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Corn enters race for Lt. Governor |
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Thursday, 22 January 2009 |
 | Senator Kenneth Corn with one of his former elementary teachers, Vicki Jirash, following his announcement that he will be running for Oklahoma Lt. Governor.
PDN photo by David Deaton
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By Laura Young, Managing Editor
From the halls of his former high school in Howe, Democrat Kenneth Corn entered the 2010 race for Lieutenant Governor Wednesday, vowing to bring new hope for a new Oklahoma that focuses on the needs of families, main street businesses and schools in the face of troubling economic times at home, nationally and overseas.
His announcement comes six days after the current Democratic lieutenant governor, Jari Askins, declared she is running for governor.
Corn says as lieutenant governor he will have the freedom to concentrate on a few key programs that will bring hope to Oklahomans in troubled times.
"As a people and state, today we face hardships that many may think are beyond our ability to conquer," the Poteau resident said, "but our state is one that was built upon the simple concept of hope - hope that one day, at some time, each person's life and the lives of their families would be better."
"From the Trail of Tears and the great Land Run, to the poverty and exodus of the Great Depression and the choking Clouds of the Dust Bowl; through war and famine, oil boom and bust, each crisis has produced a generation of new leaders who possessed challenging and innovative ideas that brought us back from disaster and collapse; who gave us hope that all was not lost and that, together, we would survive and prosper as a people and a state," the 32-year-old state senator said. "I enter the race for Lieutenant Governor humbly, as one part of a new generation of leaders who have come of age while holding great respect for Oklahomans who have come before us and for what they have toiled so hard and so successfully to accomplish. I campaign for this office with the conviction and knowledge that I have the ability, desire and tenacity to make a positive difference in our state. I ask for the vote of every citizen who believes and hopes, as I do, that a new Oklahoma is possible."
"I have seen first hand the struggles we as Oklahomans have had to endure," Corn said during a recent interview with the Poteau Daily News. "There are hundreds of families out there who continue to work hard and play by the rules but still have trouble making ends meet. I am someone who makes it a priority to create opportunities for Oklahomans so they won't have to struggle."
"I want to stay involved in all aspects (of state government) and do all I can to help people deal with government," Corn stated.
Corn pledged to be the most active lieutenant governor in Oklahoma history. He said his focus will be on filling vacant store fronts on main streets across Oklahoma with new businesses and searching out opportunities to create secure, new jobs with good pay and benefits for all workers.
Enabling any Oklahoman with the desire to obtain a college degree will continue to be his goal, just as it has been in the Legislature, and, Corn said, he will work to develop new ways to improve and bolster public schools and health care.
"We should not settle for just reaching the national average in any area," Corn said. "I want to pull together the best minds from inside Oklahoma and from outside our borders with the goal of reviewing our past actions and our laws and then developing new ideas and programs that will move our state forward at an unprecedented pace."
Corn, who was first elected in 1998 as one of the youngest people ever to serve in the State Legislature, said he will work with key lawmakers to introduce and pass critical legislation in the areas of education, job creation, health care and public safety.
Corn has been interested in politics since the tender age of nine.
"I remember in 1986 a man called Larry Dickerson came by my house knocking on doors asking for support from my parents," Corn stated. "I was very impressed with him and it was then that I started paying attention."
He now holds the seat that was the former Senator Larry Dickerson's.
Corn said there have been several times during the last 10 years that he has thought about giving it all up and going to work in the private sector.
"My dad had the most influence on my staying in office," Corn said with emotion. "When I would tell him I was ready to quit he would tell me to stay in public service and do what's right no matter what."
Corn has built a reputation as a determined lawmaker who has passed some of the most far-reaching legislation in the last decade involving education, public safety, health care and road and bridge construction.
"I believe amid today's specter of lost jobs, a crumbling economy, record home foreclosures, vanishing retirement funds, empty buildings along main streets, strapped schools, and a multiple of social ills, that hope exists today in Oklahoma," Corn said. "Hope is what created Oklahoma. My hope, my dream, is of a new Oklahoma that leads America; a state where creativity and innovation flourish; where our neighborhoods and streets are inviting avenues free of crime; where our rivers and streams are free of pollution and our mountains and forests thrive. My hope is one where a life time of hard work is rewarded and not lost; where justice and fairness rule the workplace; and where every Oklahoman, no matter what their background, has every chance to build a good life, and work at a good job with a good salary so their family can prosper and have even greater hopes and dreams."
"I believe every child in Oklahoma should know that they have the chance to stay in Oklahoma to raise their families and prosper," Corn stated.
The young democrat credits his success to the people of the district.
"LeFlore County has been great to me," he said. "The people were there for me as a teen and as a young legislator. I would not be where I am today if not for LeFlore County." |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 26 January 2009 )
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