Robyn Matthews Enters House 85 Race

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 27, 2016

Robyn Matthews Announces House 85 Candidacy

Robyn Matthews announced Wednesday she will be a Republican candidate for House District 85, vowing to continue her family’s tradition of providing conservative leadership in Oklahoma County. Matthews is a long-time resident of the district.

“I’ve been blessed to work with many impressive conservative women, but my grandmother, Jewel Matthews, was certainly the most influential,” Matthews said. “She introduced me to politics at an early age, and taught me the importance of standing up for your beliefs and serving others.”

Robyn’s grandmother, Jewel Matthews, first became active in Republican politics in 1961, and stayed active until her death in 1999. Robyn’s mother, Sharie Steves (Matthews) first became involved in Republican politics in 1969.

Thanks to their influence, Robyn became involved in GOP politics at a very young age, including volunteer work on the campaigns of two Republicans who represented House District 85 for the past 20 years – Odilia and David Dank.

Since graduating from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism, Matthews has worked in both the private sector and the political arena. She has worked for Business Imaging Systems, KSBI-TV, Casady School and the Oklahoma Credit Union Association in a variety of communications positions. While at KSBI, Matthews received the 2013 Outstanding Achievement in Broadcasting Award for Long-Form Programming (General) from the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters.

Matthews has also served as a campaign manager and deputy campaign manager for a statewide campaign and congressional campaign, respectively. Her work for the Oklahoma Credit Union Association includes efforts to develop a pro-credit union legislative agenda for the organization and management of the group’s political fundraising efforts.

Matthews is a pro-life conservative Republican who supports low taxes and limited regulation. She is an advocate for empowering parents by giving them the ability to use education tax dollars to select the school that best serves their children’s unique needs. She attends Crossings Community Church.

Although Matthews represents a new generation of leadership, she will bring both real-world experience and political understanding to the Oklahoma Capitol if elected.

“We are facing many difficult challenges in Oklahoma with the downturn in the economy and a state budget shortfall this year approaching $1 billion. In the next few years, our financial challenges will continue in Oklahoma. We need to prioritize and fund what Oklahomans view as the greatest responsibilities of government: educating our children, ensuring the public safety of our citizens, and providing a strong infrastructure and expanding tax base to attract more and better paying jobs. I want to be a constructive, positive voice in the legislature to work toward these goals and others,” Matthews said.

“When my grandmother first became involved in Oklahoma County politics, there were very few Republicans in office anywhere in Oklahoma,” Matthews said. “It is thanks to the hard work of people like her that Republicans now have supermajorities in the Oklahoma Legislature today. I know how much hard work it took to change Oklahoma’s political landscape. We must not squander those gains. If elected, I will work to ensure Republican victories translate into conservative policy gains, and that the views of the people of House District 85 have greater influence,” Matthews added.

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