Lankford Adds Coburn Consultant, Among Others, To Campaign Team

Official press release from Team Lankford below. John Brabender has been a loyal Coburn consultant for years and his addition to the Lankford Team was not lost on us. As always, we will continue to monitor this race…

CONGRESSMAN LANKFORD ANNOUNCES KEY ADDITIONS TO HIS U.S. SENATE CAMPAIGN TEAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                

Oklahoma City, OK. — The Lankford for Senate campaign today announced the selection of key additions to his U.S. Senate campaign team. His political consulting team will now include veteran political strategists Ed Goeas at the Tarrance Group, John Brabender with BrabenderCox and Glenn Coffee of Glenn Coffee and Associates.

“Over the last three years, we’ve worked hard and made important progress on many issues facing Oklahomans and our nation’s families, our neighbors, entrepreneurs, job creators and our brave men and women serving in the military. I am fighting for a more secure energy future, replacing the President’s failed health care plan with a plan that doesn’t limit freedom and gives Americans options through the Health Care Compact and providing overburdened taxpaying citizens greater transparency and resources to track government spending through the Taxpayers Right to Know legislation. There is still much to be accomplished, first and foremost getting real answers and holding the Administration responsible for egregious failures in Benghazi and on our borders with the Fast and Furious operation, as well as for the erroneous targeting of Americans by the IRS. I hope that I have earned the privilege and honor to continue my service to our state and nation as Oklahoma’s next U.S. Senator,” said Congressman James Lankford.

“The additions of these great members to our campaign team will bring additional resources to our strong campaign and will help to ensure a great victory for our state on June 24. I have every confidence in the experience and talents of Ed, John and Glenn and I am grateful they have chosen to join and serve in our campaign” continued Lankford.

Ed Goeas will provide Lankford’s campaign with polling and strategic consulting, John Brabender will serve as media consultant and Glenn Coffee will provide legal services.

Earlier this week, Families for James Lankford released top-line totals from the quarterly campaign finance report it will file next week with the Federal Election Commission. The Lankford campaign has approximately $1.2 million in total revenue in the election cycle and over $1 million of that cash-on-hand for his U.S. Senate race with 82% of Lankford’s support coming from within the State of Oklahoma.

Ed Goeas – President and CEO, The Tarrance Group

Ed Goeas is President and C.E.O. of The Tarrance Group, one of the most respected and successful Republican survey research and strategy teams in American politics today.

Widely recognized as one of the country’s leading political strategists, Goeas is an often sought after consultant. In the 2010 election cycle, The Tarrance Group elected six new Governors (and now have eight as clients), four U.S. Senators (and now have ten as clients), and fifty-three Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, with Goeas playing a key role in the winning campaigns of Governor John Kasich, Governor Mary Fallin, and Senator John Boozman. In recognition of the number of winning campaigns conducted by The Tarrance Group, Ed Goeas, and his partners Brian Tringali and Dave Sackett, were awarded the “2010 Republican Pollster of the Year,” by the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC).

In addition to his campaign work, Goeas works in partnership with Democratic pollster Celinda Lake on the nationally recognized “Battleground Poll” – one of the country’s most respected national, political research programs. In fact, in 2011 Lake and Goeas were awarded the “Distinguished Service to the Profession” award for their body of work on the Battleground Poll over the last twenty years. Over the years, Lake and Goeas have also conducted an array of bipartisan issue work for organizations across the nation, providing a balanced, bipartisan perspective on the key issues facing the nation.

Goeas consults on an wide range of policy concerns such as education policy, health care, immigration law, and youth voting trends to name a few. Goeas has been widely published in professional and academic journals, including the Yale Law and Policy Review, on a variety of public policy issues based on his national research. Goeas has also worked on a number of foreign campaigns in Russia, Greece, Hungary, France, and the Philippines.

Frequently sought as a political analyst, Goeas regularly appears on national public affairs programs including: Meet the Press, This Week, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, FOX News, C-Span and CNN John King’s America.

During the 1994 election cycle, Goeas was recognized by Democrat and Republican members of the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) as “Pollster of the Year.” Since said recognition, he has served on the highly regarded AAPC Board of Directors, and is the longest serving member of the Board serving from 1988 until 2013.

In his more than thirty-five years of working professionally in politics, he has served as the National Political Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), a field operative for the Republican National Committee, campaign manager in several campaigns, and Chief of Staff to a U.S. Congressman.

Ed Goeas is married to Lisa Goeas who serves as Vice President of Political Affairs for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Ed has two daughters, Jenn (31), Emma (12), and two sons Robert (8), and Bennett (4), and a grandson, William (1).

John Brabender – Chief Creative Officer and Managing Partner, BrabenderCox

John Brabender is the Chief Creative Officer and managing partner of BrabenderCox, one of the nation’s premiere political media firms. Brabender has provided his unique brand of creative political advertising to over 100 Republican candidates, in almost every state in the nation. He was a member of the ad-making team for the Rudy Giuliani for President campaign and served on the McCain for President Advertising Council.

Some of Brabender’s past and present clients include, U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, U.S. Senator David Vitter, U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, and Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett.

Brabender’s work has been featured on such national programs as NBC’s Today show, the CBS Evening News, and CNN’s Inside Politics. He is also a frequent guest on political programs, including appearances on ABC’s Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, NPR’s Talk of the Nation, CNN, the NBC Nightly News, and NBC’s Today show. Brabender and his attention-getting, creative style has also been profiled in a variety of national publications, including Atlantic Monthly, George Magazine, and Campaigns and Elections, and National Review.

In the last five election cycles, BrabenderCox has been honored with more creative awards than any other political media firm in the country. This includes garnering an incredible 65 Pollie Awards, the Academy Award for political advertising.

Brabender is also a former adjunct faculty member of the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University, where he taught courses in advertising and media. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Gannon University and an MBA from Cleveland State University.

Glenn Coffee – Managing Partner, Glenn Coffee and Associates, PLLC

First elected to the State Senate in 1998, Coffee quickly rose through the leadership ranks, becoming the first Republican in Oklahoma history to serve as President Pro Tempore of the Senate. In 2010, he was tapped by Gov. Mary Fallin to serve as Secretary of State. He resigned that position in 2012 to turn to his law practice, Glenn Coffee and Associates, PLLC.

Coffee earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Northeastern State University and received a law degree from the University Of Oklahoma College Of Law. Currently serving as general counsel to the State Chamber of Oklahoma, Coffee provides legal advice to the State Chamber and its affiliates and also serves as a member of the State Chamber’s board, a prestigious group of more than 150 business leaders from across the state.