District 45 candidates speak at OCCC forum

Five seek seat relinquished by Wilcoxson

By M. Scott Carter

OKLAHOMA CITY --?If Oklahoma politics is a game, then the name of the game last Tuesday was, "I'm more conservative than you."

Appearing at a political forum hosted by Oklahoma City Community College, Republican candidates Melinda Daugherty, 58; Jerry Foshee, 61; Kyle Loveless, 34; and Steve Russell, 45; each tried to paint themselves as the most conservative replacement for outgoing Republican state Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson.

The four -- along with fellow Republican Marty Gormley, 47, -- are seeking the GOP nod for Senate District 45 seat. Gormley said he couldn't attend the event due to a previous commitment.

And, since no Democratic or Independent candidate filed in the district, the race could be decided at the July 29 primary election.

Who's who

Still, the forum was all about which candidate could claim the best pedigree.

For Daugherty -- the lone woman in the race -- the campaign was about "traditional family values."

"I stand on traditional family values and Biblical principles," she said. "My life has demonstrated my strong values in faith, family and service. I have been a faithful Christian and a devoted mother."

Foshee, an Oklahoma City attorney and former Oklahoma City councilman, said he's seeking the office because of his grandmother.

"My grandmother used to say you've been very fortunate," he said. "And for every blessing you have, it's time for you to give back. That's what I've tried to do serving as city councilman in Oklahoma City and that's what I want to do as state Senator."

Loveless, a former official with the Cleveland County Republican Party, said his reasoning for seeking office was "real simple."

"I want to continue Kathleen's (Wilcoxson) service, and one person can make a difference." Loveless said he would focus on three areas if elected: transportation reform, education reform and creating a more friendly business climate in Oklahoma.

"Oklahoma's shame is that we have 535 school districts," he said. "Arkansas has only 200; Florida has 67. If we reduce overhead and administrative costs, we could save $50 million per year for our educational system. There's many different things we could do to accomplish that."

Russell, a retired Army Infantry officer, said he wanted to be senator because Oklahomans "cannot allow any more assaults on our American way of life."

"We cannot wait for the courts to destroy our traditional family or allow predators to enter women's restrooms," he said. "I know that the erosion of our family values are the foremost concerns on your minds."

Q and A

Fielding questions from an audience filled mostly with campaign supporters and party officials, the candidates addressed issues such as gay marriage, tort reform, taxation and Oklahoma's new immigration law.

"Our education money needs to get to the classroom in order to meet the needs of our children," Daugherty said. "We also need to repeal the business franchise tax and eliminate government regulation. We do have too much government regulation and taxes and we need to do away with it."

"All this taxation is another barrier for business in Oklahoma," she said. "We need to cut taxes in order to do business in Oklahoma."

Echoing Daugherty, Loveless said lawmakers should work to "improve the business climate" in the state.

"First, we need meaningful lawsuit reform," he said. "Think of it as affordable health care. In Texas, insurance rates went down by 35 percent after they passed tort reform. We have a fork in the road. We can continue to build on the policies of the past by letting trial lawyers run things down at the Capitol, or we can go in a different direction."

Loveless said he would, if elected, push the state to reform its transportation system.

"For the last 100 years, Oklahoma has been stealing Peter to pay Paul. We've been taking your tax dollars that the state government have been promising, 'oh that's going to roads and bridges,' and taking it and giving it to bridges to nowhere, giving it to art museums, giving it to research. I'll be the senator who will stop the diversion of those funds, and that will allow us to lower gas prices."

Foshee, responding to Loveless' calls for tort reform, said the issue was being "blown out of proportion."

"I'm a lawyer and I'm proud of my profession," he said. "I don't believe you can just throw out words. The New England Journal of Medicine says the malpractice issue is overblown. The Wall Street Journal said mismanagement and accounting problems are the reasons for malpractice premium increases."

Citing a poll of Oklahoma judges, Foshee said 58 percent of state judges "didn't believe there is a litigation crisis."

"The judges said that 5 percent of the cases were frivolous. And 95 percent of state judges said they believed juries were capable of making fair and equitable decisions."

The Constitution, Foshee said, entitles Americans to a trial by jury. "It's an issue that's blown way out of proportion."

Russell countered, saying some physicians find themselves "having to make a choice between paying to be wrong and learning they can't afford to be right."

"That is never good," he said. "It causes problems on physicians where they can't provide OBGYN care in our rural areas. It's a very complex issue."

On HB 1804

Asked about the state's new immigration law, all four candidates said they supported the law written by Moore Republican state Rep. Randy Terrill.

"One thing's for certain," Russell said, "citizenship must be earned."

Daugherty said she was concerned that "illegals are infiltrating" the country. "This affects us, our cost and our public safety," she said. "And (that's) why I support HB 1804."

Foshee said some of the state's larger employers also were to blame.

"We're not fining the big employers," he said. "Companies like Seaboard and the timber company Weyerhaeuser have illegal immigration, but we're going to go attack the guy with the 10 people on the roof and fine him."

Going after larger employers, Foshee said, would eliminate jobs for undocumented workers and would help solve the problem.

"I support protecting our borders," he said. "If illegal immigrants can come across our borders, then terrorists can come across just as easy."

Loveless agreed, adding that he too would have supported HB 1804 and would expand it to make English the state's official language and overturn a law granting in-state tuition to the children of undocumented workers.

"Colleges shouldn't be rewarding illegal behavior," he said.

The group also said they supported state Rep. Jason Murphy's recent attempt to allow concealed weapons on college campuses.

"For me the question is: If someone had a gun on the campus of University of Virginia, could we have not saved lives?" Foshee said.

Russell said his stand on the 2nd Amendment "was very strong."

"I know how important it is to have citizenry that is armed. But I don't support lowering the gun age to 18. I know something about that, being a combat soldier."

Daughterty said concealed weapons on college campuses "could help protect people."

"I also support not restricting concealed weapons on campuses," she said. "By having concealed weapons on campus, with those who have met the requirements and have gone through all the tests, there is not a problem with that, because they will be making the best decisions to protect our students and our people."

Addressing a question about gay marriage, Russell said allowing same sex marriages could cause the "disintegration of our way of life."

"It's not just a matter of 'to each his own,'" he said. "It is a matter of disintegration of our way of life. In Norway where they passed a law allowing same sex marriages, there was a dramatic payout in the public services. Because of all the problems we may find the day that we will see marriage as we know it's completely gone. And then people will have no fathers, no mothers and no identity bond as we know it; and I will fight that with all my being."

Loveless said the answer to the question could be found in the Bible.

"This is a pretty clear issue," he said. "The Bible is pretty clear, gay marriage is wrong and I think all of us up here agree on that."