Istook will face Henry

By Michael McNutt

Published: July 26, 2006

U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook trounced political newcomer Bob Sullivan and two other candidates to win Tuesday’s GOP gubernatorial primary and start preparing for this fall’s showdown with Gov. Brad Henry.

Istook celebrates
Bob Sullivan suffers defeat

Istook, who represented central Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District for 14 years, predicted last week he would win the primary and avoid an Aug. 22 runoff.

With all 2,249 precincts reporting, Istook received 99,634 votes, or 54.7 percent, compared with 56,338 votes, or 30.9 percent, for Sullivan. State Sen. James Williamson of Tulsa garnered 17,766 votes, or 9.8 percent, and Mustang engineer Jim Evanoff had 8,368 votes, or 4.6 percent.

Henry stomped his Democratic opponent, Andrew W. Marr Jr., a Norman inventor who did little campaigning and did not accept campaign contributions.

Henry, 43, received 226,921 votes, or 85.8 percent, compared with 37,500 votes, or 14.2 percent for Marr. Marr, 65, won 5 percent of the vote four years ago when he ran for governor as a Republican in a three-man race.

“Tonight is the first step of an historic victory,” Istook, 56, said.

“We’re pleased that Oklahomans are very concerned about the growth of more high-paying jobs in Oklahoma,” he said. “That’s what we stand for, not the growth of big government.”

Istook, who remained serving in Congress and came home on weekends to campaign, said he will work to reduce the state’s income tax rate and to reduce state spending.

Istook, considered the underdog in the Nov. 7 showdown with Henry, said he was pleased Williamson and Sullivan called him Tuesday night to congratulate him and pledge “their very active support.”

Henry, seeking to become only the third governor to win back-to-back elections, said earlier it didn’t matter to him who his GOP opponent is this fall.

“Kim and I are very humbled and overwhelmed by the tremendous outpouring of support from Oklahomans all across this state,” Henry, 43, said. “It’s a testament to the good work that we have done over the years in terms of improving education, improving access to quality affordable health care, improving our roads and bridges in the state of Oklahoma, creating good jobs and of course our efforts in public safety.”

Henry, an attorney who served 10 years as a state senator from Shawnee before being elected governor, helped overcome without a tax increase the state budget shortfall of nearly $700 million when he took office in 2003. He also supported submitting an education lottery proposal to voters, which they approved in November 2004.

Marr said he also felt good about his showing.

“It was pretty interesting for someone who did not spend one dollar,” he said.

Sullivan, a Tulsa oilman, raised more money than Istook, but never could overtake Istook in the polls. He appealed to the Republican Party’s conservative elements by pledging to eliminate the state’s income tax, improve public schools and work for lawsuit reform.

Sullivan appeared before about 100 supporters about 10 p.m. Tuesday at the Renaissance Hotel in southeast Tulsa to concede the race to Istook.

Istook, elected to the U.S. House in 1992 after six years in the state House, said his decision to stay in Washington has made it harder to make all the campaign appearances, but he felt he owed it to his 5th Congressional District constituents to serve out his term.

Sullivan tried to get his name known across the state by being honorary chairman to lead efforts to get signatures on an initiative petition proposal that would keep at least 65 percent of public school money in the classroom.

Williamson, in the middle of his third four-year Senate term, has been campaigning since April 2005.

Williamson, 55, an attorney, will return to the Senate for next year’s legislative session.

Evanoff, 66, got in the race late; he announced his candidacy during last month’s filing period. 

Contributing: Staff writers Ken Raymond, Jim Epperson III and special correspondent Larry Levy