Askins, Fallin win Oklahoma governor races

OKLAHOMA CITY — This fall’s race for Oklahoma governor will feature two women at the top of the ticket.

Lt. Gov. Jari Askins defeated Attorney General Drew Edmondson on Tuesday. The attorney general conceded in a late-night speech that he would not make up the slim margin Askins held as the final votes are counted.

Askins will face Republican congressman Mary Fallin in the Nov. 2 general election. Askins and Edmondson each gave up relatively safe seats in an effort to keep the governor’s seat in Democratic hands. Gov. Brad Henry is term-limited and cannot seek a third term.

Edmondson said he would work to help Askins in the fall, saying it was important for the Democratic Party to be unified. Oklahoma Democrats lost control of the state Legislature in 2008.

Oklahoma voters Tuesday also decided nominees in races for U.S. Senate and Congress, state House and Senate, and eight statewide posts, including five open seats.

Fallin of Oklahoma City defeated state Sen. Randy Brogdon and two other candidates. Brogdon put up a pesky fight and accused Fallin of making a “liberal compromise” by voting in 2008 for President George W. Bush’s plan to bail out the nation’s financial industry.

“I hope to join hands with Sen. Brogdon and all his supporters. This race is about electing a conservative governor,” Fallin said.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting unofficial returns, Fallin had 133,933 votes and Brogdon 94,716. Askins had 132,293 Democratic votes to Edmondson’s 130,760.

Fallin was the state’s firstwoman and first Republican to serve as lieutenant governor, a post she held for 12 years before being elected to Congress from the Oklahoma City area in 2006. She previously served two terms in the state House.

Also in the Republican race Tuesday were Oklahoma Cityarea businessmen Robert Hubbard and Roger Jackson.

Edmondson is a Vietnam veteran who served four terms as attorney general. His father is a former U.S. congressman, his uncle was elected governor in 1958, and his brother is chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

In 2005, Edmondson filed suit on behalf of the state against six poultry companies with operations in Arkansas, including Springdale-based Tyson Foods, claiming they were responsible for polluting the Illinois River watershed with bird manure. During a 50-day trial that ended in February,Edmondson claimed the companies violated state and federal laws. The federal judge who heard the case hasn’t ruled.

Askins served as a special district judge in Stephens County, as a member of the pardon and parole board and for 12 years in the Statehouse before defeating then-House Speaker Todd Hiett for lieutenant governor in 2006.

In the U.S. Senate primary, incumbent Republican Tom Coburn defeated primary challengers Evelyn Rogers of Tulsa and retired teacher Lewis Kelly Spring of Hugo. Coburn will face Democratic nominee Jim Rogers of Midwest City, who beat political newcomer Mark Myles. Two independents also await Coburn in the Nov. 2 general election.

Information for this article was contributed by Robert J. Smith of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.