Journalist and educator Steve Byas, editor of The Oklahoma Constitution, backs Richardson
Published: February 18th, 2018
Steve Byas, editor of Oklahoma Constitution newspaper, has announced his support for Gary Richardson for Governor of Oklahoma in the 2018 election.
“Oklahoma desperately needs a Governor who will fight for our conservative values and root out corruption and I believe Gary Richardson is the candidate who can get it done,” said Byas. “I know he will fight the corruption and waste in government with the same determination he took on the County Commissioner scandal when President Reagan entrusted that job to Gary.”
Byas, a leading voice among Oklahoma conservatives as an educator, journalist and book author, continued, “Just like Gary, I believe that we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem, and I trust Gary to ensure that our Republican principles of low taxes, smaller government, and the preservation of our traditional family values will be followed in our state government.”
Richardson is a native Oklahoman, a former US Attorney appointed by President Reagan and founder of a law firm in Tulsa. This year, he is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, in a crowded field of hopefuls.
Richardson blasted the “Step Up Oklahoma” tax plan, pressed in recent weeks by a range of state civic leaders and some politicians. (http://www.www.capitolbeatok.com/reports/gary-richardson-republican-candidate-for-governor-blasts-step-up-oklahoma-tax-hike-plan)
Richardson, author of “Black Robe Fever” (a memoir of some of his experiences as a trial lawyer) has advocated frequent audits of the state government agencies that drive costs. In a summer 2017 interview with CapitolBeatOK, he promised to seek forensic audits of the turnpike system, the Grand River Dam Authority, the state education system and prisons. (http://www.www.capitolbeatok.com/reports/gary-richardson-is-focused-on-making-2018-the-year-voters-choose-a-change-agent-him). He was an ardent critic of many revenue-increase measures enacted in the 2017 legislative session.
When the justices of the state High court ultimately reviewed those measures, it agreed with his analysis in some particulars (http://www.www.capitolbeatok.com/reports/gary-richardson-is-focused-on-making-2018-the-year-voters-choose-a-change-agent-him) – that the Legislature had attempted to enact taxes masked as fee increases.
NOTE: Editor Patrick B. McGuigan contributed to this report.