OkieBrent's Soapbox

This appears in this week’s Minco Millennium (edited for length-this is unedited version and includes the list of legislators and education level)

 

Most people reading this probably know who represents them in the Oklahoma State Legislature.  After all, Millennium readers are well informed, plus our State Representative, Phil Richardson, is from Minco and our State Senator, Ron Justice from Chickasha, regularly writes a column that is printed in the Millennium.  But do you know anything about the other 147 members that make up the Oklahoma Legislature?

Our state Legislature meets every year from February until May.  A legislative session covers a two-year period.  The 2nd Regular Session of the 53rd Legislature reconvenes on February 6, 2012.  The Oklahoma Constitution requires that they Sine Die (adjourn) by 5:00 p.m. on the last Friday in May, which is May 25th this year.

There are 48 districts in the State Senate and there are 101 districts in the State House of Representatives.  However, as of this writing there are two empty house seats and two empty senate seats.  In the House, Representative Dan Sullivan (R – District 71, Tulsa) resigned in October to become the CEO of the Grand River Dam Authority and Representative Rusty Farley (R – District 1, Haworth) died on July 4.  In the Senate, Senator Andrew Rice (D – District 46, Oklahoma City) resigned this month to move to Nashville where his physician wife took a new job and Senator David Meyers (R – District 20, Ponca City) died in November.  Special elections will be conducted on February 14 and April 3 to fill all four vacant seats.

Both the State Senate and the House of Representatives have websites where you can look up legislators to see what committees they serve on, where they live, and other biographical information that they choose to share with the public.  When I began this project a few months ago, there were 30 members who did not list any information about their educational background.  I contacted those members numerous times by email and called their offices and left messages.  Only 9 responded with the information I requested.   Of the 21 who never responded, two were Democrats and 19 were Republicans (two females and 19 males).

Of the information I gathered from their websites, or from their personal responses, the following is a brief profile of the 53rd Oklahoma State Legislature – those who passed new laws last year and will make new laws this year.

Political Party

Of the current 99 members in the House, there are 68 Republicans and 31 Democrats.  Of the current 46 members in the Senate, there are 31 Republicans and 15 Democrats.

Gender

Female members make up only 12.8% of the Legislature with 19 currently serving, which ranks Oklahoma 49th in the nation in the number of women in the Legislature.  Of the current 19 women, 15 serve in the House (11 Republicans and four Democrats) and four serve in the Senate (one Republican and three Democrats).  126 members are male.

Occupation

When it comes to occupations outside of the legislature, just about every occupation is represented.  Those at the top of the list include Lawyers (17), Business people (17) and Farmers/Ranchers (15).  There are at least nine former educators, but really more than that because two list their occupation as retired school principals.  There are three veterinarians, two medical doctors and one registered nurse.  Four list their occupation as financial planners, four say they are in real estate, and four are in insurance.  There are two ministers, two in pharmaceutical sales, two in oil and gas, and two in the funeral business.  Seven say they are self-employed but don’t say in what type of business.  Nine members just list “retired” as their occupation. Eight have no information available to the public.  And there are many that are the only one (at least listed publicly) in their chosen field.  A few that stand out include a former president of Oklahoma State University, a writer, an undersheriff, a state coordinator for abstinence, a radio broadcaster, and a former TV spokesperson.

Religion

The most dominate religious affiliation of members in the Legislature is Baptist with 40 members listing that as their religion.  The next largest would be those who list no religious affiliation at 35.  Twenty members just list Christian, 18 are Methodist, six are Catholic, five are Episcopal, four are Church of Christ, three are Lutheran, three are Presbyterian, two are Church of God, two list Protestant, and two are Assembly of God.  The final six include one of each: Nazarene, Covenant Community, Non-Denominational, St Paul the Apostle Church, Vernon AME Church and Wesleyan.

Education

Educational background of the members of our legislature is the reason I started looking into who makes up the Oklahoma Legislature.   There were many votes casts in the 1st Regular Session of the 53rd Legislature last year that seemed to be anti-public education, especially when it came to our public institutions of higher education.  I wanted to see if those who seemed to be so hostile to Oklahoma’s public education system had earned college degrees.  Because 21 members refused to provide me with their personal education background, I could not compare the level of education they had received versus their votes concerning public education.  But a large majority of those refusing to provide the information did cast numerous votes that were anti-public education.

Of those who publicly provide their educational background or did respond to my request for information: 108 members have earned a Bachelors Degree, 25 of which were earned at private colleges.  Of those 108 members, 28 members have earned a Masters Degree, six of which were from private colleges and 29 members went on to earn a Doctoral Degree (J.D., Ph.D., Ed.D, M.D., or D.V.M.), nine of which were from private colleges.  One member earned an Associates Degree and another member is a graduate of Career Tech.

Other interesting information of members educational background include one who earned his Bachelors Degree from an institution in Connecticut that only provides online education, while another member was home-schooled from Kindergarten through the 12th grade, this member also attended one year at a private Bible college in California.

Thirty-five members are OU alumni, 32 are OSU alumni, eight are UCO alumni, and seven are alumni of the University of Tulsa.  Members are also alumni of SWOSU in Weatherford, Langston University, ECU in Ada, Oklahoma City University, Panhandle State, Oklahoma Christian, Bethany Nazarene, Cameron in Lawton, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma State University College of Arts & Sciences, Mid America Christian University, Oral Roberts, Liberty University, Southwest Baptist, the University of Texas, the University of Pennsylvania, University of New Hampshire, Southern Methodist University, Stanford, Harvard and George Washington University.

While this profile of the 53rd Oklahoma Legislature is not all inclusive and does not tell you who the members are, I hope it provides a little background into who is making the laws for our state.  The great author and humorist Mark Twain is often quoted, “No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.”  I encourage you to visit the websites of both the State Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives and to stay informed on what our public officials are doing over the next four months.

—– (those marked Unknown are those who refused to respond to emails or phone calls)

Legislator (Party-District)                             Highest Level of Education

Rep. Don Armes (R-63)———————-B.S., Cameron University

Rep. Gary Banz (R-101) ———————-B.S., Bethany Nazarene

Rep. John Bennett (R-2)———————-Unknown

Rep. Lisa Billy (R-42) ———————-M.Ed., Northeastern State University

Rep. Gus Blackwell (R-61) ———————-M.Div., SW Baptist, MBA, SWOSU

Rep. Mike Brown (D-4) ———————-Career Tech

Rep. David Brumbaugh (R-76) ———————-MBA, Pacific Western University

Rep. Edward Cannaday (D-15) ———————-M.S., University of Tulsa

Rep. Dennis Casey (R-35) ———————-M.Ed., Northeastern State University

Rep. Mike Christian (R-93) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Josh Cockroft (R-27) ———————-attend 1 year, Calvary Chapel Bible College

Rep. Donald Condit (D-18) ———————-M.S., East Central University

Rep. Ann Coody (R-64) ———————-M.Ed., Oklahoma University

Rep. Marian Cooksey (R-39) —————attended 2 years, University of Central Oklahoma

Rep. Doug Cox (R-5) ———————-M.D., University of Oklahoma

Rep. David Dank (R-85) ———————-attended University of Oklahoma

Rep. Lee Denney (R-33) ———————-D.V.M., Oklahoma State University

Rep. David Derby (R-74) ———————-B.S., University of Central Oklahoma

Rep. Dale DeWitt (R-38) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Rep. Joe Dorman (D-65)———————-B.A., Oklahoma State University

Rep. John Enns (R-41) ———————-B.A., Tabor College

Rep. George Faught (R-14) ———————-Unknown – Bryan Institute

Rep. William Fourkiller (D-86) ———————-2 B.S., OUHSC & NESU

Rep. Larry Glenn (D-7) ———————-graduated, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College

Rep. Randy Grau (R-81) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Elise Hall (R-100) ———————-Still attending, University of Central Oklahoma

Rep. Rebecca Hamilton (D-89) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Tommy Hardin (R-49) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Jeff Hickman (R-58) ———————-B.A., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Wes Hilliard (D-22) ———————-M.Ed., East Central University

Rep. Corey Holland (R-51) ———————-M.Ed. (in March 2012), Cameron University

Rep. Chuck Hoskin (D-6) ———————-M.Ed., Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College

Rep. Scott Inman (D-94) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Mike Jackson (R-40) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Rep. Dennis Johnson (R-50) ———————-B.S., Weber State University

Rep. Fred Jordan (R-69) ———————-J.D., University of Iowa

Rep. Charles Joyner (R-95) ———————-attended OSU-OKC

Rep. Sally Kern (R-84) ———————-B.A., University of Texas, Arlington

Rep. Charles Key (R-90) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Dan Kirby (R-75) ———————-B.S. in theology, ABI

Rep. Steve Kouplen (D-24) ———————-M.S., Oklahoma State University

Rep. Guy Liebmann (R-82) ———————-B.S., University of Oklahoma

Rep. James Lockhart (D-3) ———————-B.S., ?

Rep. Scott Martin (R-46) ———————-B.A., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Steve Martin (R-10) ———————-B.S.E., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Al McAffrey (D-88)———————-Unknown

Rep. Mark McCullough (R-30) ———————-J.D., University of Tulsa

Rep. Jeannie McDaniel (D-78) ———————-B.A., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Randy McDaniel (R-83) ———————-Masters, Cambridge University

Rep. Skye McNiel (R-29)———————-Unknown

Rep. Jerry McPeak (D-13) ———————-Masters, Northeastern State University

Rep. Lewis Moore (R-96) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Danny Morgan (D-32) ———————-B.B.A., University of Central Oklahoma

Rep. Richard Morrissette (D-92) ———————-J.D., University of Tulsa

Rep. Glen Mulready (R-68) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Jason Murphey (R-31) ———————-B.A., Charter Oak State College

Rep. Jason Nelson (R-87) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Tom Newell (R-28) ———————-M.B.A., Liberty University

Rep. Jadine Nollan (R-66) ———————-Bachelor’s, OSU College of Arts & Sciences

Rep. Charles Ortega (R-52) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Leslie Osborn (R-47) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Rep. Pat Ownbey (R-48)———————-B.S., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Ron Peters (R-70) ———————-B.B.A., University of Tulsa + post grad certificate, TU

Rep. Pam Peterson (R-67) ———————-B.A., Oral Roberts University

Rep. Anastasia Pittman (D-99) ———————-M.S., Langston University

Rep. Eric Proctor (D-77) ———————-B.A., Northeastern State University

Rep. R.C. Pruett (D-19) ———————-attended Texas A&M

Rep. Marty Quinn (R-9) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Brian Renegar (D-17) ———————-D.V.M., Oklahoma State University

Rep. Mike Reynolds (R-91) ———————-B.S., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Phil Richardson (R-56) ———————-D.V.M., Oklahoma State University

Rep. Mike Ritze (R-80) ———————-D.O., Kirksville College

Rep. Paul Roan (D-20) ———————-M.Ed., East Central University

Rep. Dustin Roberts (R-21) ————Still attending Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Rep. Sean Roberts (R-36) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Wade Rousselot (D-12) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Rep. Todd Russ (R-55) ———————-B.S., Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Rep. Mike Sanders (R-59) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma Christian University

Rep. Colby Schwartz (R-43) ———————-B.A., Oklahoma City University

Rep. Seneca Scott (D-72) ———————-B.A., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Earl Sears (R-11) ———————-Masters, Northeastern State University

Rep. T.W. Shannon (R-62) ———————-J.D., Oklahoma City University

Rep. Mike Shelton (D-97) ———————-B.S., Langston University

Rep. Ben Sherrer (D-8) ———————-J.D., Oklahoma City University

Rep. Jerry Shoemake (D-16) ———————-attended OSU-Okmulgee

Rep. Jabar Shumate (D-73) ———————-B.A., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Kris Steele (R-26) ———————-M.Ed., East Central University

Rep. Aaron Stiles (R-45) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Randy Terrill (R-53) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Rep. Todd Thomsen (R-25) ———————-Bachelor’s, University of Oklahoma

Rep. Sue Tibbs (R-23) ———————-Attended Tulsa Junior College

Rep. John Trebilcock (R-98) ———————-J.D., University of Tulsa

Rep. Steven Vaughan (R-37) ———————-B.S., College of the Ozarks

Rep. Emily Virgin (D-44) ———————-Attending law school, University of Oklahoma

Rep. Purcy Walker (D-60) —————Bachelor’s, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Rep. Weldon Watson (R-79) ———————-Unknown

Rep. Paul Wesselhoft (R-54) ———————-M.A. Southern Nazarene University

Rep. Cory Williams (D-34) ———————-J.D., Oklahoma City University

Rep. Harold Wright (R-57) ———————-B.A., Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Sen. Tom Adelson (D-33) ———————-J.D., Southern Methodist University

Sen. Cliff Aldridge (R-42) ———————-Attended Oklahoma Christian University

Sen. Mark Allen (R-4) ———————-Unknown

Sen. Patrick Anderson (R-19) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Roger Ballenger (D-8) ———————-Bachelor’s, OSU-Okmulgee

Sen. Don Barrington (R-31) ———————-Associate’s, OSU-OKC

Sen. Randy Bass (D-32) ———————-Attended, Cameron University

Sen. Brian Bingman (R-12) ———————-B.B.A., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Cliff Branan (R-40) ———————-B.B.A., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Josh Brecheen (R-6) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Sen. Rick Brinkley (R-34) ———————-Bachelors, Langston and Oral Roberts University

Sen. Bill Brown (R-36) ———————-B.S., Northeastern State University

Sen. Sean Burrage (D-2) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Greg Childers (R-43) ———————-Unknown

Sen. Harry Coates (R-28) ———————-Bachelor’s, UCO & SW Tech

Sen. Brian Crain (R-39) ———————-J.D., University of Tulsa

Sen. Kimberly David (R-18) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre (D-11) ———————-M.S.W., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Jerry Ellis (D-5) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Sen. Eddie Fields (R-10) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Sen. John Ford (R-29) ———————-B.S., University of Tulsa

Sen. Earl Garrison (D-9) ———————-Ed.D., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Jim Halligan (R-21) ———————-Ph.D., Iowa State University

Sen. David Holt (R-30) ———————-J.D., Oklahoma City University

Sen. Thomas Ivester (D-26) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Constance Johnson (D-48) ———————-M.A., Langston University

Sen. Rob Johnson (R-22) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Clark Jolley (R-41) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Ron Justice (R-23) ———————-Master’s, Oklahoma State University

Sen. Charlie Laster (D-17) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Richard Lerblance (D-7) ———————-J.D., Oklahoma City University

Sen. Bryce Marlatt (R-27) ———————-Attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University

Sen. Mike Mazzei (R-25) ———————-B.A., George Mason Universitiy

Sen. Dan Newberry (R-37) ———————-Unknown

Sen. Jonathan Nichols (R-15) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Susan Paddack (D-13) ———————-M.Ed., East Central University

Sen. Steve Russell (R-45) ———————-Unknown

Sen. Mike Schulz (R-38) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Sen. Ralph Shortey (R-44) ———————-Unknown

Sen. Frank Simpson (R-14) ———————-Unknown

Sen. John Sparks (D-16) ———————-J.D., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Gary Stanislawski (R-35) ———————-M.A., Oral Roberts University

Sen. Anthony Sykes (R-24) ———————-B.A., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Greg Treat (R-47) ———————-B.S., University of Oklahoma

Sen. Jim Wilson (D-3) ———————-B.S., Oklahoma State University

Sen. Charles Wyrick (D-1) ———————-Attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M