OKLAHOMA CITY — After winning the Democratic Party's nomination for governor, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins declared she wanted to be the candidate for "the average Oklahoman" and staked a claim in the middle of the political spectrum.

U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, Askins' Republican opponent, is making a claim for the same territory, but only after spending most of the week after the July 27 primary waiting for an endorsement from conservative state Sen. Randy Brogdon, her tea party-backed chief rival. It came after a half-hour meeting with Brogdon in which she had to prove she had the "right" stand on issues.

Oklahoma voters have grown increasingly conservative — it's the only state where President Barack Obama didn't win a single county in 2008 — and heading into the fall Askins has a problem similar to Democrats across the South — how to appeal to a conservative electorate while a president from her party remains tremendously unpopular.

Fallin's claim to the middle means Askins, 57, would be on the left. Askins is no stranger to being attacked as a liberal, and Republicans are already labeling her as one again. She said she also heard complaints from Democrats that she's too conservative during her primary battle this year with Attorney General Drew Edmondson, whom she defeated by less than six-tenths of 1 percent — about 1,500 votes out of 263,000 votes cast.

"Every time I've run a campaign, especially the statewide races, there are areas where Democrats say I'm too conservative," Askins said. "Then as soon as I win, the other side tries to tie us to partisan politics outside the state of Oklahoma.

"I really am a centrist. I don't try to target any particular group. I just try to appeal to the average Oklahoman."

Fallin has long been a favorite of the Republican Party, but found herself fending off accusations from state Sen. Randy Brogdon that she had engaged in "liberal compromises" that included her 2008 vote to bail out the nation's financial industry.

Fallin, 55, and Brogdon, who won nearly 40 percent of the GOP vote, held a joint press conference last week in which Brogdon endorsed Fallin and touted party unity. During the event, Brogdon again tossed around the "liberal" label — this time directed at Askins and current Democratic Gov. Brad Henry, who is term-limited and can't seek another term.

But Democratic strategists say it's not easy to link a candidate like Askins to Washington or to Obama.

"You've seen Brad Henry's style of leadership," said Emily Bittner, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Governor's Association in Washington. "He doesn't get caught up in the Washington squabbles and the partisan bickering. That's what voters are looking for in a governor — somebody who will put making jobs first, making sure kids get a good education, that a good business climate exists.

"That's classically what Democratic governors have focused on, and that's why they can win in states where voters tend to vote Republican in federal elections."

Bittner pointed to neighboring Arkansas, where Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe continues to enjoy high approval ratings in a state that — except for homegrown Bill Clinton — hasn't voted for a Democratic president since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Beebe is a favorite to defeat Republican Jim Keet in November.

While Keet has tried to link Beebe to the Obama administration as much as possible, Beebe has taken a centrist position and focuses on state issues like education, economic development and cutting the state's grocery tax.

"Regardless of who's in the White House, voters want a governor who will create jobs and put middle class families first," Bittner said.

Fallin has touted her opposition to Obama and the new federal health care law and embraced tea party supporters. During a tea party rally in Washington during debate over the federal health care bill, she even helped unfurl a "Don't Tread on Me" flag from the balcony at the Capitol building.

And Oklahoma's new Republican Party chairman, Matt Pinnell, said the competitive primary race between Brogdon and Fallin was good for the party and energized a new crop of conservative Oklahoma voters.

"I think it's made Mary a better general election candidate having to go head to head against Randy," Pinnell said. "As long as we're unified going forward and get those 40 percent who voted for Randy in the primary to vote for Mary and our statewide slate, then that's what I'm focused on."

Registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans in Oklahoma, about 49 percent to 40 percent, but voting trends defy those numbers: the state hasn't voted Democratic in a presidential election since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.