Allbaugh, Joe (Board Member)

Joe Allbaugh, born in 1952, has been active in Republican politics since volunteering for Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign as a 12-year-old. After spending his early career working for Republican politicians in Texas and Oklahoma, Allbaugh rose to national prominence when he served as campaign manager for George W. Bush’s successful 2000 presidential run. His duties included vetting Dick Cheney for the vice presidency. In 2004, Cheney, while speaking at the NRA convention, said, “I’m…delighted to see my good friend, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Joe Allbaugh … It’s always good to have a firearm if you get into real trouble, but the next best thing is Joe Allbaugh.” Allbaugh was confirmed as President Bush’s first Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director in 2001. Allbaugh hired Michael Brown to serve as general counsel and then tapped him as his replacement for FEMA director when he left the agency in 2003 to work as a lobbyist. As of 2011, Allbaugh International Group, LLC was a “George Mason” level donor in NRA’s corporate donor “Ring of Freedom,” meaning that his lobbying firm has given the NRA between $50,000 and $99,999. The firm’s clients have included KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, and British Petroleum (BP), who paid the Allbaugh International Group $60,000 in 2007. Allbaugh was named the Director of the Oklahoma Board of Corrections in July 2016 after serving in an interim role.

Mitchell, Cleta (Former Board Member)

Cleta Mitchell served as a Democratic member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1976-1984. At that time, Mitchell was considered a rising star in national Democratic politics, drawing comparisons to former Texas Governor Ann Richards. After leaving the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Mitchell divorced Duane Draper, her husband of nine years, citing incompatibility and entered into private practice as an attorney in Oklahoma [Draper, whose male companion was mentioned in his obituary, later served as director of AIDS programs for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health until this death from AIDS in 1991]. Moving to Washington, D.C. in the early 1990s, Mitchell became a high-profile election law attorney for Republican political candidates. Some of Mitchell’s past and present clients include Senator Elizabeth Dole, Senator Jim Inhofe, Senator David Vitter, Senator Roy Blunt, Representative Tom Cole, Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, Joe Miller, and Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum.