7.14.06

Hobson promises different kind of lieutenant governor

By Liz McMahan
Phoenix Staff Writer

One of eight candidates for Oklahoma's lieutenant governor office campaigned in Muskogee Thursday, promising to "be a different kind of lieutenant governor" than the state has had in the past.

Sen. Cal Hobson, D-Lexington, is leaving the Senate because of term limits. He will face fellow Democrats Jari Askins, Pete Regan and Jim Rogers for the party's nomination in the July 25 primary election.

The winner of that contest will go against the winner of the contest between Republicans Nancy Riley, Scott Pruitt and Ted Hiett and E.Z. Million, independent candidate in the November general election.

Hobson said that after 12 years in the state House and 16 years in the Senate, he knows the political ropes.

"I know how to get votes. I know how to count, and I know how to push programs through," Hobson said.

Under the Constitution, the lieutenant governor is president of the Senate. With the Senate almost evenly divided between the two parties, the next lieutenant governor may get to cast the tie-breaking vote quite often, Hobson said.

His major accomplishments in the Senate this past session included getting full state funding for cancer and diabetes research and treatment centers that will be handled through the University of Oklahoma, Hobson said. Those centers will be accessible both from Oklahoma City and Tulsa, making them available to most of the state's residents.

He is advocating a special legislative session to fully fund the $3,000 pay raise given to Oklahoma teachers this year. The raises were funded, but not the Social Security and other benefits.

He also wants a program that would provide after-school activities for students over 12.

Reach Liz McMahan at 684-2926 or lmcmahan@muskogeephoenix.com.
Originally published July 14, 2006