Oklahoma City — Honoring a commitment made when he launched his candidacy, Dr. Randy Grellner — who is running for the U.S. Senate — has signed a pledge to limit his length of service if elected. A physician from Cushing, Grellner said he would not consider his political service a permanent job in Washington.

“Other candidates in this race pledged to do the same and have now crossed the line to becoming what I define as career politicians. I have signed a pledge to limit my time in public office and will even sign an official affidavit reflecting that pledge,” Grelllner said.

“That’s how serious I am about keeping that promise to the voters.”

According to a press release sent to news organizations statewide, “The issue has been discussed since the founding of the nation and in other societies over the centuries. Ancient Athens, the world’s first democracy, placed a two-year lifetime limit on citizens who served in the Council of 500. Athenians believed this term limit promoted widespread public service and prevented tyranny.

“During the American Revolution, delegates were limited in their service to only three one-year terms over a period of six years. While many of the founding fathers were divided on the idea, very few served more than two terms.

“Things changed after the Civil War when Congress established permanent committees which would be chaired by those with the longest seniority, causing those with the longest service to gain more authority and power.

“Since the end of World War II, incumbent U.S. senators have won re-election 75 percent of the time, and the re-election rate for House incumbents has been over 90 percent.”

The practice nearly ended in the 1990s.

The campaign missive sent to CapitolBeatOK.com continued, “In the 1995 ‘Contract with America,’ the U.S. House voted in favor of a Republican term limit amendment, but the vote fell short of the 2/3 majority needed for the amendment to pass.”

Grellner said once in office many officials fall in with special interest groups and want to continue to have power and prestige, and then forget about the people who put them there and thinks all candidates for office should take the pledge and show they want to serve the people and not themselves.

“It’s been an issue that continues to be discussed, but the last time America even made progress toward it was more than 25 years ago. It’s an issue that continually gets discussed at election time, then many fall into the cycle of corruption, become indebted to special-interest groups, and become more interested in getting re-elected than working for the people. I want to be held accountable to this pledge and, like Dr. Tom Coburn, I will keep my pledge,” he said.

Grellner added that if people want something different than the current state of our nation, they must be willing to make changes.

“As we say in one of our ads, the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We’re not going to get different results until we stop sending the same long-term career and corrupt politicians back to Congress. Nothing changes if nothing changes,” he said.

Dr. Grellner concluded: “It’s time for change.”

Note: Pat McGuigan is publisher and editor of CapitolBeatOK.com, an independent, locally-managed and non-partisan news service based in Oklahoma City.