DEL CITY – Former state Rep. Jon Echols plans to tackle immigration, religious freedom and gender politics from the seat of state attorney general if voters will have him.
Echols, who served as Oklahoma House of Representatives’ Majority Floor Leader for eight of his 12 years in the Legislature, announced his candidacy at Heritage Christian Church in Del City on Wednesday afternoon.
“During my time in office I will be a zealous advocate and I will protect your freedoms,” Echols said.
The former state lawmaker said he plans to support President Trump’s mission to end illegal immigration and fight fentanyl, a drug that has increasingly slipped into the United States for the last 10 years.
Echols said he plans “to do something about illegal immigration in this state.”
He introduced House Bill 4156, signed into law last year, which allows prosecutors to charge an immigrant who entered the country without legal status with a misdemeanor. A subsequent offense would qualify for felony charges, and two years in prison and up to a $1,000 fine. The law continues to face legal challenges.
“If I will take that beating from Democrats on the House floor for three hours when I don’t have to, imagine what I’ll do for you,” Echols said of the bill. “I will enforce that law as attorney general.”
During his speech to a crowd of about 200 listeners, Echols promised to protect religious freedoms and private property rights.
Farmers and ranchers would find protection from “animal rights activists” and oil and gas producers from “environmental extremists” if Echols is elected, he said.
Echols assured wouldbe voters that he planned to strengthen domestic violence laws and to “protect our daughters from biological males in women’s sports and in women’s restrooms,” he said.
Standing on the same stage at the Christian school where Echols said he married his high school sweetheart, the former lawmaker said “most importantly” he would defend religious liberty.
“Just as Moses defended the 10 Commandments and came down from Mount Sinai, I will defend our Judeo-Christian values,” he said.
Echols also said he would defend Second Amendment liberty and boasted he has already won the endorsement of 17 county sheriffs, including Canadian County Sheriff Chris West.
West addressed the crowd, saying he believed Echols would represent all Oklahomans and not just “special interest groups.”
“He’s a man of character, integrity and we can trust him very much,” West said.
Echols has faced scrutiny in recent years as co-founder of Turn Key Health, a medical provider that contracts with numerous county jails in Oklahoma and throughout the Midwest. The company has been entangled in dozens of lawsuits and was the subject of two investigative series from The Marshall Project and The Frontier. The Marshall Project is a New York City-based nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news agency that reports on criminal justice. The Frontier is based in Tulsa, and is a nonprofit news organization that covers issues of statewide interest, including criminal justice, politics, health and government.
Echols practices law with his family’s firm, Echols and Associates in south Oklahoma City. His term in the Legislature expired last year.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond is running for governor.