaign is in trouble and his fund-raising is slow.

The KWTV-9 poll of 440 likely voters found former county employee Brian Maughan with 35 percent support and Rinehart with about 20 percent. Former Bethany Mayor J.D. Johnston was just behind Rinehart and 28 percent were undecided.

The poll was conducted July 18th through 20th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

OKPNS Editor’s Note:  Scan and send your Rinehart mailers to okpns_editor@hotmail.com for posting.

“SoonerPoll provides opinion research and voter identification services to clients other than TvPoll.com. Bill Shapard’s SoonerPoll is the most accurate and trusted public opinion research firm in Oklahoma.” – TVPoll.com website

An investigation by OKPNS shows that SoonerPoll.com’s motto of being the “most accurate and trusted public opinion research firm in Oklahoma” is more a slogan than grounded in actual fact. Oklahoma County Commissioner poll results released on KWTV-Channel 9 and The McCarville Report Online yesterday showed Brian Maughan receiving 34.7 percent, incumbent Brent Rinehart 19.5 percent, and J.D. Johnston 18.1 percent. About 28 percent said they were undecided.

According to the below chart from Survey USA – a very respected polling firm in its own right- Soonerpoll.com is ranked an abysmal 33rd out of 41 polling firms surveyed for accuracy, just above CBS News. (Remember Dan Rather anyone?) Soonerpoll.com has a whopping median error rate of 9.0!

Don’t know if it will help, but Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart got lots and lots of national press over the weekend regarding his cartoon book.

Many of the major television networks and even freaky Hollywood blogger Perez Hilton devoted time to Rinehart’s effort. While local press and media spent most of their reporting about public reaction to the book, national media actually let Rinehart have his say. Surprisingly, CNN was one of those outlets that gave Rinehart time to discuss in detail the current commissioner’s agenda.

Rinehart faces a tough primary July 29^th against Brian Maughan and J.D. Johnston.

Insiders say the political heavyweights are moving toward the political candidacy of Brian Maughan as he and others seek to unseat current District 2 Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart.

Former U.S. Attorney and Republican Gubernatorial Nominee Bill Price, AT&T Oklahoma President Don Cain and Republican Party Icon Al Snipes are hosting the event at Price’s Oklahoma City home on May 29th.

“It’s an indication that the smart money is starting to coalesce” around Maughan, a former AT&T consultant and long-time party activist. Snipes and Price are leaders of the conservative wing of the Republican Party in Oklahoma, and Cain is Chairman of the statewide chamber of commerce.

Maughan and former Bethany Mayor J.D. Johnston are the only Republicans challenging Rinehart in that party’s primary thus far. Rinehart faces several felony charges in a trial scheduled for September, and observers are watching intently to see who will emerge as Rinehart’s main challenger in the July 29th primary.

NewsOK.com: Maughan announces campaign against Rinehart

4/24/08

Maughan Close to Announcing Challenge to Indicted Brent Rinehart

Reliable sources tell the Oklahoma Political News Service that Republican activist and former AT&T consultant Brian Maughan, is close to announcing his candidacy for Oklahoma County commissioner -District 2.

Reliable sources tell the Oklahoma Political News Service that Republican activist and former AT&T consultant Brian Maughan, is close to announcing his candidacy for Oklahoma County commissioner -District 2.

Maughan will be seeking to unseat current District 2 Commissioner Brent Rinehart, who has been indicted on 9 felony counts and is scheduled to go to trial in September.

OKPNS will continue to investigate.

Excerpts from Brent Rinehart’s press conference from Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008.