Open seats draw candidates
Open seats draw political newcomers to try for office Wednesday.
Two Republican candidates have filed for Senate District 15, where Sen. Jonathan Nichols has reached his term limit, and Democrat Claudia Griffith, 61, of Norman, filed for the seat.
Jack Beller, a medical doctor from Norman, said he would like to add a physician and small business owner to the ranks of politicians.
“There are a lot of medical issues that have come up for vote and I want to make sure the right decision is made,” Beller said after he had filed for office.…
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75 candidates file for office
In the first hour of candidate filing 75 people filed for office Wednesday morning. Of those 56 were state legislative incumbents.
Corporation Commissioner Patrice Douglass, the former mayor of Edmond, filed for the office she was appointed to earlier this year, and U.S. Rep. Tom Cole filed for reelection in District 4.
Justin Wood, 22, filed for House District 26, the seat that will be left vacant by the current Speaker of the House Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, when he is term limited later this year.…
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Two file for former Rep. Sue Tibbs seat
Two candidates have filed for the seat left vacant by Rep. Sue Tibbs who died after a long battle with cancer of the weekend.
Many lawmakers at the Capitol were preparing to take the afternoon off Wednesday and attend Tibbs’ funeral in Broken Arrow.
Shawna Keller, 31, a Democrat from Tulsa, filed for the seat.
Rob Reck, 58, a music teacher from Broken Arrow, filed for the seat. He said he lives around the corner from Tibbs and was encouraged to run for political office by Tibbs at a block party in September.…
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Candidate filing begins Wednesday morning
Candidates lined up Wednesday morning at the Capitol to file for 132 state and congressional offices that are up for election in November.
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C-SPAN in Oklahoma City This Week for Some Local History
The public affairs channel C-SPAN, which provides gavel-to-gavel coverage of Congress along with a broad array of government- and history-related programming, is in Oklahoma City this week preparing some features on the city’s history and literary life.
The producers and organizers have an interesting agenda for the productions, which will air during a special Oklahoma City feature weekend of May 5th and 6th on C-SPAN2’s BookTV and C-SPAN3’s American History TV.
Here are some of the highlights, provided by C-SPAN:
· Interview with Bruce Fisher, son of Ada Lois Sipuel.…
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Inhofe Thanks Boxer for Setting Hearing on GSA Conference
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, on Friday thanked Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., for scheduling a committee hearing on the scandal over the $823,000 training conference held by a government agency in 2010.
Boxer, the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, set the hearing for April 18. She has called on the acting director of the General Services Administration to testify and the agency’s inspector general, who investigated the lavish Las Vegas conference that has already cost three top officials their jobs.…
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Former President Clinton Honors Mike Turpen’s Late Mother
Mike Turpen, the colorful and energetic Oklahoma City Democrat who once served as Oklahoma Attorney General, lost his mother this week. Marge Turpen Shahan was 84.
Former President Bill Clinton sent a letter eulogizing Shahan. Turpen has long been friends with Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Clinton’s letter is here.
President Clinton Condolence for Marge Turpen Shahan 4_3_12…
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Inhofe Says Federal Agency’s Las Vegas Conference was Disgraceful
Sen. Jim Inhofe on Wednesday called it “absolutely disgraceful” that a federal agency put on a lavish training conference in 2010 at a Las Vegas resort. Inhofe, R-Tulsa, wants the Democratic-controlled Senate to hold a hearing on an inspector general’s report about the General Services Administration conference, which cost more than $823,000. The Republican House has already scheduled hearings to investigate it.
Said Inhofe, “It is absolutely disgraceful that as Americans grapple with a struggling economy, we find out that the GSA is partying it up in Las Vegas and sending the $823,000 bill to the American taxpayer.…
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Ryan as Romney’s Running Mate Would Mean an Oklahoman in the Spotlight
The Washington Post has a story today about the prospect of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who heads the House Budget Committee, as a running mate for Mitt Romney should the former Massachusetts governor win the GOP presidential nomination.
If Ryan were the selection, people would also get to meet his wife, Janna Little Ryan, a native Oklahoman and first cousin to U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee.
Janna Little Ryan, an attorney and former Capitol Hill staff member, is the daughter of Dan Little, the prominent Madill attorney who has served on numerous boards and commissions in Oklahoma, and the late Prudence Little.…
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