Oklahoma Voters deciding on variety of state offices

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Mary Fallin has a new term as lieutenant governor and a new governor to work with, but she'll find the same problem of Oklahoma's financial crisis to face when she goes back

Wednesday, November 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Mary Fallin has a new term as lieutenant governor and a new governor to work with, but she'll find the same problem of Oklahoma's financial crisis to face when she goes back to work.

``There's a little recession, the economy's taken a turn,'' she said after beating Democrat Laura Boyd. ``We have to make priorities of how we want to spend our money.''

Reductions in state revenue have forced major state cutbacks.

Fallin was one of five incumbents who won in eight state office races. They know what will be on their desks when they go back to the office.

It will be shrinking school funds for Sandy Garrett who won a new term as state schools superintendent after 12 years in office. Garrett said she had worked with Governor-elect Brad Henry, who is married to a teacher, and said she looked forward to tackling school money problems with him.

There may be some relief for Garrett since both of Henry's opponents had said they would fund teacher raises by cutting what they called a bloated education administration.

``We have the smallest department of education in modern history, so that's not true,'' Garrett said.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson begins a third term and becomes the second attorney general in state history to hold the office longer than two terms. He defeated former Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode 60 percent to 40 percent.

Edmondson said he will keep trying to recover state funds lost in the Enron and WorldCom scandals, work on keeping Arkansas chicken plant pollution from flowing into the state and take a Mississippi barge company to court over a deadly bridge collapse earlier this year.

Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher beat the GOP's Doug Barry 58 percent to 42 percent.

``I just can't tell you how glad I am for a chance to continue the work we've been doing,'' Fisher said. ``We've got a lot of great things we've already planned.''

Specifically, Fisher said he wants his agency to more aggressively regulate HMOs and be sure they are clearly explaining plans to consumers and following contracts. He said he also wants to crack down on uninsured motorists and unauthorized insurers who move into Oklahoma and lure customers away from reputable coverage with plans that later prove useless.

Incumbent Labor Commissioner Brenda Reneau Wynn won in one of the night's tightest races, beating Democrat Lloyd Fields 52 percent to 48 percent.

Jeff Cloud is the state's newest corporation commissioner, defeating Democrat Keith Butler and independent Roger Bloxham.

``I look forward to serving in an honorable and energetic fashion,'' said Cloud, who listed his biggest priority as balancing the regulatory agency's responsibility to consumers with encouraging new businesses in the state.

State Auditor and Inspector-elect Jeff McMahan worked 14 years for the auditor's office and had the endorsement of his retiring boss. McMahan beat Gary Jones 51 percent to 49 percent.