Norman resident running as an Independent
For The Transcript
Elmer "E.Z." Million,?a Norman resident since 1957, has announced he will?run?for lieutenant governor as an Independent.
A longtime Republican, Million changed his registration in 2002. With?three Republicans and three Democrats already in the race, the chances for a third candidate are favorable, he said.
"My No. 1 priority is to make sure that the OU-Texas football game is played here in Norman on Oct. 7, 2006," Million said.
"The Big XII Conference football schedule calls for 'Texas AT Oklahoma' in the even-numbered years. Mr. Boren has sent OU's home game with Texas back to Dallas five times (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004) and is trying to do so again in 2006," he said, adding, "The OU Regents meet on May 12. If they refuse to order Mr. Boren to follow the Big XII schedule, then I'm going to ask the Legislature for a one-sentence amendment to the Higher Education Appropriations Bill:
?"All taxpayer-supported Oklahoma colleges and universities? must play their Regularly Scheduled Conference Home Games within the state," Million said.
"As four of the six lieutenant governor candidates are in the Legislature, I'm very confident that they will take this action. I expect the?issue to be settled by May 26," Million said.
A graduate of Weatherford High School, Million came to OU in 1957 on a Vocational Rehabilitation Scholarship. He had been totally paralyzed by polio at age?4?in 1945 and had made a miraculous recovery to enable him to march in the OU Band while playing a baritone horn, he said.
Million received his B.S. in mathematics in 1961 and a master of engineering in 1964.
He was the Republican nominee for State House 44 in 1968 and for State Senate District 16 in 1973. During 1970-1972, Million served as a Presidential Exchange Executive assigned to Headquarters Air Force, the Pentagon.
He was back in D.C. in 1974 for an assignment at the Federal Communications Commission and in 1975 at the Justice Department in New York on the U.S. v IBM antitrust trial.
Million formed the Sooner Chamber of Commerce in 1993 to promote tourism in general and bring the OU-Texas game out of Dallas, in particular.
"This is the year. No more sending $25,000,000 of Oklahoma's dollars southward. In 2006, we'll have 20,000 Texans coming here during Oct. 6-8, and bringing their wallets and purses for us to empty. There will be no need for Boren's TIF. We'll let the out-of-state money cover it," he?concluded.
