Former state Sen. Josh Brecheen, R-Coalgate, calls himself a “Tom Coburn protégé” and credits the late U.S. Senator for helping mold his political ideology.
Breechen prevailed in the GOP runoff over state Rep. Avery Frix on Tuesday to clinch the Republican nomination for Oklahoma’s Second Congressional District, leaving an easy path to win the general election in November.
His success can be partially attributed to the anti-tax Club for Growth and its affiliate School Freedom Fund, which spent over $3.5 million supporting him and opposing Frix. Club for Growth also supported Coburn while he was in office.
Brecheen believes the main goal of Congress should be to stop excess spending and unnecessary legislation. He blames Democrats and Republicans for taking the country to a dark place.
“We keep seeing people in Washington D.C. who don’t know the Constitution, and they put their own reelection ahead of what’s Constitutional,” he said. “They put their reelection ahead of what’s best for securing liberty for our kids.”
During his time in Congress, Coburn was dubbed “Dr. No” of both the House and Senate. Brecheen said he looks to do the same if elected. That’s why he wants to join the House Freedom Caucus.
The Freedom Caucus is generally considered to be the most conservative bloc of House Republicans. The group needles House leadership by voting “no” on nearly every piece of legislation and calling for votes on routine measures, making procedures more time-consuming. If elected, Brecheen says he won’t hesitate to buck party leadership and vote how he sees fit for his constituents.
“The Republicans want their congressmen to be a team player,” he said. “It’s how both Republicans and Democrats for the last four years have been winning elections and losing this nation because they play it safe.”
Breechen believes this partisan mentality is “ruining our nation.” He said he instead wants to be a “team player for we, the people.”
But Brecheen’s idea of being a team player is less about making new laws and more about stopping what he views as bad legislation, leaving the bulk of the decisions up to states.
His main issue is with the country’s “out-of-control” spending leading to inflation and piling up debt for future generations, he says.
“We have got to send people up to Washington D.C. who are going to stop inflation,” Brecheen said. “We’ve got to start balancing our budgets and we’ve got to start putting money back to secure liberty for kids because the only thing we’re leaving our kids right now is debt.”
Like Coburn, Breechen wants to be a fiscal hawk in Congress, voting “no” on any tax increases and what he views as unnecessary government spending. He would like to serve on the House Oversight Committee so he can “subpoena every area of federal government spending and put every agency under subpoena.”
But he said one of his ultimate goals is to govern with the Bible in mind.
“We have to have people who have biblical virtue that aren’t afraid to stand on biblical truth,” he said. “And so I’m gonna stand on biblical truth because we have a hyper-sexualized culture that is looking to Hollywood virtues instead of the Bible’s. And so I’m a person that stands on biblical truth.”
Brecheen will face Democrat Naomi Andrews and independent Ben Robinson in the general election on Nov. 8.
