Political Pulse

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Republicans are praising the
accomplishments of Oklahoma’s first GOP-controlled Legislature.
Democrats - though - say the GOP spent the session protecting
special interests.
The state Senate adjourned Tuesday after adopting a bill to
create a central information officer for the state’s computer
systems. The House adjourned on Friday after passing the same bill.
Republicans have controlled the state House since 2004. The GOP
took control of the Senate for the first time last fall.
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee of Oklahoma City cited
passage of legislation changing the way Oklahomans file and
litigate lawsuits as one of the legislative session’s top
accomplishments.
But Democratic Sen. Kenneth Corn says the session was good for
insurance companies and big business. And fellow Democratic Sen.
Charles Laster described the session as “a special interest
feeding frenzy.”

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Chad Smith plans to seek a fourth term as
the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.
A tribal court ruled this week that Smith was eligible for
re-election, despite a two-term limit that was enacted as part of
the tribe’s new constitution in 2003.
The court ruled that Smith was in office prior to the passage of
the term limit and should be eligible for two terms after it went
into effect.
Smith has only been elected once since the term limit took
effect, and announced yesterday that he’ll run for another
four-year term in 2011. He was first elected in 1999.
The court’s ruling will also clear the way for some tribal
councilors to seek another term instead of being forced out of
office.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Former Congressman J.C. Watts says he will
not run for governor of Oklahoma in 2010.
Watts issued a statement today saying his current business and
contractual obligations make it impossible for him to run at this
time.
Watts had been considering seeking the Republican nomination.
Rep. Mary Fallin and state Sen. Randy Brogdon are already in the
race with Fallin considered the front-runner.
On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins has announced and
Attorney General Drew Edmondson has been raising funds and is
expected to officially declare his candidacy by Labor Day.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State Rep. John Wright of Broken Arrow says
he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant
governor in 2010.
Wright announced his campaign Tuesday in the state Capitol
rotunda in front of a portrait of Will Rogers. Wright was
accompanied by his wife, Debra, and daughter, Ashley.
Wright is term-limited and is serving his sixth and final
two-year term. He says he has not missed a day of legislative
service in 11 years and has missed only four votes.
Wright says he has opened a fundraising account and transferred
about $25,000 left over from his legislative races.
Wright joins Democratic state Sen. Kenneth Corn of Poteau as the
only announced candidates for lieutenant governor.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Sen. Tom Coburn says he will have an
announcement by June 1 on his 2010 political plans.
Coburn, R-Okla., has said repeatedly he has not made up his mind
about running for a second term and has not started a fundraising
push.
The Tulsa World, in a story from its Washington, D.C. bureau,
reported on its Web site Tuesday that Coburn had given the June 1
date to a group of conservatives meeting in New York.
So far, no major Republican are Democratic candidates have
declared their intentions to run for Coburn’s post.