Chuck Threadgill, the Democratic candidate for Oklahoma House District 30, is a lifelong Oklahoman. He was raised in Prattville (Sand Springs) where his father taught school for three decades. Following High school, Threadgill served a tour of duty in Vietnam.
In 1973, after serving his country honorably, Threadgill went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone. Starting out as a cable splicer. Threadgill’s tenacity and talent earned him an engineering position and later, a management role. After an illustrious career spanning 29 years, He retired in 2002 and engaged in contract engineering until 2007.
In 2014 he began mentoring kindergarten students at his granddaughter’s school. He subsequently started coaching his granddaughter and later her classmates in soccer through the fifth grade.
“With plenty of time on my hands and a renewed interest in making this state a better place for those kids and others, I decided to get involved in politics. Initially, as just a supporter but, more recently as a candidate as I’ve discovered we need a change in this state to be able to move forward,” said Threadgill.
Threadgill changed political parties in 2019 and was elected as a Delegate to the Oklahoma Democratic Party State Convention. In June 2020, he was elected as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
Sapulpa Times interviewed Chuck Threadgill and asked the following questions:
Why are you running?
“I am running because I think I owe it to my granddaughter and the children that I volunteered at their school for two years to try to make this state better and to provide…the number one issue with me is to provide better public education then what we have currently. That’s the three legs of my campaign, education, environment, and accountability.”
Why did you switch parties?
“It started with the lack of concern from Republicans about our environment, in particular, the pollution issue with the creek that crosses my five acres where I have lived for thirty years.No one seems to be concerned about the outrageous E Coli in that creek. But that’s not what got me to change. It just got me thinking, maybe I need to open my eyes a little wider. Then there are all the horrible comments Trump made about people, grabbing them inappropriately, ridiculing a handicapped person, and the Goldstar family.it’s just like there is something wrong here, but that didn’t get me to change. Then came along the Helsinki summit about if he would ask Putin about interfering in the 2016 lections which 17 U.S. intelligence agencies had confirmed. That didn’t get me to change, what got me to change was the lack of comments or actions from Republican senators and representatives.”
What will you do differently from Representative Mark Lawson?
“I want to be a much stronger supporter of public education, and I am going to ask for some stronger accountability of our tax dollars that go to charter schools and virtual charter schools, which is self-evident by the debacle we have at Epic. One thing I will do differently than the current representative would be if one of my constituents has a problem, I will do my best to rectify it if it can be, and I will do an investigation, and I will find out the facts from the constituent. I will not make commitments that I do not uphold.”
If elected, what is the first item on your agenda?
“I am going to introduce legislation that will remove the supermajority for revenue bills that increase taxes.”
What do you plan to do if you do not win?
“I am going to continue to do some volunteer work, maybe do some work with the United Way, and sharpen up my guitar skills.”
