Published: November 08, 2006 02:27 pm            

Collins reclaims House seat

• Sparks, Martin, Nations, Terrill win

Norman Democrat John Sparks was elected Tuesday to fill the state Senate District 16 seat vacated by the term-limited Cal Hobson, D-Lexington. Republican Scott Martin will fill the seat being vacated by Doug Miller, R-Norman.

Sparks and Martin, political newcomers, will join incumbents Bill Nations, Randy Terrill and a returning Wallace Collins who defeated two-term Rep. Thad Balkman in Cleveland County’s legislative delegation, voters decided Tuesday.

• State Senate 16

A jubilant Sparks said he overcame some “urban myths” to soundly win the Senate District 16 race, after a hotly contested three-way Democratic primary and runoff.

The Norman attorney beat Republican Ron Davis of Purcell by 10,986 to 7,871.

“This has gone as well as I could have hoped,” he said at a packed watch party at Texadelphia in Norman. “This has been a long road, one that we started two years ago tonight. … It’s been fun and hard work and we learned a lot.”

Sparks thanked his wife, business partners and volunteers.

“I have been the luckiest guy in the world,” he said for the support he’d received.

Sparks won Cleveland County by 9,900 to 6,576 votes or a 60 percent margin.

In McClain County, Davis edged Sparks by a vote of 1,295 to 1,086.

Sparks said several issues really resonated with voters and that people believe the state can do better in many different ways.

“I think people are really concerned about health care in this state,” he said.

He said he’s hopeful they can raise the minimum wage and make sure there are enough prison guards for Oklahoma’s inmate population.

• State Senate 24

In one of the closest races in the state, Senate District 24 which pitted incumbent Democrat Daisy Lawler of Comanche against Moore Republican Anthony Sykes was still too close to call late Tuesday.

For most of the evening, the race teetered back and forth.

Sykes won Cleveland County by 1,814 votes — 4,404 to 2,590 votes after some boxes were recounted.

He also took McClain County by 593 votes, by a 1,636 to 1,043 tally.

Several boxes had to be recounted in Grady County. The preliminary tally with 14 of 15 precincts counted at 11:30 p.m. was 1,995 for Sykes to 1,864 votes for Lawler.

Lawler won her home Stephens County by 2,122 votes.

“I knew it would be close because of the makeup of my district,” Lawler said earlier Tuesday afternoon.

• House District 45

Smiling amid the cheers of “Wallace! Wallace!” former state Rep. Collins leveraged $50,000 and a concentrated grass roots effort to defeat incumbent Republican Balkman in the race for House District 45.

With the win, Collins reclaims the House seat he lost four years ago.

“This is a great night,” he said. “It proves that the voters wanted change.”

Collins defeated Balkman 5,359 votes to 5,270 votes, an 89-vote margin.

Collins, surrounded by his family and a standing-room-only crowd at the Democrat’s election night watch party, said he was grateful for everyone who helped in the race.

“I want to thank each and every one of you,” an emotional Collins said. “Each of you helped. If anyone had hiccuped, we might not be here. It was a great effort.”

Though outspent by more than $200,000 in a race that was considered a must-win for both parties, Collins said voters grew tired of Balkman’s style.

“We took on a guy who had a ton of money and Chesapeake Energy behind him,” Collins said. “And we beat him.”

Standing with his former primary election opponent, Estelle Cash, Collins said the evening was “the first victory of a great night for Democrats. What a difference four years makes.”

Balkman, R-Norman, conceded defeat Tuesday night among Republican supporters.

“I’ve accepted (the results)… and I concede to my opponent,” Balkman said. “You can’t do this unless you have complete and total support from your family and I have that. When I think about the friends I’ve made, I really appreciate that.

“I have no regrets about how hard we worked and how people helped me. It just wasn’t meant to be. It wasn’t meant to be. Where God closes one door, he opens another.”

• House District 46

With his wife, Angie, at his side, Martin, R-Norman, gave his victory speech at a Republican watch party. Martin, a first-time candidate, defeated fellow first-time candidate Tom Robinson, D-Norman, 6,066 votes to 4,106 votes.

Martin said he applauded his opponent for running a clean campaign from the primary to the finish.

“The best thing about this year is (my wife and I are) going to have a baby next year,” Martin said. “This has been an incredible experience and I want each of you to know you can count on me at the Capitol. I don’t want to just make a difference, I want to make a positive difference and we’re going to do that.”

Martin said in addition to the support from his wife, he also appreciated all of the volunteers and voters.

“This validates all the hard work we put in,” Martin said. “I’m honored to be able to represent the people of House District 46 and our state. I’m excited to be a part of the next 100 years of Oklahoma.”

Though the vote didn’t go his way, Democrat Tom Robinson had no regrets.

“We kept to the issues and didn’t drag each other through the mud,” Robinson said late Tuesday evening. “I was very pleased.”

Robinson praised Martin, calling him a “nice young man.”

“I just hope Scott Martin stays Scott Martin when he gets to the state House,” he said.

• House District 44

While no one expected him to lose, not even state Rep. Nations, himself, expected to win re-election by 75 percent. Nations, D-Norman, said he was grateful to win by one of the largest margins in the district’s history.

The former Norman mayor and retired dentist defeated Republican Gary Caissie 6,023 votes to 2,299 votes.

“It is incredibly rewarding to have held public office for 20 years and have people still come out and vote for me,” he said.

Caissie, R-Norman, conceded to Nations Tuesday evening.

“I’d like to thank my supporters for voting for me and I hope Nations has a good two years ahead of him,” Caissie said. “It was a good campaign.”

• House District 53

Rep. Terrill, R-Moore, announced his victory over Democratic challenger Troy Green while at the state Republican watch party in Oklahoma City. Terrill had 6,783 votes to Green’s 3,786 votes, respectively. Terrill said while the loss of incumbents, including Rep. Balkman, will hurt the party, he said he looks forward to serving a second term.

“I’m a very blessed man,” Terrill said. “My wife gave birth to a baby boy just under a few weeks ago, so I’m really doubly blessed.”

Terrill said he thanks his family and the voters and said he “couldn’t be more thrilled.”

“The first time that you’re elected, the race is only partially about you,” Terrill said. “When you’re running for re-election, it’s all about you because you have a record in office.”

While he was disappointed in the results, Moore Democrat Troy Green said he had no regrets.

“Yeah, I’m disappointed in the vote; I felt like we covered the issues of health care and education, while Rep. Terrill just hammered away on immigration. I still believe we had a better message, but I guess it just wasn’t to be.”

Outspent by almost two-to-one, Green praised his volunteers and campaign workers.

“We worked real hard,” he said. “We hung 13,000 door hangers in Moore, Norman and Oklahoma City, so I know we gave it our best shot.”

        

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