Dear Pastor:

As you know, I have made it no secret where I stand on the subject of my faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I have given full credit to Him for giving me this job -- it was the answer to my consistent prayers that I might find favor in His sight and that He would grant me the desire of my heart. I have made every effort to glorify Him in the performance of my duties as the "minister of justice" to this community.

I now find myself engaged in a great battle to keep this job -- a political campaign. My opponent, Mickey Homsey, has made every effort to attack me in various circles as a "right-wing Christian" (as if my relationship with the Lord was something to be belittled). He has also engaged in spreading vicious and untrue rumors about my precious wife. He is a well-funded criminal lawyer who, I'm sure, will soon commence very negative attack ads on television.

Put simply, I cannot retain this office on August 27 (the Republican primary) without your help. My dear friend Tim Harris, the District Attorney in Tulsa and devout Christian, told me recently that the reason he won election four years ago was due to the simple fact that "the Church" showed up and voted for him. I am told that in the last national election, four million evangelical Christians did not show up at the polls. That must not happen in Oklahoma County this August. I will never be able to compete with my opponent dollar for dollar, thus I must work hard at the grassroots level to get out the vote of those who share my values and beliefs.

If you believe that the Lord has raised me up to this position and that I have indeed honored Him in the performance of my duties, will you help me? Certainly, there are restrictions on what pastors can and cannot do. Whereas a pastor cannot tell his congregation how to vote from the pulpit, a pastor can do several things that are perfectly appropriate under the law. Here are some thoughts -- you might have others.

My goal is to have over 100 churches mobilized to show up at the polls. There may be individuals within your congregation that would feel led to volunteer to operate a phone bank near Election Day to get out the vote. I am enclosing a blank volunteer sheet, which can be filled out by these individuals and faxed, to my campaign office (605-3358) to let us know who we can count on for help. My prayer is that there will be teams in each of these churches who can accomplish this critical task.

My church campaign coordinator is Cathy Johnson. She can be reached at 235-7285. If you will help, I humbly ask that you or your designee call her. I am happy to answer any questions you might have. Please don't hesitate to contact me at that number and I will get back in contact with you. Please forgive me for not having personally called you, but the press of time together with running my office makes it virtually impossible.

In Christ, Wes Lane