Jobs, schools are top issues in House race
Jobs, schools are top issues in Oklahoma state House District 57 race

By Michael McNutt

Published: September 13, 2008

WEATHERFORD — Bringing more jobs to rural communities in their district and helping improve public education are common themes stressed by both state House District 57 candidates.

Perry Adams and Harold Wright are involved in their first legislative race. The winner will succeed Rep. James Covey, D-Custer City, who could not seek re-election because of legislative term limits.

They have another similarity — they both won close contests to end up facing each other in the Nov. 4 election.

Adams won the Democratic primary by 66 votes. Wright beat his nearest competitor in a four-candidate primary by 400 votes, but squeaked out only a victory margin of eight votes in last month's runoff election. A recount put Wright's winning margin at seven votes.

Adams, a retired school superintendent, said he also wants to work on efforts to attract quality jobs in the district "for our kids to stay in our communities.”

Adams, who was elected to the Inola School Board in 1984, said he would like to encourage communities in the district working together to attract businesses.

Most cities in the district are immediately disqualified from consideration because of their small populations, he said. Communities working together could show business prospects they could provide essential services.

"We have to work closer together to make sure those entities and businesses when they're hunting for a community that they are willing to look at our entire community and not just one city or town,” Adams said.

Education is his main priority, Adams said, stating that education enhances economic development.

"I'm a strong public education person,” Adams said.

"I have a new nickname now — ‘Slim,'” Wright joked.

While Adams won the July 29 primary outright, Wright had to wait until after the Aug. 26 runoff and Sept. 4 recount before he could start campaigning for the House seat.

"We're just trying to work double-time,” he said. "We've got less than 60 days now until election day.”

Wright, who was mayor of Anadarko from 1985 to 1987, owns radio stations in Clinton, Weatherford and Cordell.

If elected to the House, Wright said, he wants to work on lowering taxes and on making state government more efficient.

Reducing the income tax would give families more freedom to spend, invest and save, which would help the state's economy, Wright said.

Passing legislation to make Oklahoma a more business-friendly state is another priority, he said. He supports workers' compensation and lawsuit reform efforts.

"We're losing population in western Oklahoma,” Wright said. "In order to attract people to live out here, we need to work on economic development.”

Married to a retired school teacher, Wright said more should be expected from the state's students. He would like to raise the bar for academics and discipline in the classroom, Wright said.

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