Gilbert Sanders
Gilbert Sanders (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District. Sanders lost in the Republican primary on June 30, 2020.
Sanders completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Gilbert Sanders was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He served in the United States Army from 1970 to 1988. He received an associate degree from Murray State College in 1965, a bachelor's degree from Oklahoma State University in 1967, and graduated from The University of Tulsa in 1974.
Sanders' professional experience includes being the senior operational psychologist and behavioral sciences program manager for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations' Decompression Reintegration Center in Ramstein, Germany; working for the Division of Immigration Health Services at the INS Medical Detention and Referral Center in El Centro, California; and being appointed as the Western Region Behavioral Medicine consultant for the INS. Sanders has been affiliated with the American Psychological Association, Psychologist in Public Service, the Society for Military Psychology, the American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy, the National Academy of Neuropsychology, the Alaska Psychological Association, the Oklahoma Psychological Association, the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists-Clinical, the Reserve Officers Association, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, and the Commissioned Officers Association.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District election, 2020
Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 30 Democratic primary)
Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 30 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Oklahoma District 4
Incumbent Tom Cole defeated Mary Brannon and Bob White in the general election for U.S. House Oklahoma District 4 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tom Cole (R) | 67.8 | 213,096 |
 | Mary Brannon (D) | 28.8 | 90,459 | |
| Bob White (L) | 3.4 | 10,803 | ||
| Total votes: 314,358 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Oklahoma District 4
Mary Brannon defeated David Slemmons and John Argo in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Oklahoma District 4 on June 30, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Brannon | 63.9 | 32,199 |
 | David Slemmons | 19.4 | 9,793 | |
 | John Argo | 16.7 | 8,436 | |
| Total votes: 50,428 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Arash Ghazanfari (D)
- Wyndi Brown-Fietkau (D)
- Wesley Forbes (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Oklahoma District 4
Incumbent Tom Cole defeated James Taylor, Trevor Sipes, and Gilbert Sanders in the Republican primary for U.S. House Oklahoma District 4 on June 30, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tom Cole | 76.3 | 55,699 |
 | James Taylor | 15.2 | 11,081 | |
 | Trevor Sipes | 6.0 | 4,357 | |
 | Gilbert Sanders | 2.5 | 1,833 | |
| Total votes: 72,970 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Gilbert Sanders completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Sanders' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Second generation native Oklahoman. All my father's brothers and sister were born in Indian Territory. I have retired from the uniformed services of the United States having service in the US Air Force, US Army and the US Public Health Service commissioned Corps as obtained the grade of Captain (equivalent of Colonel) in the US Army. I am a Vietnam combat veteran, and received a 90 percent disability rating from the Veterans Administration . I have an earned doctorate from the University of Tulsa, with post graduation studies in Clinical Neuropsychology . I have also service in US Civil Service as an Operational Psychologist assigned to the US Air Force Office of special investigations, with duties as the Director of Behavioral Sciences and as an Operational Psychologist.
I'm a dedicated conservative and will be a fiscal hawk striving to work for balanced budget and advocating for the approval of a balanced budget amendment.
The recent COVID -19 crisis as indicated glaring deficiencies in the US healthcare system especially those related to behavioral health issues. We have seen significant rises in suicide rates, alcoholism and depression. These services were difficult to find the height of the crisis in ways and means of improving their access needs significant improvement. One of my principal aims shall be to work with my fellow Congressman Mark Wayne Mullins in improving access to mental health care.
Recently we have seen the true face of China. China is effectively taking over Hong Kong. It is built demilitarized islands in the South China Sea. And four years as stolen American intellectual property. is my pledge to work tirelessly to build a strong national defense and work to protect American intellectual property and prevent additional Chinese interference international collections
I also see the need to improve access to behavioral health care and reduce cost - that means elimination of all the requirements under the affordable care act and replacing it with a plan that would reduce cost.
First is my father Richard A Sanders Jr. he was a loving husband and father. The things that I admired my father is not only a scared love from my mother but how he handled his obligations. When I was three years old my mother was working as a registered nurse contracted tuberculosis and spent 2 ½ years in a tuberculosis sanitarium before returning to nursing. Then he came much later she contracted tuberculosis again. Those days was with the treatments which tuberculosis was removal of a lung in my mother had her entire right one in the lower lobe of the left lung removed. Her total treatment was nearly $20,000 more than double the cost of our home. We had no health insurance this was not common. My father worked diligently and instead of taking bankruptcy paid off every penny that he owed in just under 20 years. My father stressed to me that you pay all debts in your word is your bond.
Second is my grandfather Richard A Sanders Sr. he served as an Oklahoma City police officer that the United States marshal. Through him I learned to respect the law. He stressed that if you could not obey the the little laws how can you expect to obey the old big ones. He was well respected the entire community and is over 20 years of law-enforcement experience. To me it was a great hero is remember looking at newspaper clippings of the 1930s when he is US Marshal partner escorted then the notorious gangster "machine gun" Kelly United States penitentiary in Leavenworth.
Jack Kemp: The Bleeding-Heart Conservative Who Changed America
From my perspective to fulfil these responsibilities I need to represent the citizens of the 4th congressional district of Oklahoma and more generally the citizens of Oklahoma by listening to their needs and concerns on pending legislation and sponsoring legislation that if enacted impact positively on them. Further, to make appropriate inquiries concerning issues of constituents where appropriate with federal agencies and the uniformed services and if warranted to assist in resolving cases where problems may have occurred. To work for fiscal responsibility, by eliminating the duplication of services and ineffective programs and agencies while striving to balance the budget. Basically, being a leader on the issues (and related legislation) impacting the citizens of Oklahoma.
When I was 14 I took a summer job working for my uncle on his farm outside of cash in Oklahoma. During the first summer that I work for him I helped build a four strand Bob wire fence around the complete farm replacing open which needed to be replaced. The second year spent rebuilding the barns and replacing the stock tanks and assisted in combining the wheat harvest. During this period I earned the exorbitant sum of $0.50 an hour. Again, 80% went into savings 10% is for tithing in the balance of mind to spend.
During my summers of my junior and senior year in high school I worked for work company roofing houses. I learned very quickly how hot it gets in the Oklahoma sun in the summers. I worked 5 ½ days a week was paid one dollar an hour. I continued making contributions to a savings account which is to be used for college, provided my weekly tithe.
I know what it's like to worry about meeting monthly obligations, and to pay off thousands of dollars of debt that was unexpectedly incurred. I know what it's like to deal of life-threatening injuries and labor to overcome them. I know from my early days in the Army the trauma of war and how it changes you as a person. Yes, I'm fully aware of what it is to struggle in daily life. Therefore, I believe I have the skills, knowledge, and experience to understand the problems that face the citizens of the fourth district of Oklahoma and to work to improve their lives to serve effectively the People's Representative.
I do therefore believe that redistricting remains a state responsibility and that the state through its elected officials must resolve how they desire to effectively redistrict and meet all the provisions that have been established under law. I would not support federal legislation to establish the process of redistricting.
The US House of Representatives is the only part of the US government which has been directly elected by the American citizens since the time the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. The president of the United States is not elected by popular vote but by members of the electoral college is established in article 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Members of the United States Senate were not elected directly by citizens until the passage of the 17th amendment in 1913.
At the start of each new Congress the members of the house selects a speaker but U.S. Constitution does not require that the speaker be a member of the house. However there has never been a non-member elected speaker. John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States, is the only president to have served in the US House of Representatives following his term of office as president. The only speaker of the house ever to serve as president of the United States is James K Polk of Tennessee.
The 14th amendment section 2 of U.S. Constitution's provides that the membership shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, thus establishing proportional representation. Public Law 62-5 set the number of representatives with full voting rights is 435. Article 1 section 2 of the U.S. Constitution sets the minimum age to serve as a US representative at 25 years.
We have seen over the last 30 years and ever-growing and expanding Chinese communist economy as well as military. Much as this is been accomplished through the theft of intellectual property as well as unfair economic practices. Most recently the challenge is been military as well as economic as we have seen the Chinese government build islands in the South China Sea and then militarize them, the recent takeover of Hong Kong, and military threats made toward both Taiwan and Japan. Therefore, we must take active steps to protect our intellectual property limit our economic trade with China and ensure that our military is up to the task of protecting not only the physical United States the international shipping lanes.
Our current spending national debt is a threat that only to the value of the US dollar which will affect every US citizen has the client greatest effect upon her senior citizens during the retirement but upon the future economic growth of the nation as a whole. Therefore, we need to balance the budget and I will make every effort to aid the passage of balanced budgets as well as a balanced budget amendment.
According to House Rules members of the House of Representatives may serve on two committees and four subcommittees.
Given my interest in healthcare, budgetary restraint, national defense and security the following are the committees and subcommittees of which I would prefer to serve.
In no particular order they are-
Appropriations and the subcommittee of agriculture, rural development, FDA, and related agencies.
Armed Forces and subcommittee on intelligence, emerging threats, and capabilities.
Budget.
Veterans Affairs and the subcommittee on health
This is why I am strongly a sportive of a constitutional amendment to limit not only House members process members to a specified number of terms and years total. In addition, I'm also in favor of removing retirement system which is been set up for serving members. The current retirement system promotes career professional politicians who are much more focused on reelection in the art upon serving their constituents. It is my pledge to the citizens Oklahoma that a viable elected I shall serve no more than three terms.
It is my opinion that no individual should serve longer in a total of 12 years, that would be six terms in the U.S. House or to terms in the U.S. Senate. However, if a member serves initially in one chamber in a subsequently elected to a term in the other, the total still must not exceed a total of 12 years. As I stated above, there will be no federal retirement system established or continued or elected representatives are United States senators after the approval of term limits.
That said, from my years while studying at Murray State with history teachers Bois'd Arc Beams, and Lloyd Goss, I have come to admire Henry Clay.
Clay was a career politician, so I have no desire follow him in length of tenure, and many of his ideas were while desirable, and may have prevented some of the issues we currently face, were not workable. Of course, our we see his efforts via the rear-view mirror of history and must understand that he was facing an uphill battle against a well-established institution which even the founding fathers struggled.
Mr. Thomas Jefferson in his original draft of the Declaration of Independence wrote, He (King George) has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where Men should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them . . ."
It is clearly evident that there is a shortage and a lack of access to quality mental health care in the fourth district of Oklahoma. While there have been efforts by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to increase access to care via telehealth means this information concerning the availability of services as well as means to increase the numbers of telehealth providers have fallen short of the need. If elected I will work to improve the provision of behavioral medical services.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 29, 2020
