Lieutenant governor candidates Laura Boyd and Mary Fallin both say they are impeccable candidates. Both also say the other is lying.

Lt. Gov. Fallin said she has been working for the past eight years to make the office more than a ribbon cutting position. Boyd, her Democratic opponent, said her eight years' work has been futile.

"I'm not sure what she's done for eight years except cut ribbons," Boyd said.

The lieutenant governor heads 13 boards and commissions, including finance and public policy. Fallin said she has used these positions to push for legislative pieces regarding education and small business measures.

"In 1998, I set up the Fallin Commission to work on workers compensation," and other issues, Fallin said.

Fallin said she was instrumental in the Right-to-work legislation, forcing the State Senate to take up the legislation and then taking it to a public vote.

Boyd said she does not think Fallin has done the things she said she did.

"She's put forth no policy," Boyd said. "The Fallin Commission has not met since 1998."

Boyd said she wants to make a policy making office. She said her primary goal is to make sure no one asks again what the lieutenant governor's office is supposed to do.

In Boyd's credentials, Fallin said the former state representative for Norman has issued a health care plan known as the "Hillary plan."

"She laid out a big government, one-size-fits-all health care system," Fallin said.

The health care plan was the same one passed and supported by Fallin this year, Boyd said.

"In 1994, it was a liberal plan," Boyd said. "Now it's a great idea. The only difference in the two plans is language. What my plans calls one thing, this plan calls it something else."

Fallin said Boyd, while a state representative, voted for the legalization of same-sex marriages, something Boyd refutes.

What both candidates do agree on is the work Fallin has done with tourism. Fallin said she has brought in the private sector to promote tourism in Oklahoma and, through the film commission, she has promoted the state to the film and television industries.

The work is not enough, Boyd said. She said the lieutenant governor's job is to do more than promote tourism and film, but to promote education and social welfare.

With experience, Fallin has a clear edge, having served as lieutenant governor for eight years. This experience will be helpful in the coming year with a new governor and new budget.

"We're going to be facing a budget shortfall this year," Fallin said. "We need an experienced person who can help the incoming governor and work to ensure we are thinking about the primary issues; health care, education, prisons and roads and highways."

Boyd said the work she has done deals directly with the position. Since her race for governor in 1998, Boyd has been running her own consulting business, working lately with the Oklahoma Education Coalition, and teaching at least one course a year at OU.

"We have been working on policy and education," Boyd said. The work she has done as a small business owner, educator and legislator proves she has the knowledge and experience for the lieutenant governor's office.

"I think the future of Oklahoma's economic growth is based on small business and education," Boyd said. "Who better to lead in that arena than myself?"

Both candidates will have to wait until the Nov. 5 election to find out who Oklahomans think is the best person for the office.
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