In the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe played a character named John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. In the film, he saw the world through numbers and mathematic calculations.
The movie went on to win the academy award for Best Picture and earn Crowe a nomination for best actor.
Gerrid Kendrix isn’t looking for such lavish awards and prestige. However, he does say having a mind for numbers has made him a successful accountant in Altus for more than three decades.
“I love numbers, numbers are an absolute,” Kendrix said. “One plus one always equals two. So going through school I felt like I was good at math. I took classes in various mathematic classes as well as physics classes that I enjoyed. And I just liked the idea of an absolute that we have a right answer and a wrong answer and so it goes well with my personality.”
But it’s not just a love of numbers that helped Kendrix turn into a CPA.
“I don’t know if I should say that I’m OCD but most accountants are,” Kendrix said. “We have everything scheduled and organized and put in its nice little spot and its nice folder and sit on the right shelf. And it just fits my personality because I feel like I’m good at mathematics and like I say, I do like it.”
Kendrix now wants to put that love of numbers to work for Altus and the surrounding areas. He is running in the Oklahoma State Representative for District 52 against Scot Simco.
“I’m a man of faith and my mom raised me to tell me that, ‘Hey, whenever you see an opportunity to fill a position if it’s something that you believe you can do step up and step in,’” Kendrix said. “And I believe that this is something that’s kind of been laid on my heart to do, it’s going to be a difficult process but I do believe I have a skillset there that can be useful.”
With no Democrats or Independents running for the house seat, the winner of the June 30th Republican primary will be elected to the position.
“I’ve just kind of been a behind the scenes guy helping our other legislators from this district. Helping them with their compliance reporting and those types of things because again, that’s kind of what I do in the accounting business,” Kendrix said. “Helping keep everything filed and reconciled and balance for them. And I just felt like the situation that we’re in now, obviously, all of us are struggling a little bit with the COVID crisis.”
According to Kendrix, out of the 101 members of the state house of representatives, not a single one is a CPA. He says that skill set can make a difference.
“Oklahoma is especially dealing with some struggles not only on top of that, but we’re so dependent on energy here in Oklahoma with oil and gas prices,” Kendrix said. “And so we’re struggling with the deflated prices there because they’re a large part of our budget. And I felt like one thing the government does a lot of is operating inefficiently. It’s a lot of what I do in the accounting business is try to find inefficiencies and waste inside businesses to increase the bottom line. And I would like to be able to take that skillset that I’ve gained over the last 30 years, being an accountant to the State Capitol and use that in assisting.”
Kendrix says running for the house seat was not an easy or quick decision. He says he wrestled with the decision for several months before concluding it was his time to step up in March.
“I’ve got a good business, my family is all in the area. So having all of them around and kind of having my routines, like I say being an accountant I have everything organized and structured and having my routines it’s nice and neat,” Kendrix said. “But again, I feel like when it’s something that I can help with and I believe I have the skillset to do that being a man of faith that, ‘Hey, this is a time for you to step up and get involved.’ I decided I’ve got to get in, that’s what I’m supposed to do.”