Corporation Commission Race To Be Decided Next Week
Republican voters to decide Oklahoma Corporation Commission race
by Paul Monies, NewsOK.com
Republican voters will decide who will be the next member of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the agency that oversees everything from oil and gas drilling and cotton gins to electric utilities and retail fuel pump inspections.
Former House Speaker Todd Hiett, 46, of Kellyville, and term-limited Sen. Cliff Branan, 52, of Oklahoma City, will face off June 24 in the Republican primary. No Democrat filed for the race, so the winner will take office in January.
Hiett or Branan will succeed Patrice Douglas, who is seeking the GOP nomination for the 5th Congressional District that covers parts of three counties in central Oklahoma.
Both candidates have made states’ rights and job creation central parts of their campaigns. They both spent time in the oil patch as young men, Branan as a rig hand and Hiett as a pumper.
Branan, who twice was awarded Legislator of the Year by the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, said his proudest accomplishment in the Legislature was as the main sponsor of the 2011 Shale Reservoir Development Act. The law allows producers to drill horizontal wells in shale reservoirs across two sections, or 1,280 acres.