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Charles Bradford "Brad" Henry (born July 10, 1963) was the
26th Governor of
Oklahoma. A member of the
Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002. Henry won re-election for a second term on November 7, 2006 with 66% of the vote.
[1]
Henry was the third governor and second Democrat in Oklahoma history to hold two consecutive terms, along with Democrat
George Nigh and Republican
Frank Keating.
In 2010, Henry was ineligible to run for re-election even though he
maintained high approval ratings, because of term limits set by the
Oklahoma Constitution. His second term ended on January 10, 2011, and he was succeeded as governor by Republican
Mary Fallin.
Henry has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the
U.S. Senate.
[2]
Early life and education
Henry was born in
Shawnee, Oklahoma, the son of Charles Henry, a prominent judge and former state representative.
[3] After graduating from Shawnee High School in 1981, Henry attended the
University of Oklahoma as a President's Leadership Scholar and earned a bachelor's degree in
economics in 1985.
[3] He was a member of
Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. In 1988, he was awarded his law degree from the
University of Oklahoma College of Law, where he served as managing editor of the
Law Review.
[3]
Henry practiced law in
Shawnee, Oklahoma before running for the
Oklahoma State Senate.
[4] He served as a state senator from 1992 until he became governor.
[4]
Gubernatorial campaigns
2002 gubernatorial election
In the 2002 election for governor, Henry defeated former
Republican Congressman Steve Largent, an NFL Hall of Famer, by just over one-half of one percent of the vote, in a race that also included Independent candidate
Gary Richardson,
a retired federal prosecutor. Henry received 448,143 votes (43.27%) to
Largent's 441,277 votes (42.61%). Richardson, a former Republican
candidate, received 146,200 votes (14%).
[5]
Henry ran a campaign of "barnstorming" rural areas, and stopping at
Wal-Mart stores in an RV with supporters. Henry was endorsed by football
coach
Barry Switzer, who has widespread popularity in the Sooner State and accompanied Henry to many campaign events.
On the policy side of the campaign, Henry ran on the platform of the
"education governor." He argued for increasing teachers' salaries and
funding for higher education in the state by approving a
state lottery to raise money.
2006 campaign
In the Democratic Party primary election on July 25, 2006, Henry received 218,712 votes, 86% of the vote.
[6]
In the November 7 general election, Henry faced Fifth District U.S. Congressman
Republican Ernest Istook and won with 66% of the vote.
[1] He won with a higher total than any gubernatorial candidate in almost fifty years.
[7]
Governor of Oklahoma
Henry was sworn in as Oklahoma's 26th Governor on January 13, 2003,
with the oath of office being administered by his cousin, federal
appeals court judge
Robert Harlan Henry. As Governor, he was a member of the
National Governors Association, the
Southern Governors' Association, and the
Democratic Governors Association. He was the president of the
Council of State Governments in 2007.
Henry made national headlines by giving
sanctuary from the
redistricting warrant to
Texas
Democrats in that state's legislature by allowing them to travel across
state lines into Oklahoma en masse to deny a quorum for voting on a
redistricting plan. "Our position is that, without a warrant signed by a
judge, we have no authority. Even under those circumstances, we are
hesitant to get pulled into a Texas political battle.
If we're going to do battle with Texas, we prefer that it be on the football field," Henry said through his spokesman.
As a tax-cutting governor, Henry has sought a stance of moderation on
most political hot button issues and seemingly has appeal across party
lines.
[8] Henry is
pro-choice
and has vetoed legislation to mandate ultrasound viewings prior to
abortion procedures. He has a mixed view of racial affirmative action,
supporting it in college and graduate schools, but not in hiring for the
bureaucracy. Henry supports expanding public healthcare and holding
HMOs accountable for poor care; however, he also is in favor of
upholding the death penalty and is against gun control. The governor
supports tax cuts for the lower and middle classes and believes in
keeping the income tax; he also supports using the "War on Drugs"
strategy to combat methamphetamine use within his state.
[8]
On May 27, 2004, Governor Brad Henry issued Executive Order 04-21,
which created the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council.
[9] The Ethnic American Advisory Council then published an English translation of the Qur'an embossed with the
Oklahoma State seal which was then distributed to 149 Oklahoma state legislators.
[10] There were 35 lawmakers who declined to accept the copy of the Qur'an that they were offered.
[11]
After refusing the copy of the Qur'an, Republican State Representative
Rex Duncan wrote a letter to his colleagues explaining, "Most Oklahomans
do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the
name of ideology." Further, Duncan said during a TV interview "I think
it was inappropriate that they used a state centennial seal on a
religious item."
[12]
In 2003, Henry signed bills into law that: made downloading child
pornography a crime, strengthened the financial oversight of HMOs by the
state, created a $300,000 cap on noneconomic damages for obstetric and
emergency room cases except in wrongful death cases or if negligence is
shown and made other changes to regulate medical liability actions,
penalized predatory lending, authorized payday lending, and placed a
moratorium on the sale of water from a sole source aquifer.
[13] He also was a strong supporter of a ballot proposal to establish a statewide lottery to benefit schools.
[13]
In 2004, Henry signed a bill into law that set out a total of $2,100
in across-the-board salary increases for state employees, public school
teachers and state troopers.
[14] He also signed legislation to limit the sale of pseudoephedrine used to make crystal meth.
[14]
In 2008, Henry vetoed an anti-abortion measure which required, among
other things, women to get an ultrasound before having an abortion. The
veto was overridden and was the first override in Oklahoma since 1994,
when Gov.
David Walters was in office.
[15] That law was struck down by a state district court, but passed again in April 2010, whereupon Henry again vetoed it.
[16] His veto was again overridden.
[17]
Despite Henry's high job approval ratings and avoidance of
controversy, Oklahoma voters approved a term limit holding the governor
to a total length-of-time of eight years in office. The law already
provided for a term limit of two consecutive terms for the governor.
This effectively prohibited Henry, then 47, from making a comeback
attempt at a later date.
[18]
However, later in the fall of 2013, Henry stated the initiative
doesn't apply to him: claiming he was already term limited by the State
Constitution before the proposition was approved. Supporters have asked
Henry to run in the 2014 elections against incumbent Republican Governor
Mary Fallin, but Henry refused to challenge the popular Republican; but didn't rule out a future gubernatorial campaign in the future.
Oklahoma Supreme Court appointments
Governor Henry appointed the following Justices to the
Oklahoma Supreme Court:
Budget proposals
Governor Henry submitted the following budgets to the
Oklahoma Legislature:
2004,
2005,
2006,
2007,
2008,
2009,
2010, and
2011.
Legacy
Henry was widely expected to be named President of the
University of Central Oklahoma.
However, the state's largest newspapers, The Daily Oklahoman and The
Tulsa World, both editorialized against the appointment of Henry as UCO
president by the UCO Board of Regents, which was appointed by Henry.
Another candidate,
Don Betz, was named to the position. Henry was considered a likely choice to be Dean of the
Oklahoma City University School of Law. However, U.S. Federal Magistrate
Valerie Couch
was appointed. As Governor, Henry appointed 5 members of the Oklahoma
Supreme Court and delivered the 2010 commencement address at the OCU
School of Law. Henry has strong experience as Oklahoma Senate Judiciary
Chairman, OU Law Review Editor and considerable skills in fundraising.
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