Published: August 02, 2008 12:51 am            

Collins, Green ready for tough fall campaigns

By M. Scott Carter

Transcript Staff Writer

State Democrats will face a tough campaign season this fall and need to turn out in numbers, two candidates for office said Friday.

Speaking at the Cleveland County Democratic Party’s Tyner Cornbread and Beans luncheon, Democratic House candidates Wallace Collins and Troy Green said they were both ready for a tough fall campaign season.

Green, a Democrat from Moore, said he expected his upcoming race against state Rep. Randy Terrill to be a “very difficult contest.”

“It will be rough,” he said. “But I’ve done this before and I know what to expect.”

Green ran unsuccessfully against Terrill in 2004 and 2006.

“The GOP is bound and determined to win and they will try to win at all costs,” he said.

Green had harsh words for Terrill and the House’s GOP leadership because, he said, “they haven’t paid the state’s bill.”

“Look at transportation,” he said. “Twenty of the worst bridges in the country are in Oklahoma — look at the bridge spanning Highway 9, across Interstate 35. It’s another example of the fact that the GOP refuses to deal with the problems in Oklahoma.”

Government, Green said, “should serve and protect.”

“We have to look at the big picture: How is this decision going to effect the whole state?”

Echoing Green, Collins — who currently holds the House District 45 seat — criticized the House Republicans’ energy and oil policy.

“We need to look at alternatives for energy,” he said. “We should consider expanding the market for compressed natural gas. It’s clean burning and cheap.”

Friday, Collins announced he would conduct a legislative interim study which focused on personal light vehicles.

“This year, we passed a measure which allows ‘mini pickups’ to be used on city streets,” he said. “And we’re also going to look at the possibility of using other personal light vehicles on city streets.”

Those vehicles, he said, usually have engines ranging in size from 150 ccs to 650 ccs. “We’re making a little bit of progress,” he said. “But we still have a long way to go.”

Collins said he also planned a study of the conditions at Norman’s Griffin Memorial Hospital.

“It’s the only mental health hospital remaining in the state,” he said. “Not only are we going to look at the conditions at Griffin but the pay and conditions for employees.”

Previous requests for such studies were shot down, he said, because “the Republican leadership of the House runs the show; If they don’t like you, you don’t get heard.”

The only way to change things, Collins said, was to turn the House of Representatives back over to Democrats.

“It’s going to be a tough fall campaign,” he said. “We can’t be complacent. Don’t take anything for granted, you have to make sure and get out and vote.”

Otherwise, he said, Republicans will continue to run state government.

“My opponent was hand picked by former Republican lawmaker Thad Balkman,” Collins said. “And if you liked (Thad) Balkman, you’ll love Aaron Stiles.”

M. Scott Carter366-3545scarter@normantranscript.com

        

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