Former State Rep. Calvey Will Run for Congress

Former State Rep. Kevin Calvey, a Republican, will seek his party’s nomination in 2010. His announcement Mar. 4 came as U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin (OK-5) said that she would not seek reelection.

Calvey, who ran against Fallin in 2006, is perhaps best known for his service in the Iraq war during the 2007 troop surge, where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Before deploying to Iraq, Calvey served from 1998-2006 in the Oklahoma Legislature, where he represented Del City and southeast Oklahoma City. In 2003, as the budget representative for the state House Republicans during a revenue shortfall year, Calvey negotiated 7% cuts in state budgets. In 2005, Calvey authored House Bill 1547, the largest tax relief law in Oklahoma history.

“The politicians in Washington are moving our country in a dangerous direction,” Calvey said in a written press release, “with record spending and debt, higher taxes, and one bailout after another. The greatness of our country is not found in bigger government in Washington. It is found in the hard working men and women who pay the bills. That’s who I want to look out for in Congress.”

Communications representative Dustin Gabus, OU Grad ‘10, said that the campaign will be “doing things Oklahoma politics has never seen before.” He continued to say, “This campaign will be a grassroots-driven campaign. Not only do we want volunteers to carry Kevin’s message, [we] need them.”

When asked if college students would play a role in the campaign, Gabus said, “I’m certain we will be doing some recruiting at local universities and will plug college students in.”