David Holt for Oklahoma State Senate

Thank You

Celebrating with Senator Glenn Coffee and his wife Lisa on election night.

On Tuesday, after 18 months of campaigning, I was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate, representing the 30^th District that I have called home my entire life.  We received over 5,000 votes and over 63 percent.  This expression of support from our neighbors was a humbling experience.

I will be sworn-in this November, and it will be the honor of a lifetime to represent my community at the State Capitol.

I want to thank every single voter for their participation in this remarkable American experiment.  I promise you that I will bring the same work ethic and passion that you saw on the campaign trail to this important public service.

I especially want to thank all of our supporters – our 500 donors, our hundreds of volunteers, the 100 members of our “One of Us” team, the hundreds of voters who displayed yard signs, and our thousands of Facebook friends and Twitter followers.   Your support made this possible, and it encouraged us to keep pushing hard until the very end.

On behalf of Rachel and George, thank you again.   I will not let you down.    After I am settled at the Capitol, I hope you will stay in touch and come visit.  Enjoy the rest of your summer!

With deepest gratitude,

David Holt

Oklahoma State Senator-Elect, District 30

Victory

All votes are counted - We received 5,125 votes, and our opposition received 2,934 votes.   We have won with over 63 percent!   I am deeply humbled and honored to be the next State Senator from the 30th District of Oklahoma.  Thank you so much for your support!

VOTE HOLT

There is nothing left to say, but VOTE!

Election Night Watch Party

Everyone is invited to the election night watch party at the Lansbrook Event Center Tuesday night!  

Polls close at 7 p.m., so we’ll be drifting in soon after that.  

Lansbrook Event Center is at 6009 NW Expressway (west of MacArthur, north side of the Expressway), in the heart of the 30th District!

Thank you to our volunteers!

As we race to the finish, we had fantastic support from volunteers today.   Thank you so much!   We are just hours from victory!

Thank you to our volunteers!

Thank you so much to the two dozen volunteers that hand-addressed letters over the weekend.   We could not do this without you, and your efforts are why we are one week from victory!

Thousands of doors

This weekend was much like many before, with a lot of knocking doors.  For nine months, I have personally knocked on thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of doors.  It has been a lot of work, but it has been rewarding, and I believe it is imperative for a representative to make that effort.

All that hard work is soon to pay off.  We are now just eight days from victory!

J.C. Watts

I am honored to have received J.C. Watts’ endorsement today, via a phone call to the voters in my district.   

We are just 11 days to victory!

Knocking

Had a great day of knocking on doors!  Now off to dinner with Rachel and George!

Nine Months

Enjoyed knocking on doors today.   We are now into the ninth month of knocking!

Time to Reach Out

We are now just three weeks from victory - It’s time to reach out to your friends, relatives and co-workers in the 30th Senate District. Let them know why you believe in our message of conservative values, roots and experience.

Here is a map of the District.  Thank you so much for your support!

Happy Independence Day!

We hope you are having a wonderful Independence Day, enjoying the blessings of liberty, and remembering the duties. 

For your reading enjoyment, here is a link to the Declaration of Independence, the existence of which we celebrate today.

It Rained On Our Parade

George before the deluge

This morning we marched in the Bethany Independence Day Parade.  Rachel, George and I were joined by about 30 family and friends, plus three dogs.  

It started pouring rain just as we started, but the day ended up being one of the highlights of the whole campaign. 

Even as others dropped out, we marched the complete parade route right through the rain.   I ran back and forth, shaking hands with every single person still lining the route (and there were quite a few), while Rachel delivered Twizzlers and our marchers waved flags and spread goodwill.  We were soaked to the bone, but we had a blast.  

Thank you to everyone!

My First Vote

I just received my first official vote.   I just spoke to a woman who has cast her absentee ballot, and it was for me - The election is underway!

Knocking on Doors…

I’ve been knocking on doors for eight months now, and the last two long nights have been no different.   Thanks to all the great people I’ve visited with!

Lots of Knocking

Thanks to all the volunteers who canvassed neighborhoods for us today!

I finished knocking for the day about 9 p.m.  Talked to a lot of great people tonight.

Knocking

Had a great time knocking on doors tonight.   The yard signs continue to be a big hit!

Big Day on the Trail

Today, I spoke to the Northwest OKC GOP Club over lunch.  Many thanks to Tom Roach and his members for turning out.

This evening, I participated in the Northwest Chamber candidate forum.   It was an honor.   Many thanks to Jill McCartney, Larissa Rhodes, Mark Williams, Jeff Knapp and Jim Benson for putting it together, and to Alex Cameron for doing a great job as moderator.

Thanks for a great event!

Thanks to everyone that came to our fundraiser tonight!  It was a very successful event.   Thank you for helping make sure we have the resources to get our message out! 

Thank you especially to our hosts at The Lunch Box!

If you couldn’t make it, but would still like to donate, you can do so here.

Oklahoma City Republican Women’s Club

Great to see everyone at the Oklahoma City Republican Women’s Club candidate forum! 

Thanks to Beth Cupp for the invitation and to the Sullivans for hosting!

Thank you for the sign locations!

We’ve been delivering signs this week to hundreds of yards all across the district.  Thank you so much for all your sign requests and all your support!

Tri-City Republican Women

Great to see everyone at the Tri-City Republican Women’s candidate forum this afternoon!

Thank you to our volunteers!

After I knocked some doors, we had a bunch of volunteers over tonight.   Thank you so much to everyone!

It’s Official

George and me entering American democracy

After 17 months of campaigning and seven months of knocking on doors, this morning I officially filed with the Oklahoma State Election Board to be a candidate for the State Senate.

There were hundreds of candidates at the State Capitol, filing for offices around the state.

I was honored to be joined by George, Rachel, and my mother-in-law, Kasey.

Now, the seven-week sprint to the finish!  I promise, we will work harder than any candidate until the last vote is cast on July 27th.

Rachel’s Birthday

Rachel turns 31 today!  

Thank you, honey, for being the love of my life, the mother of our son, and such a wonderful partner on this journey!

The Countdown is On

Fifty days till victory!  The election is July 27!  If you’d like to sign up to volunteer down the stretch, click here.

George’s Baptism

Saturday, we baptized George at our family’s chapel at Holt Ranch.  

It was a wonderful occasion, with much love and family!

Memorial Day

Lincoln

It is natural for people to use the occasion of Memorial Day to get away and relax. And if I wasn’t running for the State Senate in 56 days, I’d probably be doing the same thing.   

But I encourage you to take a moment this Memorial Day to remember “the reason for the season” – to recall those Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice.  They did so to preserve the personal freedoms we enjoy here, and to ensure that societal decisions continue to be made by regular citizens and those who elect them, not dictators or foreign powers. 

Though I know of no personal relative who paid that price, my maternal grandfather was career Army, as was my uncle, and my paternal grandfather served in WWI.   My family fought so that I may do exactly as I am right now – participating in the democratic process. I am so grateful that they did. And I am deeply thankful for those who gave everything for this country, which remains, thanks to them, the greatest and most successful experiment in the history of civilization.

I’ll leave you with the Gettysburg Address, a re-reading of which is an ideal way to spend a few moments marking the true reason for Memorial Day.

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

“But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Knocking doors in the heat

Just finished with two full days of knocking on doors.   Summer is unofficially here!

Knocking doors with Rachel and George

Our family

Just finished with three straight days of wall-to-wall door knocking.  

Rachel and George were with me for most of it, which is always a great treat!

I continue to get a very favorable response.  I can tell that our friends and neighbors appreciate that we’re taking the time to personally visit their home.  I think they know that the work ethic you exhibit on the campaign trail is an indicator of how hard you will work on their behalf.

George Holt, Campaign Manager

Been knocking doors and calling voters the last three nights. 

That doesn’t mean I don’t get my time in with George, however…

Me and George as I call a voter

I-40 and Choctaw Road

Love's

Toured the damage at I-40 and Choctaw Road in Oklahoma City tonight with Mayor Mick Cornett and Congressman Tom Cole.

Here is the front door of Love’s.  My dad took a nap in the parking lot here Sunday afternoon.   I have been to this Love’s many, many times.

There were several stories of heroism at this intersection.   We met one gentleman tonight who pulled into the travel stop ahead of the tornado and demanded that everyone take shelter immediately.   At the Love’s, an employee did the same.

Our Seventh Anniversary

Rachel and I on our wedding day

Today, May 10, is Rachel and I’s seventh wedding anniversary.   We were married in 2003 in Philadelphia, PA, Rachel’s hometown.

In honor of that occasion, here is the homily that our great friend the Reverend Sean Mullen delivered at our wedding mass at St. Mark’s Church:

When the musical, Oklahoma! opened in 1943 it did not look very promising.  Not only was the country at war, the show was a departure from the formula for success on Broadway.  It was, as an article about the show put it, “a musical without stars, without gags and humor, without the sex appeal of chorus girls in flimsy attire.”

People in the industry predicted it would flop.  When scouts brought back word from the out-of-town preview productions they summed up their assessment of the likelihood of success succinctly: “No girls, no gags, no chance.”  So it was a surprise when on opening night the audience rose to its feet for a standing ovation and the production continued to run for five years and nine months.

Oklahoma has been on my mind as Rachel and David’s wedding has approached, because we know that they are Oklahoma-bound.  But the musical Oklahoma! has been on my mind as the wedding has approached because when we plan a wedding it is as close as many of us will ever get to staging a musical.  And while we might leave out the gags and the humor, every wedding has its stars and there is usually a good compliment of chorus girls - though not in such flimsy attire!  And this wedding, perhaps as a homage to Oklahoma!, even has a surrey, but I’m not sure that there is a fringe on top.

One of the best-loved songs from Oklahoma! is a duet sung between the two principle characters: Curly and Laurey, who are still in the early stages of romance and don’t want to admit their mutual attraction.  Curly sings to Laurey:

“Don’t take my arm too much,                                                    

don’t keep your hand in mine;                                                     

your hand feels grand in mine;                                                    

people will say we’re in love.                                                      

Don’t dance all night with me

till stars fade from above;

they’ll see it’s alright with me;

people will say we’re in love.”

In just a few moments I am going to ask David and Rachel to take one another by the hand in a very deliberate way - holding each other, right hand in right hand, as they pledge their love and their loyalty to one another.

In a wedding we make this fuss over hand-holding precisely because we want people to say they’re in love.  And we need these outward and visible signs of the deeply invisible truth that something is going on here - that God is at work weaving David’s and Rachel’s lives together in a most wonderful way.

Remember those wonderful words we just heard from St. Matthew’s Gospel:

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you…?”

These words remind us of the secret work God does in our lives, if we trust him.  They remind us that God does not need stars or gags or chorus girls to work with to make something beautiful.  They remind us that every detail of this wedding could fall to pieces but the beauty of God’s love would still carry the day in its invisible way.

I suppose that we could think of Rachel and David’s time together in Washington as the out-of-town preview that all musicals go through: a time to work things out, figure out how to sing and dance and live together, a time to make adjustments, re-write songs, learn new choreography.  And if Washington has been the previews, then Oklahoma may be where Rachel and David are going to have a long run in the near future.

But in any case, this is opening night, when we give them a great standing ovation.  This is the time to dance all night till the stars fade from above.  For we see that it’s alright with you, and people will say you’re in love.

May God bless you richly as he joins you together, Rachel and David, and may we always say you’re in love.  Amen.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Rachel and George

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone, but especially my Rachel.   This is our first Mother’s Day since George’s arrival. Rachel is such an amazing mother - loving, thoughtful and patient.   George is so fortunate, and so am I.

My thoughts also turn to my mother, who passed away 17 years ago.  I’ve been without her longer than I was with her, but she will always be an influence on my life.   Here’s a little bit about her.

SWCU / Door Knocking

Last night, I attended the inauguration of Ed Huckeby, the new President of Southwestern Christian University in Bethany.

After that, got in some door knocking, and then a full day today.   I’m getting a great response as the campaign  continues its march!

Six month milestone

Just finished another day of knocking on doors.  

This represents the end of our sixth month on the doorsteps of the 30th Senate District!  Three more months to go!

Putnam City Schools Foundation

Rachel and I with James

I’m proud to be a board member of the Putnam City Schools Foundation, and give back to our community.  

Last week, we added PCN ‘91 grad James Marsden to the PC Schools Wall of Fame.  The event raised a lot of money for the Foundation, and James was very gracious, generous and humble. 

It was great week for our school district, as two Panthers were drafted by the NFL, and James came home to accept this honor.

Knocking

Had a great response on the doorsteps today.   Had a little rain today, which I’ve gotten pretty used to lately.   Just finished the day with dinner with George and Rachel.   Now to the Ford Center to Thunder Up!

100 Days to Victory, but First, Knocking Doors in the Rain

Today, we stand 100 days to victory.   What a great feeling!  But in the meantime, there is much work to do.  I spent the last two days knocking doors in the rain.   Is there anything better?

Windsor Hills

It was great to see everyone at the “red carpet celebration” for the B&B Windsor Theatre on 23rd Street. This reopening of the old Windsor Hills Cinema is a wonderful new investment in our community!