By Patrick B. McGuigan

Published: 11-Jun-2010

Dana Orwig of Oklahoma City was among the 586 people who filed this week for elective offices in Oklahoma. She is a Democrat, and will challenge incumbent Republican state Rep. Jason Nelson, who defeated her two years ago.

Orwig said that “perennially” education is the key issue facing Oklahoma. She told CapitolBeatOK, “We have to have a well-educated populace to be attractive to new business. I support early intervention with children to remediate any problems and to build on potential. This is so a child can be successful in school. Education is such a big part of the budget, in practical terms, and I want to assure that we get what we pay for.”

Orwig expressed concern that “our state government is not operating at maximum efficiency. We spend too much time on issues that seem to be driven by the desire to be politically useful to someone, and ideologically divisive, and not really on issues that are important to most citizens. I am looking for cost effectiveness and perhaps consolidation of agencies to get more out of the money we already spend.”

Orwig observed, “Some things weren’t considered at the Capitol because they ran out of time. That’s not the best way to do business, and it should have been job #1 to get things done on time.

“I would say we must start earlier on vital issues, and the budget was certainly the major problem this year. I support getting the budget to the entire legislative body earlier to assure they can do it right, get it early enough to do a good job.”

Orwig, interviewed just after she filed her candidacy at the state Capitol, reflected, “I took some time in deciding to run. I had to give it powerful consideration and I took time away from my family and job. I didn’t decide until toward the end of 2009 that I would run again. Since then I have made a lot of progress and heard from a lot of people encouraging me to make this run.”

Concerning the incumbent, Rep. Nelson, Orwig said, “Some of the things he has proposed or voted for are examples of legislation I believe is motivated more by special interests, and not by the needs of the majority.”

She continued, “When the money is tight at the Capitol I think we could do better with other priorities.”

Orwig and Nelson are familiar figures to voters in the MidTown Oklahoma City district (87) due to involvement in educational policy development and community activism. As the only candidates who filed, they are the nominees of their respective parties and will face each other in the November election.