A Unified Ticket
In February of the 2007 Oklahoma legislative session, a proposal passed a House committee by a 5-4 vote that would place the election of Governor and Lt. Governor on a unified ticket. The bill's author was Rep. Gary Banz (R-Midwest City). Banz believes having separate elections presents too much of an opportunity for disputes between the offices, regardless of political party.Placing the two as running mates would, supporters argue, eliminate any adversarial relationship and make the government more efficient. Under Banz's bill, a person running for Governor would immediately declare a running mate as soon as he or she files to run.
According to Oklahoma legislator Rep. Shane Jett (R-Tecumseh), a task force under Gov. Henry Bellmon's administration recommended the team election concept. Current Governor Brad Henry has also gone on record as supporting the change in election method.Many on the other side of the issue prefer to maintain the state's current system of Lt. Governor election for the primary reason that it offers a built-in opportunity for a checks and balances of sorts where alternate ideas and methods are presented.
One of the opponents of Banz's bill, Rep. Rob Johnson (R-Kingfisher), believes that placing the election of the two offices on one ticket only limits the options of Oklahoma voters.
Where It Stands
After passing the Oklahoma House committee, the bill (House Joint Resolution 1011) now goes before the Legislature. If approved, it would go before a vote of the people, possibly as early as 2008. If it passes the statewide vote, legislators believe the method change would go into effect for the 2010 election.Now that you've read about both sides of the issue, what's your opinion? Vote below and discuss it on the OKC forum
POLL: Do you support the bill changing the election method for the office of Lieutenant Governor?
1) Yes. It'll be a positive change.
2) No. The current method is best.
3) I'm not sure.
