The crowd chanted “Fallin” as they waited eagerly for the first female governor of Oklahoma history to take the stage. Governor-elect Mary Fallin defeated Lt. Gov. Jari Askins in the only campaign in Oklahoma history with two female lead candidates.
History was inevitable.
Fallin and her family took the stage to applause and cheers underscored by the song “Oklahoma.”
Her victory speech opened with thanks to God, and she asked Oklahomans if they were ready for change.
“The rest of the nation doesn’t know Oklahoma is a great state,” Fallin said. “By the time I’m through they will.”
The rest of her speech touched on thanking her supporters, family, Askins and reaffirming her campaign promises.
Leading up to her speech the crowd cheered for each Republican victory and booed for every Democratic victory throughout the U.S.
Brigitte Harper, former Oklahoma Minority Republican Coalition chairwoman, was near the podium waiting for Fallin’s appearance. She said she was happy with the election results across the U.S.
“I got a call from a friend in Washington saying [Republicans] were going to take over the world,” Harper said. “I told him we didn’t want the world, just the United States.”
Fallin’s campaign focused in particular on evaluating Oklahoma’s tax structure and distancing the state from Washington policies that threaten jobs and Oklahoma’s economy. She also criticized Oklahoma for having a large cumbersome government and has promised to make it “faster, smarter and more cost-efficient.”
Fallin was born in Tecumseh where her father served as mayor. She graduated from Oklahoma State University and also attended Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Central Oklahoma.
Before entering politics, Fallin was a district manager for a national hotel chain.
She ran for state legislature in 1990 after becoming frustrated by government hurdles in the private sector. She spent two terms as a state representative before being elected as Oklahoma’s first female, and first Republican, lieutenant governor in 1994. She spent 12 years in office before being elected as the first woman to represent Oklahoma in U.S. Congress in 2006.
More on Fallin
» Education:
She did not support State Question 744. Fallin supports the pay-for-perfomance program that rewards teachers and schools for student’s academic performance. She does not support school consolidation. Fallin said she will try and put money back into the classroom by lowering administration costs and improving Oklahoma’s economy and business climate.
» Healthcare:
She opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and will vote to opt out of the government health care bill. If Oklahoma is able to opt out, Fallin will support Insure Oklahoma, which helps low and moderate income families and businesses obtain and provide health insurance. To help reduce health care costs to taxpayers, she said she supports purchasing health insurance across state lines and addressing fraud and abuse in the Medicare system.
» Taxes:
She said she plans to evaluate Oklahoma’s tax structure holistically and hopes to reduce waste. Fallin explicitly stated in a post-debate interview “I will not raise taxes.”
» Business and job growth:
She plans to offer businesses a “one-stop shop to get permits and licenses. [She] will aim to remove regulations and mandates that hinder job growth in the private sector and will reject any regulations that undermine businesses.”
» Immigration:
She supports Arizona’s immigration law.
» Government:
She believes government needs to be “smaller, smarter and more cost-efficient.” She will ask every agency to “justify every dollar spent.” She may bring in efficiency experts from the private sector to help re-work the government sector.
» Prison system:
She will focus on being “smart on crime, along with being tough on crime.” To fight overcrowding in prisons, she will support drug courts and mental health courts.
The Oklahoma Daily is pleased to provide you the opportunity to share your thoughts about this article. We encourage lively debate on the issues of the day, but we ask you refrain from using profanity or other offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting advertising, or straying from the topic at hand. To comment, you must be a registered user of OUDaily.com. Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register
TheJR 1 year, 6 months ago
Dark day for Oklahoma.
rscott 1 year, 6 months ago
Good article other than the characterization that Republicans were booing Democratic losses, because they were not. This is not to say they weren't pleased with Democrats losing, but they were not so negative as to be booing Democrats. What should be in here is that Fallin thanked Askins and the crows erupted with cheers for Askins while Askins party didn't make a sound when Askins mentioned Fallin.