Shannon, Turner Finance Reports Examined
from The Oklahoman’s Washington Notes: April 27, 2014…
Shannon’s tribe
In the first two months of his campaign for the U.S. Senate, state Rep. T.W. Shannon collected donations from some American Indian tribes in Oklahoma and other states. The Choctaw Nation contributed $2,000; the Comanches gave him $2,600; the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in California donated $2,600; and there were a few others.
There was one tribe conspicuously absent on the campaign finance report filed with the U.S. Senate this month: the Chickasaw Nation.
Shannon, of Lawton, is a Chickasaw, and his tribal affiliation has been a major part of his personal and political profile.
The tribe has been generous with candidates, political parties and political action committees. In 2012, for instance, the tribe gave $25,000 to a group called Texas Conservatives Fund, a so-called super PAC running ads to defeat Republican Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate primary.
Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby said in a statement to The Oklahoman last month that the tribe fully supports Shannon and believes he would be an exceptional senator.