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 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, 55. State Sen. Randy Brogdon, 56 of Owasso, businessman Robert Hubbard, 65 of Yukon, and Roger Jackson, 59 of Oklahoma City. On the Democrat side, Attorney General Drew Edmondson, 63, is facing Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins, 57. For more information on the race for governor, see the article from our Spring edition posted on our website.

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. State Sen. Kenneth Corn of Poteau, who could not run for reelection due to term limits, was the only Democrat to file for the post. Corn, 33, has only a 26% cumulative average on the Oklahoma Conservative Index, although his score shifted considerably more conservative this year. Real estate manager Richard Prawdzienski, 62 of Edmond, filed as Independent. He has been active in the Libertarian Party and has previously run for the Legislature. Corn and Prawdzienski will be on the ballot in November.

On the Republican side, there are five candidates seeking to become the party nominee. Three of those candidates just recently joined the race. Bernie Adler, 78, of Oklahoma City is a real estate investor and a retired major in the Air Force Reserve. Paul Nosak, 39 of Owasso, is a reality TV Show star and producer (Saw for Hire, about his Tulsa-based Nosak Tree Service). Bill Crozier, 63 of Hinton, is a teacher and has been a frequent candidate and the Republican nominee for several statewide offices in the past. In 2006 he was the GOP nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction, and in 1984 was the nominee against U.S. Sen. David Boren.

Two state legislators entered the race early and have been competing for months. State Sen. Todd Lamb of Edmond, 38, has a 66% 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. He has also been a Secret Service agent. 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 91% 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. The Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC), gave their endorsement to Rep. Wright.

Attorney General

Edmondson's run for governor opens up the race for Attorney General. Oklahoma City attorney Jim Priest, 55, is the only Democrat in the race. He is a graduate of Houghton College and 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.

Two strong candidates are seeking the Republican nomination. Ryan 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. Former state senator Scott Pruitt, 42 of Broken Arrow 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. He has been endorsed by the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC).

State Treasurer

The Democrat incumbent State Treasurer, Scott Meachum, decided not run for reelection. Stephen Covert, 61 Midwest City is the only Democrat running and will be on the ballot in November.

Two Republicans are vying for the nomination. State House Appropriations and Budget Chairman Ken Miller of Edmond has a 62 percent Conservative Index rating. At a fundraiser in the home of Barry Switzer, Miller actually proudly proclaimed in his talk that Democrat Meachum asked him to run for state treasurer! Why that should make Republicans want to vote for him has never been adequately explained.

Former State Senator Owen Laughlin, 59, served in the Legislature from Woodward . He became Co-Floor Leader 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. He has been endorsed by the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC).

Supt. 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. Two Democrats, two Republicans, and an Independent are running to succeed Garret. Richard E. Cooper, 51, of Ada, is a teacher. He is running as an Independent and will be on the November ballot.

Three candidates are seeking the Democrat nomination. State Sen. Susan Paddack, 57, of Ada was elected to a second four-year term in 2008 and serves on the Senate Education Committee. She 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, and was also an adjunct faculty member at East Central University. She has a 40% rating on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. Jerry Combrink, 69, is superintendent of Durant Schools. He formerly was a teacher and a school principal.

Two are battling for the Republican nomination. Brian S. Kelly,46, of Edmond, is a former history teacher and football coach. Janet Barresi, 58, of Norman, is a retired dentist who began her career in the Harrah and Norman public schools as a speech pathologist. 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. She has been endorsed by the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC).

Barresi and Kelly disagree on State Question 744, the proposal by the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) requiring education funding to be increased to the regional average. It is estimated the proposal will require approximatly one-billion dollars per year, which would have to be paid for by tax increases or spending cuts in other areas of state government. Barresi is against the proposal while Kelly supports it.

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. Burrage, 57, was formerly in the banking business in Antlers. 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 argue cheated Gary Jones, a Certified Public Accountant and former Comanche County Commissioner from the job. Jones, 55, of Cache, was the Republican nominee for the post in 2002 and 2006 and was instrumental in uncovering much of the illegal activities concerning McMahan. Jones decided on the last day of filing to make another run for the position, and resigned as the State GOP Chairman. Before Jones filed, another Republican, David Hanigar of Edmond entered the race. Hanigar, 66, has only been a Republican since last October. When he was a Democrat, he contributed to several Democratic candidates, including McMahan. Hanigar is an accountant who worked in the office of the State Auditor and Inspector for 25 years and later for the Democrat attorney general until retirement.

Insurance Commissioner

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland, a Democrat, is seeking reelection. She was appointed to the position by Gov. Brad Henry in January 2005 after Commissioner Carroll Fisher vacated the position as a result of corruption charges. The 54 year old Tulsan was elected to the post 2006.

Three candidates are seeking the Republican nomination. John Crawford, 78 of Oklahoma City, previously served as Insurance Commissioner. Crawford ran for Congress as a Democrat in 1992, but switched to the Republican Party and was elected Insurance Commissioner in 1994. He was the target of a federal grand jury probe over a computer contract and was narrowly defeated by Fisher in 1998. Mark Croucher, 52 of Jenks, is an insurance agent and former owner of a wholesale company. John Doak, 47 of Tulsa, is currently an agent for State Farm Insurance.

Doak opposes President bama's "universal" health care plan saying,, "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 and later worked at the executive level in the insurance industry. 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.

Two candidates are seeking the Republican nomination. Jason Reese, a moderate Republican who has roundly criticized state legislation to restrict the flood of illegal immigration, even calling illegal immigration opponents "vulgar populists." In an article written for a liberal publication, Reese even dismissed the author of Oklahoma's anti-illegal immigration laws, as thinking the Statue of Liberty "is some woman of the night." Calling for "some kind of earned legalization," for illegal aliens, Reese pleaded for Republicans to not "allow themselves to be tainted with xenophobia," but should instead follow the lead of Senator John McCain, who worked with Ted Kennedy to craft a so-called "comprehensive immigration reform," that most opponents considered amnesty.

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.

Edmond businessman Mark Costello, 54, is running on a platform of reforming the bureaucracy at the Labor Commission and encouraging the creation of private sector jobs in the state. Costello is President and CEO of Oklahoma City-based USA Digital Communications which he founded in 1998. He has previously created several other successful businesses. With more than 17 years experience in the telecommunications industry, Costello has extensive experience in management, marketing and telecommunications. Costello received the endorsement of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC).

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 Bode resigned last year, Dana Murphy won a Special Election to fill the remainder of the term. Murphey, 50, of Edmond, is now running for reelection for a full six year term. The Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC), gave their endorsement to Murphy. Also running as a Republican is Tod Yeager, 54 of Del City. Since no Democrats nor Independents filed for the post, the election will be decided in the July 27 Primary Election.