Cornett says he’ll take OKC lessons to state level
EL RENO — Mick Cornett had a friendly crowd at a coffee shop here on Wednesday and a favorite kind of host— a mayor.
“I really do feel like I have a certain bond with all local officials,” Cornett said, addressing El Reno Mayor Matt White and some city workers in the shop.
“I’ve spent the last 17 years on city council and as the mayor of Oklahoma City.”
Cornett embarked this week on his last road trip before the Republican gubernatorial primary hoping his name recognition in the Oklahoma City media market, and success in boosting the capital’s profile, will translate into votes.
Oklahoma primaries are on Tuesday.
Asked about his closing argument to voters, Cornett said, “We can take a lot of the things that we learned in Oklahoma City and take them statewide — growing the economy,
diversifying the economy, getting our fiscal house in order and building a level of trust between the voters and the elected officials.
“I think all of those things are badly needed. And no one’s going to outwork me at the state Capitol or on the campaign trail.”
In his closing television spot, Cornett makes the case that he’s an agent of change at a time when people are deeply dissatisfied.
“You deserve a governor who will change the way state government operates,” he says in the ad. “If you want more of the same, I’m not your guy.”
Cornett, 59, who stepped down as mayor in April, is locked in a tight battle with Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb and Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt, and polls have shown a large segment of undecided voters.
The 10 candidates on the GOP gubernatorial ballot all but assure a runoff primary will be needed on Aug. 28 to decide the nomination.
Cornett has struggled to make headway in eastern Oklahoma, where he hasn’t been a fixture on television as a mayor or sports anchor for the last three decades.
But he’s a celebrity to some in central Oklahoma.
Just before coming to El Reno, Cornett and his wife, Terri, stopped to eat at a restaurant called Lucille’s off Interstate 40 in Weatherford. He was greeted by strangers, and employees asked to take a picture with him.
Canadian County, where El Reno is located, has the fourth most registered Republicans of the 77 counties in Oklahoma. Cornett’s home base, Oklahoma County, has the most. And Cleveland County, which is in the Oklahoma City metro area, has the third most.
The longtime mayor’s campaign message here, as in most places, has been short on specifics.
“We have never fully addressed our low standards in health and education,” he said, stating one of his main campaign themes.
“Until we admit to ourselves and start addressing the fact that we have too many people that are unhealthy and too many people that are undereducated, we’re never going to have as strong an economy as we can.”
Without naming Cornett, Lamb has mocked the approach, comparing it to a football coach who tells a losing team at halftime, “We need to get better.”
That obviously hasn’t fazed Cornett who prefers broad goals to detailed plans.
“I really want the state to be perceived as a partner to local government,” he told the municipal workers here. “So when there are ideas that are coming from the bottom up, we can work together to let each city progress and accomplish what it wants to accomplish.”