One man who can sit back and watch today’s election with satisfaction is former Oklahoma House Speaker Todd Hiett. He’ll be probably having a good time at any of the GOP watch parties to be held tonight, knowing he doesn’t have to worry about the votes and whether he’ll win.
He won in June, beating state Senator Cliff Branan for the GOP primary in the Corporation Commission race. And because no Democrats or independents filed for the seat now held by Patrice Douglas, who lost her bid to win the Republican nomination for the 5th District U.S. House seat, Hiett is the corporation commissioner-elect. He’ll be sworn into office in January.
If your memory’s faded about the primary election results, Hiett, who is from Kellyville won with 52 percent of the votes over Branan who collected 48 percent. It means Hiett had 128,083 votes while Branan picked up 117,086.
It was his second attempt at a state-wide office. He lost to Democrat Jari Askins in the 2006 race for lieutenant governor. Hiett campaigned on a familiar GOP theme in Oklahoma—fighting the over-reach of the federal government, especially the Environmental Protection Agency, and stopping it from making decisions for Oklahoma. That’s why he believes being Corporation Commissioner is more important than ever.
For Hiett, it means preparing to take office in January and between now and then, coming up to speed on the issues. When he takes his oath during the inaugural ceremonies on the steps of the capitol, he’ll be joining Republican Commissioners Bob Anthony and Dana Murphy. Hiett then won’t have to worry about another election campaign for another six years.
