Mendenhall to seek Dist. 13 House seat

Feb. 19—Muskogee Public Schools Superintendent Jarod Mendenhall said he plans to run for State House, District 13.

The position is held by Neil Hays of Checotah, who plans to seek reelection.

The state Republican primary will be June 18. Filing period is April 3, 4 and 5.

Mendenhall, who has been MPS superintendent for six years, said he has wanted to seek public office for a long time.

"Muskogee is a place that I call home, a place where I'm going to stay," Mendenhall said Monday. "So, I feel the next step for me is to move into a role that has a greater impact."

He said he is committed to representing the interests of District 13 residents.

"I want to foster economic growth and remove barriers for businesses to grow in the community," he said. "I've always been a person that will listen and collaborate with people to get things done. And one of the things you can look at is when I first came in to Muskogee, we passed a bond issue. And all those projects have been finished. So it is producing on a promise we made four years ago."

Mendenhall said he was stopped at a Monday event by someone asking about a pay raise for state employees.

"A fireman stopped me in a restaurant, talked to me about some of their needs," he said. "The number one thing is to try to listen to people and do what you can at the state level."

He said if he wins the general election in November, he will continue as Muskogee superintendent until shortly before he takes office in the House.