Oklahoma politics: Gulf widens between tea party conservatives and GOP leaders
By CHRIS CASTEEL NewsOK.com on Sep 15, 2013, at 2:37 AM Updated on 9/15/13 at 6:35 AM
Government
The upgrade from 96th to 106th streets north is a candidate for federal funding assistance.
The tribe pumps millions of dollars into northeastern Oklahoma counties each year.
WASHINGTON - Ronda Vuillemont-Smith is a familiar face at town hall meetings in Oklahoma, so Rep. Markwayne Mullin probably wasn't too surprised to see her last month in Henryetta.
Mullin, a freshman congressman, and Vuillemont-Smith, head of a Tulsa tea party group, see eye to eye on many things. They're both eastern Oklahoma Republicans and get-the-gov- ernment-out-of-my-life conservatives.
But their face-off at the Henryetta town hall meeting seemed like a clash of different ideologies. And it was emblematic of the tension between tea party conservatives and many Republican lawmakers that has fractured the GOP in Congress as critical deadlines approach to fund the government and raise the debt limit.
Vuillemont-Smith confronted Mullin over a conservative group's rating of his votes in the U.S. House - the group gave Mullin an "F" - and Mullin wound up teeing off on the tea party.
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ccasteel@opubco.com
Original Print Headline: Tea party split with GOP widens
Government
The upgrade from 96th to 106th streets north is a candidate for federal funding assistance.
The tribe pumps millions of dollars into northeastern Oklahoma counties each year.
