RJ Harris Announces Intent To Run For Governor As Democratic Candidate

Earlier today, RJ Harris announced his intent to run for governor as the Democratic candidate. News reports had been circulating stating that the Democratic Party has not put forth a candidate for Governor as of yet. In response to an article in the Washington Post about Libertarian Democrats, RJ Harris wrote on Facebook:

I will rise to this challenge and I hope you will rise with me. It is official; I am forming a campaign to run for the Oklahoma Democrat Party’s nomination for Governor. Oklahoma Constitutional Conservatives; it is time to put our principles for freedom ahead of party politics, it’s time to fight for LIBERTY.

RJ Harris is not a new comer to the election scene. In 2010, RJ Harris challenged incumbent Republican US Representative Tom Cole in the Republican primary. He won 22.74% of the vote. In 2012 RJ Harris challenged Tom Cole once again, but this time as an Independent candidate. In that three way race, he earned 4.5% of the vote. Edit: Thanks to Steve Long of the Otter Limits, I was reminded that RJ Harris also ran for the Libertarian nomination for President in 2012.

RJ Harris is also an avid support of Ballot Access Reform in the state. In 2010, He attended and spoke at a rally in the capital building in support of change (view RJ Harris and the other speakers in the video below). He spoke again at a rally in 2012. As Governor, he would most likely seek to influence the Legislature to pass strong ballot access reform legislation.

At this point, RJ is the first and only potential candidate to seek the Democratic nomination for Governor. With his entry, we can potentially see others spring up to challenge him in the primary. We will keep you informed on further news.