Political philosophy, jobs are key concerns in race
House district 90Candidates discuss taxes, higher-paying careers

BY WENDY K. KLEINMAN

Published: October 6, 2008

The two candidates for House District 90 are self-employed. Republican Charles Key is campaigning to hold onto his seat from the southwest Oklahoma City area. Democrat Linda James is his opponent.

Key, 54, works in the securities industry.

He said he thinks the main qualification for public officials is their political philosophy.

"I believe in the constitutional form of government that this country was founded upon, and I think we’ve strayed away from that,” Key said.

The way Key led the state’s refusal to comply with the national Real ID Act of 2005 is an example of acting on that philosophy and addressing constituents’ concerns, Key said.

"I’ve never voted for a tax increase, and also I’ve offered a number of bills that protect or advocate the protection of the Constitution,” he said.

Key served for six years beginning in 1986, then returned to the House two years ago.

He graduated from Western Heights High School and attended Oklahoma City Community College and Oklahoma City University.

James, 62, owns a small graphics company and said she has been a member of a labor union for more than 20 years.

"Any time a bill or a piece of legislation comes in front of me, my criteria would be: Would this be good for the working people of Oklahoma?” James said.

Along those lines, James also said the state needs to attract more skilled, higher-paying jobs.

Lucent Technologies and Dayton Tires used to be located in her district but have been replaced with call centers, and that needs to be reversed, James said.

James said she will listen to her district’s constituents "instead of acting like I know what’s best for them.”

James graduated with honors from Oklahoma City University with a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages.

She attended high school at Northwest Classen in Oklahoma City.

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