Lieutenant Governor Runoff Preview

The Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor is up for grabs.

Voters are choosing between Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy and Republican strategist Matt Pinnell.

In the June primary, Murphy received nearly 46 percent of the votes and Pinnell received about 36 percent.

Whoever wins on Tuesday will go up against the Democratic candidate, State Senator Anastasia Pittman, in November.

Murphy has served as the Chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission for the last ten years.  Her campaign for Lieutenant Governor has emphasized her life experiences in both rural and urban areas across the state.

Murphy had a message on Tuesday for last minute voters.

“I really think it’s about if you want something different, you have to do something different,” she said.  “I’ve run a really different campaign.  In the sea of negativity, I’ve run a really positive campaign about real experience for real results, and that’s what I’ve been campaigning on and I think that’s going to win the day.”

Pinnell, the former Oklahoma Republican Chairman, says he feels good about Tuesday’s runoff.  He says he’s focused on the ground game, getting the voters to the polls.

Pinnell says what sets him apart from Murphy is that he sees himself as a sales and marketing person for the state.

“If the Lieutenant Governor’s not selling that, there’s not another statewide elected official that does that,” he said.  “That’s why it’s so important that the Lieutenant Governor is passionate about selling and marketing the state.”

Pinnell also says there needs to be an emphasis on making what he calls Oklahoma’s core services better – education, infrastructure, and healthcare.