District 82 hopefuls define differences

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June 21, 2012

District 82 hopefuls define differences

Thad Ayers The Edmond Sun The Edmond Sun Thu Jun 21, 2012, 07:36 PM CDT

EDMOND — In the Oklahoma House District 82 race, two candidates separated by 50 years are vying for the Republican vote in Tuesday’s primary election.

Guy Liebmann, 75, R-Oklahoma City, and Mike Turner, 25, R-Edmond, are separated by many years and ideals.

A political newcomer, Turner, an inventor consultant and business investor, said District 82 needs clear representation.

“There’s a difference between statesmen and politicians,” he said. “We need to have legislators that are closer to the people.”

Cutting government spending is one thing Turner said he would do if elected. In that he argues for more transparency in spending.

“For spending cuts we must first look and have an accurate representation where all the money is going,” he said. “Once we know where money is going then we can make cuts.”

The House approved a $6.8 billion budget on May 24 for the next fiscal year by a vote of 52-42.

As a fresh face, Turner said he also would challenge the status quo as a better district representative.

Turner grew up in Oklahoma City and graduated from Heritage Hall. He attended college at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, receiving a master’s degree in electrical engineering and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

He said his grassroots campaign is the difference maker.

“I’m facing the fact that (Liebmann) has been entrenched in politics for a long time, but I knock doors,” Turner said. “And people have been extraordinarily receptive that I don’t take special interest money or PAC (Political Action Committee) money.”

PACs represent groups of professionals or ideological supporters who pool money together to contribute to a candidate.

In this election, Liebmann has received $12,750 from committees and $7,160 from personal contributions from Jan. 1 to June 18, but had $105,669.85 carry over from December 2011, according to Liebmann’s campaign finance report filed with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. In total, Liebmann has taken in $121,738.05 and spent $43,894.75 on this campaign.

Turner has $108,240 to his name on this campaign and has spent $87,684.38. His funding comes from $38,240 in donations, in addition to $72,600 of Turner’s own money.

Liebmann, who has served four two-year terms in the House, said the committee money he’s received is normal in a campaign.

“They all have PACs and they make contributions whether they like someone or not,” said Liebmann, who is eligible to serve for two more terms. “They never ask you to vote a certain way.”

Many of the committees contributing to the Liebmann campaign have businesses located in the district 82 area, which occupies most of the region north and northwest of Lake Hefner and extends up to about Rockwell Avenue and 178th Street in Oklahoma City, according to 2010 district boundaries for the House of Representatives.

Liebmann said if he’s re-elected he’ll continue his record of improving Oklahoma’s roads and bridges as a House Transportation Committee member. An eight-year plan to improve Oklahoma roads and the state’s 706 deficient bridges was approved in the May budget.

Liebmann said about 4,000 miles of winding and worn roads need widening and updating.

“Both the House and Senate have agreed that it’s a real priority now,” he said. “In our eight-year plan, every bridge on the list should be rebuilt to where it’s fixed and not really a problem.”

Liebmann and Turner do have common ground on education and taxes. Both candidates said better education funding is needed to both keep people in state and to attract more businesses to Oklahoma.

“If you have better educated people, it’ll make the job of recruiting businesses that move here easier,” Liebmann said.

Turner said education can help “incentivize” people to the state.

On taxes, the candidates favor a 10-year plan to eliminate income taxes, but disagree on the path to get there.

Liebmann said the state needs to “grow the economy” to achieve that goal.

Turner says otherwise.

“Income (tax) runs a third of our budget,” he estimated. “That means there’s going to have to be some cuts in government.”

The primary election goes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. More information on polling locations and early voting can be found at www.ok.gov/elections.

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