Gregory Hardin

Biography

Gregory Hardin is a Journalist, Substitute Teacher, and College student who has lived in Shawnee his entire life. Gregory is dedicated to fighting for, helping, and informing the hardworking people of House District 26! He was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma at the Shawnee Medical Center or what is now SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital, born to parents Mary a home engineer and Greg formerly a carpenter who worked at Wolverine Tube for over 30 years now at Eaton.

As a kid, he attended elementary & middle school at North Rock Creek; graduated from Shawnee High School in 2016. While in school he played trumpet in marching band & concert band starting in 5th grade. He was also in Shawnee High School’s Robotics team. He currently attends college at the University of Central Oklahoma as a History Education major. He has also been a substitute teacher at North Rock Creek, Bethel, Pleasant Grove, and Shawnee public schools; and he has hosted a show on YouTube called “The Green Corn Rebellion Show” where he has interviewed politicians, political candidates, and musicians such as former State Senator Ron Sharp, former Shawnee City Commissioner for Ward 2 Bob Weaver, and Cody Hason of the band Hinder.

Ever since he was a child he was interested in politics from the perspective of wanting to help people and society, which is what influenced him to want to become a teacher and start my show. His goal if elected to the legislature will be to inform people about what’s going on at the Capitol & fight to enact policies that will strengthen public education, help improve the lives of working people, and continue the work this state has done with criminal justice reform!

Survey Issues

What is the role of government in protecting public health and welfare?

The government should be putting out guidelines, rules, and regulations for everyone to follow that will protect the health & safety of everyone within its jurisdiction. Along with this, the government should put out its reasoning for their decisions and the information for how they came to those conclusions; they should also provide the resources or money necessary for everyone to be able to follow these guidelines if an individual or group isn’t capable of obtaining the resources required.

What are your views on individuals being able to safely and securely access sensitive medical procedures in privacy and without interference from the state?

The government shouldn’t be outlawing medical procedures that are deemed necessary or aren’t unsafe for people to receive. In fact, I believe the only reason for the government to be involved in someone receiving a medical procedure should be to help an individual pay for that procedure if that person can’t afford it.

What measures will you take to ensure that every Oklahoman has the chance to participate meaningfully in the democratic process?

I believe in expanding & protecting democracy in the state of Oklahoma. We need automatic voter registration for people who turn 18 in this state, we desperately need online voter registration, we need to open up more polling stations, and we need to expand early voting days.

How can we make voting more accessible to Oklahomans?

By enacting the policies I mentioned in my answer to question 3: Online voter registration, have more early voting days, more polling stations, automatic voter registration, also same day voter registration.

Many Oklahomans experience discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and other factors; how would you address these problems as an elected leader?

Mostly by leading by example. I personally wouldn’t discriminate against anyone based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. I also would fight against any bills or laws that discriminate based on these categories.

What measures will you take to ensure that First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, protest, and press are protected from infringement?

I’d start by working towards repealing laws such as HB1775 which functions as a way of making teachers afraid to speak in their classrooms and teach what they’re supposed to be teaching. Laws such as HB1775 serve as a tool to coerce people into not saying things with the threat of losing their job or livelihood without outright banning speech.

How can our current criminal legal system be reformed to better protect the rights of all persons involved?

We need to end cash bail and stop having people in jail for weeks, months, or even years without a trial for a crime that they might not have even committed.

What steps would you take to adjust or reform our criminal legal system?

End cash bail, legalize marijuana and expunge the records of people who have been convicted on drug possession charges, improve jail & prison conditions, and focus more on reforming people who go to prison so we can lower our recidivism rate.