Primary Elections Set For Labor, Insurance Commissioners and State Treasurer

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Candidates hoping to challenge incumbents for three statewide offices will face-off in primary elections on July 25. <br/><br/>State Sen. Frank Shurden of Henryetta and former state

Sunday, July 16th 2006, 1:48 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Candidates hoping to challenge incumbents for three statewide offices will face-off in primary elections on July 25.

State Sen. Frank Shurden of Henryetta and former state Rep. Lloyd Fields of Arpelar are competing for the Democratic nomination for labor commissioner. The winner will face incumbent Republican Brenda Reneau in the Nov. 7 general election.

Daniel Keating of Tulsa, brother of former Gov. Frank Keating, and Howard Barnett of Tulsa, Frank Keating's former chief of staff, are vying for the Republican nomination for state treasurer. The winner will face incumbent Democrat Scott Meacham.

State Rep. Bill Case of Midwest City will meet Tahl Willard of Tulsa for the Republican nomination for insurance commissioner. The winner will face incumbent Democrat Kim Holland in the general election.

Shurden, term-limited after 28 years in the Legislature including 20 in the Senate, is best known for supporting cockfighters and sponsoring legislation to castrate sex offenders. But Shurden, a rancher, said he has also earned a reputation for ``standing up for the people.''

``That's what I'm all about is taking care of the worker, said Shurden, 65. ``We've got to have fair treatment for our laborers.''

As a senator, Shurden said he helped passed a measure that gave the Labor Commissioner authority to inspect amusement parks as well as a boiler inspection bill that is also one of the labor commissioner's duties.

Fields, 48, ran against Reneau four years ago in one of the year's closest races. Reneau won with 52 percent of the vote to Fields' 48 percent.

Fields said the office needs someone who will promote the state with an up-to-date web site that shows the number of available jobs and their pay range as well as the number of college graduates in the state.

``A lot of businesses these days go toward the web site and look at things like that,'' he said.

A plumbing and air conditioning contractor, Fields said he wants to help workers get health insurance and make sure that agency investigators inspect workplace safety more frequently.

Keating, 62, is president of a brokerage insurance company, Summit Consolidated Group, and is a former bank president _ professional experience he said qualifies him for the treasurer's job.

Keating said he is well-versed in the office's cash management, depository and investment functions and wants to expand the office's role in economic development.

``The treasurer's office can be an engine for economic development,'' he said. ``It can run numbers. It can run economic scenarios. What would it take to bring companies to Oklahoma and keep our businesses here?''

He said he would also promote pro-business policies like tax and lawsuit reform.

``We have to get back to good policies and get away from thinking that gambling and the lottery is going to move Oklahoma,'' Keating said.

Barnett, 56, is a former state secretary of commerce and former chief executive officer of TSF Communications, owner of the Tulsa Tribune, which closed in 1992.

``I understand that concept of people you don't know giving you money and expecting it to be handled appropriately,'' he said. About $9 billion flows through the treasurer's office each year with about $2 billion lying around at any time to invest.

He said that as treasurer, he would speak out on fiscal issues that affect the long-term health of the state and its citizens, especially in financial management.

``The treasurer, having a relationship with the banks, could certainly be a vehicle to have banks help their customers,'' he said.

Case, 51, is an independent insurance agent who served 12 years in the House and is term limited. He said he decided to run for insurance commissioner after being encouraged by other insurance agents and industry officials.

He said bureaucratic delays in the office have slowed the ability of insurance agents to be licensed quickly and for the insurance industry to get their products to market quickly.

``You've got to open it up for competition,'' he said. ``More competition means lower rates. Lower rates means affordable insurance.''

Willard, 37, is a former insurance agent who works in the mortgage business. He described himself as a ``political nobody'' who has never run for office before but has the background to be insurance commissioner.

``It didn't sit right with me that nobody else was going to step up to the plate,'' Willard said.

Willard said he worked as the agency's Tulsa regional director in 2000 and 2001 during the administration of former Commissioner Carroll Fisher, convicted of embezzlement and perjury earlier this year.