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Sharon Caldwell has had nearly 25 years of political, campaign and campaign management experience. Taking a temporary leave of absence from college studies, Caldwell began her political management career serving as Oklahoma County Field Director for Senator Don Nickles. During that campaign, election results in that county were instrumental in Nickles' long-shot bid to become the youngest member of the U.S. Senate. Following the campaign, and prior to finishing her B.A. Degree, she assisted in the organization of Nickles' Washington, D.C., Senate office.
In 1981, Caldwell was asked to serve as a Fieldman for the College Republican National Committee, training Republican activists in grassroots political operations. Once that assignment was complete, Caldwell was recruited by Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate Tom Daxon to head his central Oklahoma field operations. She led an organizational effort that resulted in a model grassroots campaign in her geographical area. Because of her successful campaign experience, Caldwell was asked by Congressman Mickey Edwards to manage his 1984 reelection campaign.
Named Political Director of the Oklahoma Republican Party in 1984, Caldwell modernized GOP political operations in the state. A massive voter list development program was undertaken for the first time on a statewide level. The successful completion of the first comprehensive voter list enabled Caldwell to create state of the art voter contact programs. These innovative systems developed during her tenure resulted in GOP voter gains in two consecutive election cycles. Caldwell's efforts also led to the recruitment of a record number of GOP candidates -- which helped set the stage for a surge in GOP election victories that began to culminate in the early 1990s as the GOP began a move to political dominance in the Sooner state.
Candidate training programs, as well as the voter contact programs developed during her tenure, serve as the basis and model for similar programs nearly two decades later. Caldwell began the consulting phase of her political career while still with the state party, as she provided tactical, organizational and strategic advice to several dozen legislative and secondary state races, as well as to the GOP candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General and Corporation Commission during the 1986 and 1988 cycles.
In 1989, Caldwell co-founded Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates, Oklahoma's premier political consulting firm. Anchoring the firm's consulting practice, she led CHS as it was positioned to being named one of the 20 best Republican consulting firms in the country in 1994.
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Caldwell's expertise is used to oversee campaign organization and management. Some of the services she provides to clients include: campaign organization, campaign strategic and tactical planning, budgeting, finance planning, staffing and voter ID and contact programs. Caldwell's typical consulting responsibilities also include voter targeting, message development, media supervision and setting timetables and execution of all campaign direct mail, phone and other persuasion programs. Generally, Caldwell is responsible for staff recruitment, selection, training and direction. Working with campaign managers, she has close and frequent contact with candidates and participates in all campaign critical decisions.
Caldwell has written extensively on campaign organization including in the respected Campaign and Elections magazine. As a sought after instructor and speaker, she has led and participated in innumerable candidate training schools. In Oklahoma, Caldwell has worked in candidate recruitment, selection and training in every campaign cycle since 1984. In 1998, 2000 and 2002, she was credited with being instrumental in Republican legislative growth that has led Oklahoma to a competitive two-party state position. Caldwell has trained and mentored virtually all senior Republican campaign operatives and political consultants now active in Oklahoma, many of whom still frequently call for advice.
Caldwell has been the lead consultant in a number of consecutive successful campaigns for city and countywide sales tax and bond issues. Leading the nationally watched campaigns for the Oklahoma City MAPS Extension Campaign, MAPS for Kids and passage of the first successful Oklahoma City Schools bond issue in over a decade, Caldwell has been credited as the critical element in these closely contested campaigns.
Recognized for her organizational talents and understanding of election procedures and laws, Caldwell was asked to assist the Bush 2000 campaign in its successful 2000 Presidential Election Recount in Broward County, Florida.
Perhaps the most compelling professional achievement of Sharon Caldwell's career is the fact that campaigns in which she has been involved have had an astonishing victory rate during a span of 23 years. Campaigns in which she served as the lead political consultant have achieved a victory rate of more than 90%.
Caldwell is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma. She is married to former State Representative Tony Caldwell, with whom she has two children.
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Pat McFerron serves as a senior political consultant and lobbyist for CMA Strategies. He is CMA's point person for developing convincing and effective messaging strategies for client issues and campaigns. Pat co-founded CMA Strategies with partner Sharon Caldwell after CHS & Associates president and partner Tom Cole was elected to the United States Congress. CMA continues the same tradition of expert legislative consulting and winning political strategy development.
In addition to his duties with CMA, Pat McFerron is Director of Survey Research for Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates. He is responsible for survey design and analysis for political and commercial campaigns.
While at CHS, McFerron has conducted polling for numerous campaigns for Governor, U.S. Senate, Congress, statewide secondary offices and state legislative seats throughout the United States . McFerron has served as the pollster and strategic advisor or consultant for a number of statewide initiatives, including the nationally watched and recognized Oklahoma 's Right to Work campaign and Oklahoma City 's MAPS for Kids election.
McFerron began his career in politics when he was recruited by Martin Garber, Chief of Government Relations for Phillips Petroleum Company. McFerron worked as a lobbyist and legislative assistant for Phillips, both at corporate headquarters and in Washington , DC , from 1990-1992. He worked actively with the Oklahoma Congressional delegation and the Oklahoma Legislature, earning the respect of members of both political parties for his keen insight and judgment about political issues and politics.
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In 1993, McFerron organized and led a statewide effort in Oklahoma to oppose the BTU tax while serving as a spokesman for Oklahomans for Affordable Energy. McFerron was responsible for recruiting, training and motivating a large group of previously inactive political volunteers. Operating within a tiny budget, McFerron mobilized a huge earned media campaign, which led to widespread opposition to the tax. Coordinating and directing the media campaign, McFerron was able to claim his first large-scale political victory when the tax was soundly defeated. The grassroots effort gave Oklahoma's federal delegation members the political cover they needed to vote against the President.
CHS partner Tom Cole, recognizing McFerron's abilities and talents, persuaded him to leave the corporate world and join CHS in 1993. Initially serving as the Director of the Communications Center , McFerron oversaw that operation as it developed from a semi-automated 12-seat facility to the world class political and corporate marketing operation it is today.
A key factor in McFerron's political judgment is his experience in the political trenches. Like Tom Cole, McFerron has managed county and state legislative races, and has served as a consultant in Congressional, U.S. Senate, statewide office and issue campaigns.
A William Randolph Hearst Scholar, McFerron was graduated summa cum laude from Oklahoma City University , where he served as President of the Student Government Association. He has studied at the graduate level at The American University in Washington , D.C.
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Seward is an accomplished campaign veteran of over 40 campaigns, having managed virtually every level of campaign from U.S. Presidential, through Senate and Congressional races, various statewide secondary campaigns, as well as state legislative and city elections.
Seward began his career as President of the Oklahoma State University College Republicans in 1977, which grew under Seward’s leadership to be the largest College Republican organization in the nation.
In 1978, Seward was tapped by then Oklahoma GOP Chairman, Rick Shelby, to serve as Executive Director of the Oklahoma GOP, where he served for two years. Under Shelby’s mentoring, Seward became immersed in managing over a dozen State Legislative races statewide—an experience he still credits as the most valuable foundation for understanding electoral politics and campaign fundamentals.
Next, Seward was tapped to be the Organizational Director of the Nickles for U.S. Senate campaign, where he soon moved into the position of campaign manager. Despite being significantly outspent and continuing throughout the campaign as the long shot, Nickles surprised the experts by placing first in a hard fought primary, where he went on to win his party’s nomination and to become the youngest member of the U.S. Senate at age 31. Seward was 23.
The Nickles victory would launch a consulting career that would span the next 24 years and grow into one of the nation’s largest and most successful business and political consulting practices.
In the 1982 election cycle, Seward served as campaign manager for Tom Daxon’s bid for Oklahoma Governor against a popular, long-time Democrat officeholder. Then came the disastrous collapse of the Penn Square Bank in July, which began a domino-effect of bank failures nationwide that became the largest since the Depression. While Daxon did not win, Seward learned election resourcefulness in the face of a devastated fund raising environment. Forced to rely more heavily on organization and free media publicity, Seward learned innumerable valuable lessons that would serve him well in future campaigns.
Over the next four years, Seward served as Secretary of the Oklahoma GOP, under then GOP Chairman Tom Cole, and began developing his client base in business and politics, while serving as Vice President of a large regional advertising and marketing agency.
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During this period, Seward was intensively involved in dozens of campaigns up and down the ticket. Then in 1987, Seward was asked to serve as a member of Vice President Bush’s ‘Super Tuesday Southern Strategy Committee’, chaired by Lee Atwater, and to manage the Oklahoma campaign in President Bush’s successful bid for the Presidency. It was here that Seward and Shearer were reunited for a second campaign season and continued a professional friendship that first began in 1978.
Over the course of the next 16 years Seward’s focus shifted to the business world. Seward served as President of Innovative Resources, a middle market growth strategy consulting firm which he founded in 1987. In this capacity, Seward has managed over 200 Strategic Planning and Growth Strategy projects and worked with hundreds of clients in virtually every industry across the country. Much of the proprietary diagnostics and methodologies used by the Company and developed specifically for growth companies, were pioneered by Seward. Innovative Resources currently pursues business opportunities to partner with Growth Companies to implement Advanced Growth Strategies.
In 1991, Seward helped to found Inc. Magazine’s Consulting Program where he served as the Senior Consultant and Managing Partner for almost ten years.
Seward functions as a lead consultant for CMA. He brings to CMA a wealth of experience is in Strategy Development, Polling Research and Analysis, Media and Communications Strategy and Execution, and Message Development.
Seward has served on a number of Boards. He was a founding Board member of the Christian Music Trade Association and Spectrum Clubs, a consolidator of Health and Fitness Clubs.
Seward is a frequent speaker at various conferences. He is a Navigator, an avid reader and a lover of History, and is a devoted father of four children.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University with a Business Degree in Economics, Seward is a native Oklahoman and an active 24-year member of Council Road Baptist Church.
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James Franklin Shearer was born in Charleston, West Virginia in 1954. He spent his boyhood years in West Virginia and moved with his family to central Oklahoma where he graduated from Moore High School. He worked his way through college at the University of Oklahoma, graduating in 1972 with a B.A. in Public Relations and Advertising.
His professional career is a combination of political and organization management, government service and business.
Jim’s organizational management involved Chamber of Commerce management and political campaign management. He has managed political campaigns at all ballot levels, from city council campaigns to President of the United States.
In 1984 and 1988 Jim was involved at the national level in the successful campaigns for Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In the early 1980’s he was political director for the Republican National Committee. There he created and implemented many programs that contributed to the Republican Party’s rise to majority status over the last twenty years.
During the 1980 election cycle he directed the political action committee programs for the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. It was here that Jim directed the nation’s business community in supporting federal candidates that favored business issues.
Government service is a part of his life also. In the late 1970’s Jim served the United States Senate as a Legislative Assistant to U.
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S. Senator Henry Bellmon. His duties involved responsibilities in Washington, DC and Oklahoma. After successfully electing George Herbert Walker Bush President of United States, he served the President as a member of the White House Personnel Committee. Jim lectures at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library.
In 1989 Shearer moved into the private sector creating National Market Share, Inc. This company developed and implemented direct marketing programs for many of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies such as Federal Express, Dell Computer, MBNA and Pizza Hut.
The company also implemented voter contact programs for candidates in Texas, Florida, South Dakota, California, New Mexico, Colorado and throughout the country. National Market Share matured to a company with over 500 employees and $23 million in gross revenues.
In 1997 Jim created the J. F. Shearer Company to provide government and business consulting. This company specializes in providing marketing and communications services for political candidates, government officials and the private sector.
In 2003 Jim became an owner of Austin’s oldest consulting company, Capital Consultants. Capital Consultants is a 23 year old company that provides services throughout the United States and various parts of the world.
Jim lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Jill and daughters Sloan, Harper and Macie.
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Laurie joined CMA Strategies in 2007. As Director of Government Relations, she advocates on behalf of CMA clients at the State Capitol, monitors legislative progress and provides clients with timely, relevant information.
Gore began her career in politics 10 years ago when she built a grassroots campaign amassing huge numbers of volunteers which led to a virtually unknown challenger defeating a 16-year incumbent state senator.
Her success in the political arena led her to leave the teaching profession and work at the State Capitol. During her six years as a State Senate staff member, Gore worked to craft public policy agendas, served as spokesperson on a variety of issues and developed a non-partisan council of leaders who met monthly to discuss important policy issues including workers compensation, civil justice, economic development and transportation.
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Gore has also played integral roles in both congressional and statewide campaigns, serving in a variety of capacities ranging from fundraising to press relations and organizational development.
Gore has also taken her public relations skills to the private sector, having served as Director of Public and Community Relations for Oklahoma City's AAA baseball team and as Director of Executive Relations at Giant Partners, a firm specializing in business strategy development.
Gore's political and professional work has garnered her statewide contacts and strong relationships with members of the Oklahoma Legislature. She has a clear understanding of the political process and the best methods of representing clients before elected leaders.
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