J.C. Watts announces no run for Oklahoma Governor in 2010
As my friend from Muskogee Politico put it, the political landscape of Oklahoma changed this morning with announcement by J.C. Watts. He will not run for Governor of Oklahoma in 2010 and now everyone is wondering if he is possibly looking at a run for the Senate seat now held by Dr. Tom Coburn of Muskogee. He is set to announce his intentions on June 1st, so there should be no shortage of something to write about in Oklahoma politics in the next few days.
Going back to Watts’ announcement, he cited a number of things in his prepared statement. From The Oklahoman:
The former Oklahoma congressman and football star said today his “current business and contractural obligations create hurdles” he can’t overcome to make a race.
The announcement leaves two Republicans who have made it known they would be seeking the Republican nomination for Governor. U.S. Representative Mary Fallin and Oklahoma Senator Randy Brogdon have both thrown their hats in the ring. On the Democratic side, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson and Oklahoma Lt. Governor Jari Askins have both said they will be seeking the nomination. Despite Watts’ announcement today, the governor’s race is going to be interesting and it is highly possible that Oklahoma will have it’s first female Governor in 2010.
First female governor – now THAT would be interesing!
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Is Doctor Tom Coburn planning on retiring from his United States Senate seat from Oklahoma?
There is speculation that he is thinking in that direction. He is supposed to announce his intentions soon.
June 1st is when Dr. Coburn is supposed to make an announcement. I really hope that he will run again, but I know that this has been hard on him. His heart really lies with his medical practice, which he still tries to keep going, even though he can’t charge for his services due to Senate ethics rules (he sees patients on Saturdays and early Monday mornings).
At this point, I don’t think even he knows what he’s going to do. He could go either way.
I thought you might find this link interesting in lieu of this discussion. It appears that Citizens Against Government Waste Council (CAGWC) are urging the Senate GOP to place Coburn on the Senate Appropriation Committee. In other words, they are recommending Coburn replace Arlene Specter!
Now THAT would be awesome! Perhaps this is part of his dilemma?
Here is the link: http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=12032
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Thanks for the link, Dominique. It would certainly be a good thing to have Dr. Coburn on the Senate Appropriation Committee. We need someone on there to keep them honest and he knows how to do that. I believe Jamison is right when he says Dr. Coburn’s heart lies with his medical practice. His political career was never meant to replace that, but he may be finding it hard to find a stopping place in Washington.
I’m disappointed to hear this. I think J.C. as Governor of Oklahoma could have been very good for the GOP as a whole on a national level, and for the 2012 and 2016 elections. I know he’s not perfect (who is?), but I was encouraged to hear he was considering running for Governor.
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Kerry,
Hopefully, he will find a way to keep himself in the public eye, although it may not be as good as being Governor of Oklahoma. If Dr. Coburn decides to not seek reelection, then he may enter that race. We should know on June 1st what his decision will be.
My sources* said that Dr. Coburn was encouraging J.C. Watts to run. If that is the case, I would not be terribly surprised if Dr. Tom doesn’t run, but endorses J.C. for his replacement on June 1st.
* So fun to say that… but it’s actually true in this case!
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You are stepping up in the blogging world, Jamison. You actually have sources. Good for you.
What is your opinion about J.C. Watts as a Senator? Do you think he will be a fiscal hawk like Coburn?
Oklahoma is becoming the center of conservative politics, and now one of you actually has “sources” … very cool. I still think it would have been a better path for JC and for the nation if he had run for Governor, but hey, what do I know?
OneMom’s last blog post..Remembering Decoration Day
Haha… well, it might not be due to blogging. After all, we live in the same town, clean his carpet, he’s been our family physician since before I was born (delivered me, in fact), and my brother is on staff with him. But then again, it could.
I think JC would be somewhere between Inhofe and Coburn, but closer to Coburn. Not quite the fiscal hawk Coburn is, but not the big-spender Inhofe is. Basically, he’d be really conservative, but not ultra-conservative like Coburn (but still more conservative than 90%+ of the Senate).
Yes, we sure are. Not only we were the reddest of the red, but we’re going to be even redder in 2010. If J.C. Had run for governor, he was my second choice (after State Sen. Randy Brogdon). I think he’d be good in any office.
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I’ll try to delicately dip my toe in these waters. I’m one Okie that wants J.C. Watts for no political office representing the State of Oklahoma. I was appalled as last year’s campaign propelled forward and the man could not bring himself to talk about Barack Obama’s “policies.” I don’t know if you heard any of his interviews with Sean Hannity during that time, but they were so discouraging. Watts can vote for who he wants to, but when it comes to voting for the far Left, OR in his position, not speaking out about a very, very far Left candidate, then he loses all credibility as a representative of conservatives, in my opinion.
During the Hannity interviews he NEVER, not even one time, mentioned Chris Dodd or Barney Frank. When Sean tried to talk about stem cell research or higher taxes, Watts simply said: Sean, you have one opinion and Obama has another. He wrote an article for the Las Vegas Review scolding the Republican party for abandoning small business – and again, not one time mentioned the housing meltdown directly attributable to Democrats.
I understand the meaning of Barack Obama’s Presidency to many people. I really do understand it, but I cannot understanding not standing up for prinicples.
BTW, Watts tried to say that he was a pastor now, and so couldn’t talk about politics, but he sure didn’t turn down the opportunities with Hannity, and the last question of the interview was always, “will you run for Governor of Oklahoma?” At one time, J.C. Watts was one of my heros.
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Maggie,
First of all, thanks for commenting.
I have had trouble with the same things. J.C. Watts is supposed to be a conservative and it troubled me greatly when I learned he toyed with the idea of voting for Barack Obama.
Since I do not have a television, I was unaware of the interviews with Sean Hannity. It gives me pause to wonder why he refused to call out the Democrats on the housing crisis, especially considering the fact that it was their housing policies that greatly contributed to the problems.