POLITICS
The Oklahoma Eagle
Photo The Oklahoma Eagle
State Rep. Regina Goodwin, District 73, stood before a jubilant crowd on Saturday, Jan. 6, flanked by campaign signs that will soon occupy the landscape of state senate district communities. The scene was the two-term representative’s announcement of her candidacy for the district 11 state senate seat.
Goodwin’s eight-year legacy of service was framed by members of the community, family and friends, each offering a personal and unique testimony.
Praise through song and worship, sincere expressions of gratitude and prayers of hope filled the atrium of the Greenwood Cultural Center.
“Service is the rent you pay for room and board on earth,” Goodwin quoted her grandmother, as she formally launched her campaign and shared the familial wisdom that has compelled her political career since being elected in 2015.
Goodwin said her bid will center around people-centered investments in education and public services, criminal justice reform, public official accountability and justice for Tulsans who continue to live within the shadow and impact of the country’s most violent act of domestic terrorism, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Supporters embraced Goodwin’s state senate candidacy as an evolution of her public service. Wearing “The Power of We” impressed t-shirts, a nob towards her 2022 re-election campaign, event attendees shared their readiness to advance a grassroots initiative necessary to secure victory.
“When you don’t show up, your voice will not be heard,” said Alicia Andrews, Oklahoma Democratic Party chair, and the first state party chair of African-American descent.
St. Rep. Monroe Nichols (District 72nd), and a current 2024 Tulsa Mayoral candidate, echoed Andrews’ message, reminding event attendees that the funding required for successful campaigns exists, emphasizing that the financial resources are “in our pockets” and should be directed towards supporting “..our campaigns.”
St. Rep. Jason Lowe (District 97), Vanessa Hall-Harper (District 1, Tulsa City Council), Roger Randle (former President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate), Dr. Wennette Pegues, wife of the late Julius Pegues, James “Jim” O. Goodwin, publisher of The Oklahoma Eagle and other community advocates shared their support for Goodwin’s candidacy.
We have a “shared responsibility”, noted Goodwin, calling upon event attendees and voters to act in the interests of Oklahomans.
