By Constitution Staff

In the non-presidential election years, the governor's seat, a host of secondary statewide offices, and one seat for the Corporation Commission are all up for election. All 101 seats in the Oklahoma House, and half of the 48 seats in the Oklahoma Senate will also be in contention. The candidate filing period will be June 7-8-9, 2010. The Primary Election will be held on July 27, the Runoff Primary Election on August 24, and the General Election on November 2.

Governor

With Brad Henry term-limited in 2010, Republicans are salivating at the prospect of capturing the governor's mansion this year and a number of candidates are competing for the Republican nomination, including Congresswoman Mary Fallin, State Sen. Randy Brogdon of Owasso, businessman Robert Hubbard of Yukon, and Roger Jackson of Oklahoma City. On the Democrat side, Attorney General Drew Edmondson is facing Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins. See the separate article (front page) for more information on the race for governor.

Lieutenant Governor

With Askins running for governor, the lieutenant governor's office is again an open seat as it was in 2006 when Askins was elected. The lone Democrat in the race so far is Sen. Kenneth Corn of Poteau who could not run for reelection due to term limits. Corn has only a 22% cumulative score on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. On the Republican side, two state legislators are seeking the nomination.

Sate Sen. Todd Lamb of Edmond, 37, has a 65% Conservative Index rating. Lamb, an attorney who was born and raised in Enid, was first elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 2004. Prior to his election to the Senate, he worked for former Gov. Frank Keating and former U.S. Sen. Don Nickles. Lamb serves as Senate Majority Floor Leader and has been the primary Senate author of much of the Pro-life legislation passed in recent years.

State Representative John Wright, 55, of Broken Arrow is a solid conservative with a 92% Conservative Index rating. He was elected to the Oklahoma House in 1998 and is currently Majority Caucus Chairman. He is unable to run for reelection due to term limits. He is a private pilot and a Realtor. Leaders of the movement to return the Oklahoma Republican Party to choosing its national delegates through the caucus system were unhappy with Wright's performance as Convention Chairman at the Republican State Convention in 2009.

On April 21, the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC), gave their endorsement to Rep. Wright. The OCPAC members conducted an intensive interview of each of the Republican candidates, and gave their approval of Wright on the second ballot, after eliminating the "No Endorsement" option in the first ballot.

Another Republican, Bernie Adler, 78, of Oklahoma City has joined the race. Adler, is a real estate investor and is a retired major in the Air Force Reserve. His platform includes legalizing marijuana and setting up a process to allow illegal immigrants to become citizens.

Attorney General

Edmondson's run for governor opens up the race for Attorney General. Oklahoma City attorney Jim Priest, 54, is the only announced Democrat in the race. He is a graduate of Houghton College and graduated from Syracuse University Law School. He served as an attorney and director at McKinney & Stringer from 1980 to 2005 and has been an attorney and partner with the law firm Whitten, Burrage & Priest since 2005. He is the former president of the board for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and a board member for Habitat for Humanity.

Republican Ryan Leonard was the first announced Republican candidate. Leonard is the son of former state senator and current federal judge Tim Leonard, and is the son-in-law of former Governor Frank Keating. Leonard is an attorney, former state prosecutor and former senior aide to U.S. Senator Don Nickles.

State Senator Clark Jolley of Edmond was the second Republican to announce for the race, but withdrew his name from consideration in March.

Former state senator Scott Pruitt of Broken Arrow is the latest Republican to announce for the post. Pruitt was elected to the Senate in 1998 and served through 2006. He had a 69 percent rating on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. He was a strong supporter of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights initiative which would have placed a cap on state spending. Pruitt sought the GOP nomination to replace Mary Fallin as Lieutenant Governor when she ran for Congress in 2006. Pruitt ended up losing the GOP nomination in the Runoff with Speaker of the House, Todd Hiett. Pruitt received 49% of the vote while Hiett gained the nomination with 51%. Pruitt is a practicing attorney specializing in constitutional law and is the managing general partner of the Oklahoma City RedHawks baseball team.

State Treasurer

The Democrat incumbent State Treasurer, Scott Meachum, decided not run for reelection. Jon Robinson, 56, of Newcastle is the only Democrat to announce for the post. He is certified public accountant and and has worked for the past 12 years as an auditor with the State Auditor and Inspector's office.

Former State Senator Owen Laughlin of Woodward, one of two Republicans are in the race, says he has been considering office because of the huge waste he saw during his tenure in the State Senate. He became Co-Floor Leader of the Senate during the two years that the Senate was tied and could not run for reelection in 2008 due to term limits. He had a 65 percent rating on the Oklahoma Conservtive Index. Laughlin was in the banking business for 20 years.

State House Appropriations and Budget Chairman Ken Miller of Edmond is the other announced candidate for the GOP nomination. He has a 58 percent Conservative Index rating. At a recent fundraiser hosted by Barry Switzer, Miller said in his talk that incumbent Democrat State Treasurer Scott Meachum asked him to run for state treasurer.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Oklahoma State Superintendent Sandy Garret surprised many with her announcement that she would not seek a sixth term in office. Garrett, a Democrat, has held the post since 1990.

State Sen. Susan Paddack of Ada is the only announced Democrat in race. Another candidate who announced earlier, withdrew. Paddack, 57, was elected to a second four-year term in 2008 and serves on the Senate Education Committee. Paddack worked nine years for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence as director of local education outreach. Prior to that, she worked as a science teacher in middle and junior high schools in Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma. She was also an adjunct faculty member of the education department at East Central University.

Republican Janet Barresi of Edmond, is a retired dentist who began her career in the Harrah and Norman public schools as a speech pathologist. She has been active in education reform efforts for the past 13 years. Barresi joined more than 100 other parents and led the effort to create Independence Charter Middle School while lobbying for passage of Oklahoma's Charter School law. She later helped found Harding Charter Preparatory High School, which has become a successful center of learning for low-income children in Oklahoma City. The school was named one of the nation's best high schools by Newsweek magazine.

Enid Public School Superintendent, Shawn Hime, is also running for the GOP nomination. Hime began his career in the classroom. He taught math and coached football for Lexington and Ardmore Public Schools before becoming the Director of Student Assessment for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, under Democrat incumbent Sandy Garrett.(NOTE: After we went to press, Republican Shawn Hime announced he was withdrawing his candidacy for state superintendent of schools, citing medical reasons. Hime said he will continue to serve as the superintendent of Enid schools.)

Auditor and Inspector

Democrat Steve Burrage was appointed State Auditor and Inspector by Governor Brad Henry in 2008 to fill the vacancy created when Jeff McMahan resigned. McMahan was convicted of accepting improper cash and gifts from an Oklahoma businessman. He was also involved in using fraudulent campaign finance practices which many believe cheated Gary Jones, the current State GOP Chairman, from the job. Jones was the Republican nominee for the post in 2002 and 2006. No Republican has expressed an interest in the race to date.

Insurance Commissioner

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland is seeking reelection. She was appointed to the position by Gov. Brad Henry in January 2005 and was elected to the post 2006.

Republican John Doak of Tulsa is currently an agent for State Farm Insurance. Doak opposes President Obama's "universal" health care plan saying health care reform should take place on the state level where lawmakers better understand the needs of their people. "As insurance commissioner, I will be a conservative voice opposed to federally mandated insurance. The proposed government mandate will force Oklahomans to buy insurance they don't want to cover people they don't even know. Taxpayers in Oklahoma should not have to foot the bill for health coverage in New York, California, or any other state." He says he values the conservative principles of lower cost through open markets and fair competition.

After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor of arts degree in political science in 1989, Doak started his own Farmer's Insurance Agency branch in Tulsa. For the next six years, Doak ran his small business and received numerous awards and commendations from Farmer's Insurance for the effectiveness of his branch. After leaving Farmer's Insurance, he worked at the executive level in the insurance industry. He has served as an executive at Marsh, Aon Risk Services, HNI Risk Services, and Ascension Insurance, where he was senior vice president of acquisitions.

On April 28, the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) , gave their endorsement to Doak.

Labor Commissioner

Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields, a Democrat, is seeking a second four-year term.

Jason Reese, a moderate Republican who has roundly criticized state legislation to restrict the flood of illegal immigration, was the first to join the race for the GOP nomination. After graduating from the OU Law School he took a position on the staff of the Oklahoma House of Representatives where he served as an advisor to the Chairman of the Workers' Comp Taskforce. Since leaving the House, he has worked as a lawyer dealing with business matters including labor practices and immigration law.

The second Republican to enter the race was state Rep. Tad Jones of Claremore. Jones, who is term-limited this year, currently serves as the House Majority Floor Leader. Jones has a 70 percent rating on the Conservative Index.In April, Jones announced that he was dropping out of the race.

Edmond businessman Mark Costello recently joined the race for the Republican nomination. I March, Costello received the endorsement of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC). The OCPAC members conducted an intensive interview of each of the three candidates that were seeking the Republican nomination, and then gave their approval of Costello on the first ballot. Costello provided a compelling argument that as a free market conservative who has created jobs that resulted in a multi-million dollar payroll and has generated revenues that exceeds $200 million, that he could best achieve job creation in Oklahoma. Costello is President and CEO of Oklahoma City-based USA Digital Communications which he founded in 1998. He has previously created several of successful businesses. With more than 17 years experience in the telecommunications industry, Costello has extensive experience in management, marketing and telecommunications.

Corporation Commissioner

Oklahoma has three Corporation Commissioners serving six-year staggered terms. Denise Bode was elected in 2004 to the seat expiring in 2010. After she resigned last year, Dana Murphy won a Special Election to fill the remainder of the term. Murphey is now running for reelection for a full six year term. No other candidates have expressed an interest in the seat thus far. On May 5, the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) , gave their endorsement to Murphy.