OKLAHOMA CITY — Three organizations representing Oklahoma farmers and ranchers are endorsing state Attorney General John M. O’Connor in his bid for election to a full four-year term.
The announcement was made at a news conference Tuesday by representatives of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and American Farmers and Ranchers Insurance.
The Biden administration “has been hard on rural Americans,” O’Connor said, and rural Oklahomans are “dealing with inflation, foreign ownership of our lands, and the black market in marijuana.”
“Farmers and ranchers have been the backbone of our state and remain an incredibly powerful force in our state and in our culture,” he said in thanking “three very important organizations of hard-working Oklahomans” for their political support.
O’Connor, a Tulsan, was appointed Attorney General 10 months ago by Governor Stitt. O’Connor faces Gentner F. Drummond, 58, in the Republican primary election June 28.
Rodd Moesel, president of the Farm Bureau, praised O’Connor as “a huge proponent of private property rights – one of the foremost issues for us in agriculture and rural Oklahoma.” O’Connor is “a practical environmentalist” and “has stepped forward to help us on issues such as endangered species and other issues, such as Waters of the U.S.A.,” Moesel said. O’Connor has “been at the forefront of all of these issues.”
Scott Blubaugh, president of American Farmers and Ranchers Insurance, said his members are “very passionate” about the issue of foreign ownership of land in Oklahoma used for raising marijuana. “A lot of organized crime has infiltrated rural Oklahoma,” he added.
The AFR PAC “unanimously supports Attorney General O’Connor based on family ties to our organization and farming and ranching communities,” Blubaugh said.
The AFR’s founding members “even before statehood strongly opposed foreign ownership of agricultural lands and worked diligently to put this into the Oklahoma Constitution,” he said. “Today our members adamantly oppose foreign ownership of agricultural land.”
Article 22 of the Oklahoma Constitution mandates that, “No alien or person who is not a citizen of the United States, shall acquire title to or own land in this state, and the Legislature shall enact laws whereby all persons not citizens of the United States, and their heirs, who may hereafter acquire real estate in this state by devise, descent, or otherwise shall dispose of the same within five years upon condition of escheat or forfeiture to the State.”
The AFR believes O’Connor “is best suited to enforce Oklahoma’s constitutional law in protecting our family farmers and rural citizens,” Blubaugh said. Attorney General O’Connor “has stood up for our rural citizens and has led the charge to take on organized crime in the marijuana industry.”
The AFR has approximately 58,000 Oklahoma family memberships that represent 232,000 Oklahoma individuals, Blubaugh said.
Mike Kelsey, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, said the beef cattle industry is present in all 77 counties of the state, and Oklahoma is “the largest feeder cattle market in the U.S.”
Kelsey complained of “overreach of the federal government” and “encroachment of foreign ownership” on Oklahoma land and said Attorney General O’Connor “will stand with Oklahoma farmers and ranchers” on these issues. The Cattlemen’s Association says it represents approximately 5,000 Oklahoma ranching families.
Oklahoma farmers and ranchers “are not only powerful economic engines for our state but are incredibly powerful in building our culture and raising our kids,” O’Connor said. “I appreciate their work ethic and great values.”