Fewer candidates on 1st day
Fewer state candidates on 1st day

By John Greiner

Published: June 3, 2008

Longtime GOP U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe drew three opponents Monday — two from his own party — during the first day of the three-day filing period for federal and state offices.

Three incumbent members of the U.S. House of Representatives — Republican Rep. John Sullivan, 43, Tulsa; Republican Frank Lucas, 48, of Cheyenne, and Republican Mary Fallin, 53, of Oklahoma City — got opponents, too.

Filing for Inhofe's seat was Oklahoma City state Sen. Andrew Rice, a Democrat; the Rev. Dennis Lopez, 48, a Republican and Baptist minister from Thackerville; and Republican Evelyn L. Rogers, 55, of Tulsa.

Someone else filed for Inhofe, R-Tulsa, who was on his way to Washington to debate a bill designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Inhofe, 73, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994 when David Boren resigned to become president of the University of Oklahoma, said serving in the U.S. Senate is an honor and responsibility he does not take lightly.

Rice, 35, said many Oklahomans are hungry for a change.

He said many Oklahomans are not party people who go to political party meetings.

Of his decision to run, Lopez said: "God has laid this upon my heart.” He said he is filing to put God first.

Monday, 185 candidates filed — 99 fewer than filed the first day of filing for the 2004 presidential election year.

"It didn't seem nearly as busy as other presidential years,” said Michael Clingman, secretary of the Oklahoma Election Board.

In past presidential election years, more than 20 people were hanging around the fifth floor of the state Capitol waiting to file for office.

This year there were seven or eight, Clingman said, adding he has no answer to why there weren't more on this first day of the filing period.

First in line, as he has been for the past two filing periods, was Oklahoma City state Rep. Mike Reynolds, a Republican. He came to the state Capitol after Sunday morning church.

In the U.S. House races, Georgianna W. Oliver, 41, a Tulsa Democrat, filed against Sullivan.

Frankie Robbins, 62, a Democrat from Medford, filed against Lucas.

Bert Smith, 60, an Oklahoma City Democrat, filed against Fallin.

Incumbents U.S. Reps. Dan Boren, 34, a Muskogee Democrat, and Tom Cole, 59, a Moore Republican, filed Monday and haven't drawn opponents.

In the Corporation Commission race, incumbent Jeff Cloud, 47, an Oklahoma City Republican, filed for a six-year term.

State Rep. Rob Johnson, 34, a Kingfisher Republican, filed for the unexpired term on the Corporation Commission. Jim Roth, former Oklahoma County Commissioner who was appointed to the job last year, is also expected to file for the remaining two years on the Corporation Commission term.

Democrats and Republicans are battling this year over control of the House and Senate.

But the larger battle is in the Senate where both of the parties have 24 senators a piece.

Monday, former Oklahoma State University President James Halligan, 71, Stillwater, filed as a Republican candidate for the open state Senate District 21 seat that includes Stillwater.

That seat, held for the past 12 years by Democrat Senate leader Mike Morgan of Stillwater, is a major Republican target in the GOP's quest to gain control of the Senate.

Morgan cannot run again because of term limits.

Incumbent Senate Democrat Nancy Riley, 49, Tulsa, picked up a challenger Monday in Jan Megee, 59, a Republican from Sand Springs.

Senate Republicans are targeting Riley's seat too. Riley switched from Republican to Democrat two years ago.

Contributing: Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau

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