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Mary Fallin: the true conservative?
Lieutenant Governor Mary Fallin is locked in a tight battle with Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett for the Republican nomination to succeed Ernest Istook in Congress. Istook recently won the Republican nod for Governor without a runoff and will face Democrat Brad Henry in November.
Surprisingly, Istook and Fallin did not always see eye to eye when the two served together in the state legislature. OKPNS learned last week that the Oklahoma Constitution had given Fallin a 30% conservative rating in 1993. Exploring further, there were several glaring differences with the oft-heralded conservative icon she hopes to follow.
Among them, Fallin voted to spend $250,000 in taxpayer funds to create a Department of Volunteerism. Istook voted against the new agency. Fallin voted against Istook over legislation imposing state regulations of small businesses, in this case, tanning agencies. And in 1993, she voted to spend nearly $62 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund, while Istook opposed the measure and instead called for cutting the state bureaucracy.
According to the conservative Oklahoma Constitution, Fallin’s cumulative rating for her legislative career is 59%.
Istook earned an 80% during his final year in the legislature and a 73% cumulative rating. The national American Conservative Union, which rates Members of Congress, awarded Ernest Istook a 96% conservative rating in 2005, and a lifetime 94% rating.
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