Former Blanchard High School coach, teacher, administrator and Navy veteran Mike Whaley, 66, a Republican from Blanchard, announced he is running to represent House District 20 in 2024.
Current State Representative Sherrie Conley (R-Newcastle) has announced she will not run for the seat in the next election.
“The American dream and our way of life in Oklahoma are in a time of crisis. As a former coach and principal, I see the future of our next generations of Oklahomans, in peril,” Whaley said. “As a Navy veteran, I’ve seen a slide in the love of country Oklahomans hold dear. I’m running for the State House to do my part to ‘turn the ship around’ and preserve Oklahoma’s way of life.”
Whaley said, “I’m focused on opposing Joe Biden’s progressive policies in and out of the classroom, investing in the next generation of Oklahomans, supporting small business owners and taxpayers, and respecting the rule of law. I’m guided by my firm faith in Christ and my loving family.”
A high school valedictorian, Whaley enrolled in the United States Naval Academy immediately after high school. He was there from June 1974 to February 1976. This includes his naval service — serving on the destroyer escort 1073, the Robert E. Peary, during her Western Pacific Cruise in the summer of 1975. Whaley said this was at the end of the war in Vietnam helping refugees escape southeast Asia during the communist takeover.
Whaley said he observed firsthand the importance of freedom and liberty.
Whaley was a Midshipman Third Class when he left the Navy to return to Oklahoma and enroll at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Whaley graduated from SWOSU and began to coach football and work as a teacher and administrator in the public school system.
After stops at Sand Springs, Mangum, Blanchard and Purcell, Whaley concluded his public-school career as the head football coach at Westmoore. Most recently, as an administrator with the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association during the pandemic closures, Whaley helped lead the charge to bring back sports and other extra-curricular activities after the COVID lockdowns forced elimination of school activities.
Currently, Whaley guides interested students in their recruitment and application to the US Naval Academy in developing the next generation’s officers in the US Navy and Marine Corps as a Blue and Gold Officer.
Whaley has been married to his college sweetheart, Peggy, since 1978. They have one daughter, Mary Beth, who is married to Spencer Braggs and a granddaughter, Avereigh Braggs, who is the light of their lives. They attend First Baptist Church of Blanchard where Mike serves as a Deacon.
