419 File For State Office Wednesday

Political hopefuls from across Oklahoma file paperwork at Capitol to be on election ballot

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — Some of Oklahoma’s most powerful politicians were among hundreds of hopefuls who filed paperwork Wednesday to have their names placed on the 2014 ballot, during the first day of filing for more than 300 elective positions up for grabs in the state.

The three-day filing period began at 8 a.m., and 419 candidates filed paperwork by the end of the day. Both of Oklahoma’s U.S. Senate seats, all five congressional seats, and statewide offices, including governor and lieutenant governor, are among those on this year’s ballot.

Republican Gov. Mary Fallin, joined by her husband Wade Christensen, filed shortly after 9 a.m. for a second and final four-year term as the state’s chief executive.

“If we’re fortunate enough to get re-elected, we’re going to continue to focus on jobs and the economy, implementing our education reforms we’ve been working on, growing our workforce, looking for ways to save taxpayers money,” Fallin said.

A former state House member, lieutenant governor and member of Congress who has more than two decades of roots in Republican Party politics in Oklahoma, Fallin wouldn’t say definitively whether it would be her last political race.

“I am term-limited, so I don’t have any other plans after this,” Fallin said. “My plan is just to do a good job for the next four years.”

Fallin, 59, will face at least two other candidates in the general election: term-limited Democratic state Rep. Joe Dorman, 43, of Rush Springs and Richard Prawdzienski, 66, a libertarian-leaning independent who is a perennial candidate.

“I certainly intend to run a very aggressive campaign over the next seven months, and provide the citizens an option for a governor that will represent all Oklahomans,” said Dorman, who challenged the governor to participate in debates in all 77 of Oklahoma’s counties.

Oklahoma’s 2014 election cycle was thrown for a spin in January when U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn announced he would step down at the end of the current session of Congress amid a recurrence of prostate cancer. As a result, Coburn’s seat will be on the ballot for completion of the remaining two years of his term, as well as the six-year term for the seat currently held by Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, who plans to run for re-election.

Among the Republicans expected to file for Coburn’s vacant seat are former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon, former state Sen. Randy Brogdon, and current two-term U.S. Rep. James Lankford. Other Republicans who filed for Coburn’s seat Wednesday are Kevin Crow, a 46-year-old history professor from Chickasha, Eric McCray, 33, a Tulsa businessman, and Jason Weger, 31, a paramedic from Norman. Democratic state Sen. Connie Johnson, 61, of Oklahoma City also filed.

The 79-year-old Inhofe, Oklahoma’s senior U.S. senator, filed for re-election. He will face a primary challenge from 59-year-old D. Jean McBride Samuels, a former federal employee from Jenks, and Erick Paul Wyatt, 35, of Norman. Independent Ray Woods, 78, of Fairview also filed for Inhofe’s seat.

All five of Oklahoma’s Republican-held U.S. House seats will be on the ballot in 2014, including Lankford’s open 5th Congressional District seat. That seat, previously held by Fallin, includes most of Oklahoma County, along with Seminole and Pottawatomie counties to the east. Democrats who filed for the seat on Wednesday include state Sen. Al McAffrey, 65, of Oklahoma City, and Tom Guild, 59, a retired University of Central Oklahoma professor.

Republicans who filed Wednesday include former state Sen. Steve Russell, 50, and ordained minister Harvey Sparks, 37, both of Oklahoma City, and 27-year-old state Rep. Mike Turner and state Sen. Clark Jolley, 43, both of Edmond. A 70-year-old independent, Buddy Ray of Edmond, also filed for the seat.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Reps. Jim Bridenstine in the 1st District, Markwayne Mullin in the 2nd District, Frank Lucas in the 3rd District, and Tom Cole in the 4th District all filed to run for re-election on Wednesday.

Mullin, a first-term congressman, will face a GOP primary challenge from Darrel Robertson, a 64-year-old professional bass fisherman from Jay. Cole, seeking a seventh term in the U.S. House, will face a Democratic challenger in Tae Si, a 27-year-old software engineer and political newcomer from Norman.

For the first time since candidate filing and election dates were changed three years ago, filing for an Oklahoma gubernatorial election is taking place during an ongoing legislative session.

This year’s primary election is scheduled for June 24 with a runoff, if necessary in any race, scheduled on Aug. 26. The general election is set for Nov. 4.