By Patrick B. McGuigan

Published: 28-Jul-2010

Mary Fallin celebrated her historic primary victory with supporters last night, telling CapitolBeatOK she was “very excited by the momentum we have coming out of this primary. The people have spoken and I am looking forward to the general election.”

At the end of a long day of work and travel that coincided with election day, Fallin said, “We’re going to be focused on jobs, opportunity, education reform and creating excellence for Oklahoma.” Fallin spoke to CapitolBeatOK immediately after accepting a concession phone all from state Sen. Randy Brogdon of Owasso, the strongest of her three primary opponents.

Fallin was first elected to statewide office in 1994, when Republicans made dramatic gains in statewide races. She served three terms as lieutenant governor, before her election to the U.S. House in 2006. As Republicans have positioned themselves for potential control of both the Legislature and the executive office, CapitolBeatOK asked Fallin to looked back at the 1994 surge, and the Grand Old Party’s current prospects. She responded:

“Conservatives, and Republicans, have a tremendous opportunity now to position Oklahoma for future success, to have the best business environment in the nation in the years to come. We’re going to be pressing for lawsuit reform and education reform, and to make government smarter and more efficient.”

She continued, “In the budget shortfall and challenges ahead, it’s clear we have to be smarter and better at government to create the environment we need to make Oklahoma an even better place to live.”

Fallin’s duties as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives required her to spend election day traveling to the nation’s capital to cast an important vote on continued funding for the war on terror. She left early Tuesday morning, returning to Oklahoma City in time to greet supporters, and many other members of the Republican ticket, at the Will Rogers Theatre on N. Western Avenue in Oklahoma City.

In a prepared statement later sent to the state press corps early today (Wednesday, July 28), Fallin said, “I am excited and humbled that my fellow Republicans have chosen me to be the party standard bearer as we head into this critical November election. … I can assure you that no one will work harder than I will to restore principled, conservative leadership to the governor’s office.”

Rep. Fallin continued, “I also want to thank my opponents, Roger Jackson, Robert Hubbard and particularly Senator Brogdon and his many supporters and volunteers for their spirited effort. I admire and share their commitment to limited government and constitutional governance, and I hope they remain active and engaged in the general election.”

Fallin concluded her prepared statement by observing, “Our next governor has to be committed to the kind of conservative, commonsense policies that create prosperity and economic growth, not someone who will march in lock step with the job-killing ideology of the Obama administration. As governor, I’ll stand up to Washington, focus like a laser beam on job growth and the economy and work to build a better, brighter future for our great state.”

With all 2,224 precincts reporting in the gubernatorial primary, final but unofficial results showed Rep. Fallin had secured 136,452 votes (54.79%) to Sen. Brogdon’s 98,159 votes (39.42%) Rounding out the field were Robert Hubbard with 8,130 (3.26%) and Roger L. Jackson with 6,290 (2.53%).