Cornett looks to buck history in governor’s race

IN deciding to run for governor, Mick Cornett is banking on having more success seeking higher political office than previous Oklahoma City officials — himself included.

Cornett, wrapping up his fourth term as mayor, tweeted last week that he will make his gubernatorial run official by filing paperwork this week. In a post that included his wife, Terri, Cornett said, “We want to take our record of success to all of Oklahoma.”

Eleven years ago, in 2006, Cornett sought to parlay the early successes of his time in office (he first won election in 2004) into a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, hoping to fill the post vacated by Republican Ernest Istook. Instead, Cornett lost to then-Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin in the Republican runoff election.

Cornett’s predecessor, Kirk Humphreys, knew that feeling. Humphreys, who in six years as mayor helped lead the successful MAPS for Kids campaign, decided in 2004 to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate and early on was considered the favorite. But then Tom Coburn entered the race and Humphreys lost in the primary.

A generation earlier, in 1980, Andy Coats won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Oklahoma County’s district attorney at the time, Coats lost in the general election to Don Nickles, who then was a state senator. (Coats went on to become mayor of Oklahoma City in 1983.)

Cornett’s loss in his run for Congress proved fortuitous, ultimately, because two years later he helped recruit the NBA to Oklahoma City long term, something that has kept the city on the international stage ever since. As mayor, he also led the push for MAPS 3, which voters approved in 2009, and which is building on the successes of two previous MAPS initiatives.

Cornett has numerous other accomplishments he’ll be able to tout against what will be a crowded Republican field. State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones, Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson (who ran as an independent in 2002) and Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb have all either declared their candidacies or are expected to do so.

Cornett (and Richardson) will be trying to buck another trend with his gubernatorial bid — no experience in state government. Of the nine people who have been elected governor since Henry Bellmon in 1962 (Bellmon won election again in 1986), only two —David Hall in 1970 and David Walters in 1990 — had not spent at least some time as a member of the Legislature.

Then again, that may be something Cornett tries to sell as a positive, especially given the dysfunction witnessed from the Legislature this year.

Generally speaking, the path to the Governor’s Mansion hasn’t run through Oklahoma City. Walters can be considered the last Oklahoma City winner — raised in western Oklahoma, he was a businessman here when he ran and has stayed here. Only two OKC residents — Jack Mildren in 1994 and Istook in 2006 — have run for governor since then, and both were unsuccessful.

This is all history, of course. With his bid in 2018 Cornett, will look to write a new chapter, one he hopes has a happier ending this time around.