Attempts At Running For Governor
Watkins didn't seek an eighth congressional term in 1990, but instead raised a then record setting 3 million dollars and ran for the Democratic nomination for governor. He ran ahead of House Speaker Steve Lewis, yet lost to eventual winner David Walters, who had been the Democratic Gubernatorial nominee 4 years earlier in 1986. Watkins was openly disappointed in the lack of support of the hierarchy of the state Democratic party. In 1994, Watkins ran for governor again, this time as an independent. He only won 23% of the vote. However, his independent candidacy siphoned off enough votes from Lieutenant Governor Jack Mildren, the Democratic candidate, to allow Frank Keating, a Reagan administration official, to become only the third Republican governor in Oklahoma history.
Read more about this topic: Wes Watkins
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