House Hopeful Mullin's Campaign Boosted by GOP Address Selection

House Speaker John Boehner gave a huge boost to an Oklahoma plumbing business owner and rancher who is making his first bid for Congress, by picking him to deliver this week’s GOP radio address.

Markwayne Mullin, the Republican nominee in the 2nd District congressional race in Oklahoma, gave the weekly address Saturday. Mullin is facing Rob Wallace in the Nov. 6 election to replace retiring Rep. Dan Boren, a Democrat.

The district, along the Sooner State's eastern boundary is one of 25 pickup opportunities Republicans are targeting across the country this November.

The national exposure will likely benefit Mullin in his bid for the seat. The Cook Political Report rates the race as “likely Republican” and the open seat is listed as “lean Republican” in The Hill’s race ratings.

Mullin took over his family’s small plumbing business at age 20 when his father fell ill and the company was in financial trouble. With his wife Christie, he turned the small business which had six employees into a thriving business with 100 employees.  

In announcing Mullin would deliver the radio address, Boehner said, “Small businesses continue to struggle in this weak economy, and all the taxing, spending and red tape coming from the Obama administration is only making things worse. Markwayne Mullin has run a business and created jobs, and he understands the need to shut down the jobs-destroying red tape factory in Washington, DC.

"I’m looking forward to hearing Markwayne’s address, and, if elected, I know he’ll be a strong voice in the House for a smaller, more accountable, and less costly government,” added Boehner.

Mullin, in his address, said, “Our economy doesn’t need more meddling — it needs more certainty. And we don’t need more regulators — we need more representatives who understand what it takes to create jobs, and who will inspire us to overcome doubt and commit ourselves to a future of growth and prosperity.”

"Right now, I spend more than 40 cents of every dollar the company takes in on complying with regulations," Mullin said in his address. "When I first started using that figure, people would say, 'wait, you're talking about taxes too, right?' Nope, that is just what we spend on regulations."

 “If we’re serious about keeping jobs here and bringing jobs home, we need to stop burdening small businesses with excessive and unnecessary regulations," he added. "We need to get government out of the way.

“Mitt Romney gets it; he’s made supporting small businesses a key plank of his jobs plan. And the Republican majority in the House has passed several bipartisan, common-sense proposals to address excessive regulations that impose unnecessary costs and hurt jobs,” he said.