[Ed. Note: Dr. Randy Grellner of Cushing has authorized the Times & Free Press to publish the following paid announcement of his candidacy for the unexpired fouryear term of retiring U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe, subject to the June 28 Republican primary election. Portions of this article were previously published in the Oklahoma City Sentinel and are reprinted with permission.]

Dr. Randy Grellner, last U.S. Senate candidate to file for election this year, turned in his paperwork just before 5 p.m. April 15 at the State Capitol.

In all, 13 candidates want the GOP nod to replace James Inhofe, Oklahoma’s senior senator who is leaving office two years after re-election.

Dr. Grellner was born and raised in the Big 4 community in Kingfisher County. He grew up on the family farm with his parents, Jim and Judy, his twin brother Rick, and younger brothers Danny and Dale.

He went through Big 4 school until it closed in 1978 and the family transferred to Kingfisher Public Schools.

Randy was active in school with FFA, sports and part-time jobs. In the summer, he worked full time.

Dr. Grellner feels indebted to local teachers, FFA instructors and bankers for being positive role models.

All the Grellner boys are very thankful for the work ethics they learned while growing up. Dr. Grellner worked helping his dad with farming. When older, he worked for Hugh Branscum, Martin Schroeder, Red Moss Plumbing, Schulte brothers farming, and his uncles in construction.

Dr. Grellner said: “They were very generous and paid way more than I was owed and they looked out for my safety. I want to give back to all.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the influence from my hometown in Kingfisher County. I am mindful of the sense of community that afforded me when I was young and impressionable.

“Neighbors and community leaders understood the value of training and investing in the future of this country.”

Dr. Grellner talked about his motivation for entering the race for the U.S. Senate seat:

“Over the past 30 years, career politicians have gotten us into the mess we are in. They will not get us out of what they have created in Washington, D.C. I am not and never will be a career politician. I will fight every day for the things (for which) Dr. Tom Coburn fought.”

Dr. Grellner continued: “People called the late Dr. Tom Coburn ‘Dr. No.’ I guess that’s OK, in a way. But he was actually Dr. Yes. From the time he first ran for public office, I considered him a role model. He would be offended where we have descended in just a couple years. He would be leading on all the hot button issues of our day.”

A graduate of Oklahoma State (1988, agricultural economics), Dr. Grellner explained, “I thought that I wanted to be a small town banker with my degree but I really never tested that industry.”

Recently, he reflected, “Like Dr. Coburn I took a sales job in the medical field after college before enrolling in pre med classes in 1991 while I continued my sales career. I loved education and eventually applied to medical school and was accepted for the fall of 1994. Medical school and post-graduate training were some of the best years of my life.”

He graduated from OSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1998, as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, stayed for his Residency, ending as Chief Family Resident.

He began his medical practice in Cushing, and is still at it. He was vice-president of the Cushing Public Schools Board of Education 2013-2019. His Cushing Urgent-Care facility opened in 2014, “to meet the demands of the community’s oil industry and same day illnesses (Occupational Medicine and overflow primary care).” He sold that to Stillwater Medical Center in 2019, and “it continues to be an asset” to his home-town. A multi-issue conservative, Dr. Grellner was appointed to the State Board of Health in October 2021.

Raised on a family farm, he first attended Big 4 school, a country school with fewer than 30 students grades 1-6. People there “took care of each other. They would help plant or harvest for a neighbor if illness or tragedy struck. There was always help around the corner. I never remember locking the doors on the farm house.”

When the small school closed, Randy and his brothers transferred to Kingfisher High. “The fear of a class of 80 soon wore off and we all excelled in the bigger environment. My freshman year in high school I enrolled in FFA and my destiny was changed.”

Two instructors built his skill set. Other than his parents they were the most influential people in his life. Senior year, he was FFA president, and reveled in speech and parliamentary procedure contests.

He and his twin brother Rick headed to Stillwater for college. They were members of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.

He met his true love – wife Shelley – at OSU.

“I definitely outkicked my coverage when we wed in 1990,” he said.

Today, in addition to his medical work, he helps manage a family farm with a nice Angus cow herd.

“We raise alfalfa hay and wheat for grazing and maintaining the herd.”

His wellness clinic (with two partners) aims “to help people with healthier lifestyles and other procedures the people have desired in our small town. I love the practice of medicine and have enjoyed the relationships that have been forged over the last 21 years.”

He and his wife of 31 years have two sons: Austin (and wife Kirsta) of Virginia Beach, Va., and Jacob, a student at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany.

They attend a nondenominational Christian church, and he co-teaches Sunday School. He says, “My faith and understanding of the Bible have grown substantially as I continue to pursue God with all my heart.” He likes to hunt and fish, and jogs, weather permitting.

About his role model: “Tom Coburn was almost alone in his willingness to take on the Washington power struggle, what some have called ‘the swamp’ of permanent government and unlimited appetite for increased taxation and spending.

“He was in political terms a ‘long-distance’ runner who finished every race. To be perfectly clear, his model is my model as I approach the ‘sprint’ to the June 28 primary.”