Political Pulse

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Rep. Tom Cole says he’s not interested in
running to succeed Brad Henry as the next governor of Oklahoma.
The 59-year-old Republican had been considered as a potential
candidate for the post, but he told The Oklahoman Monday in
Washington that he wants to continue working on issues at the
federal level.
Cole also said there’s other strong Republican candidates.
Republican Rep. Mary Fallin has announced that she is running
for governor and former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, a
Republican who is in business in Washington, has surfaced as a
potential candidate.
On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins is running and
Attorney General Drew Edmondson says he may be interested.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Young voters in Wagoner County clamored to
the polls during the November presidential election, but it was a
different story for their counterparts less than 25 miles away.
According to the Tulsa World, nearly 61 percent of voters under
the age of 30 in Wagoner County cast ballots on Nov. 4, making it
the No. 1 county in the state in young voter turnout.
With just 37 percent of registered young voters casting ballots
Nov. 4, Adair County ranked 76th out of 77 counties in young voter
participation, just ahead of Coal County.
Adair County Election Board Secretary Marilyn Hill-Russell
attributed some of the low voter turnout in her county to a lack of
local races on the ballot.
Records show 36 percent of Adair County young Democrats cast
ballots in the general election, while 45 percent of young
Republicans and 21 percent of young independent voters did the
same.
In Wagoner County, of the 6,929 registered voters under the age
of 30, 60.7 percent cast ballots on Nov. 4.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A real estate agent today sued the Oklahoma
Ethics Commission and a Sand Springs legislator for allegedly
“conspiring to cover up graft.”
Tom Hardgrave’s lawsuit accuses the Ethics Commission of
violating the Open Meetings Act and seeks a declaratory judgment
against the agency’s use of a gag rule during its investigations,
including one of Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs.
Hardgrave and others allege Duncan, his former neighbor,
abandoned a pledge to fight the expansion of a landfill operated by
American Environmental Landfill. At a 2006 public meeting Duncan
said he would fight the proposal.
But the landfill later purchased Duncan’s home for $270,000,
twice the $135,000 he paid for it. Hardgrave and others have
accused him of being bought off, which Duncan and the landfill
company have denied.
The realtor told the Tulsa World that he was contacted by an
Ethics Commission investigator about the sale, but the lawsuit says
the inquiry of Duncan was dismissed.
Hardgrave says Duncan retaliated by filing a complaint against
him for violating the commission gag rule.
Neither Duncan nor the Ethics Commission could be reached for
comment.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee
says he isn’t sure why he didn’t take care of two traffic tickets
he got in 2000.
He paid them this week after reporters questioned him about
them.
Court records show he paid two $90 fines yesterday. One was for
speeding on October 17, 2000, and one for driving without a current
tag on March 14, 2000.
Coffee says he believes he called or went to the clerk’s office
in 2000 to pay the tickets but the traffic clerks couldn’t find
them.
Failure to pay traffic tickets or appear on court by a date
specified on the tickets normally leads to an arrest warrant.
But Oklahoma County Court Clerk Patricia Presley says the county
switched to a new computer system in 2000 and a glitch prevented
the warrants from being issued.
Coffee drew criticism after The Associated Press reported last
week that a federal tax lien for $28,822 was filed against him last
year for unpaid federal taxes.
He says he paid the taxes by taking out a bank loan at 5.5
percent interest but he’s declined to give other details of the
loan or the reason for the tax liability.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A state senator considering running for
governor has some advice on what Oklahoma should do with $2.6
billion in federal stimulus money - give it back.
Sen. Randy Brogdon said in a statement early Thursday there are
too many strings attached to the money and he objects to the
federal government imposing new mandates and regulations that are
outside its authority.
Oklahoma lawmakers are trying to make up an estimated $900
million budget shortfall.
Legislative budget-writers are getting help from federal
stimulus funds heading to the state for a variety of state and
local government programs.