Senator Nichols

Sun August 10, 2008
Lawyered up: State Senate candidates feel the love
The Daily Oklahoman Editorial

WHY would a citizen in Sallisaw care enough about a state Senate race in Norman to contribute to one of the candidates Or someone in McAlester do the same for a candidate running in Stillwater. It's a safe bet they know little about the candidates.
That doesn't matter. What matters is party affiliation in these cases, D for Democrat. The donors in both examples are attorneys who probably don't know the candidate, but do know the best way to remain in the tall cotton to which they're accustomed is to get Democrats back in control of the Senate, which has forever been the burial ground for lawsuit reform.

Republicans and Democrats have shared power in the Senate the past two years, the result of a 24-24 split in party membership. Both sides are going great guns to gain the majority, with three races in particular targeted. In all three, trial lawyers have been especially generous to the Democratic contenders.

In District 37, incumbent Sen. Nancy Riley of Tulsa, who was elected as a Republican but later switched parties, raised $125,065 in individual contributions during the past three reporting periods. Of that total, $85,425 came from lawyers, according to a figures provided by the head of Oklahoma Republican Senatorial Committee.

Two-term Republican incumbent Jonathan Nichols, who has served the Norman area with distinction in District 15, has seen his opponent lawyer up in a big way. Diane Drum raised $74,485 in individual donations in the past three quarters. Three-fourths of that $56,115 came from attorneys.

The open Senate District 21 seat in Stillwater, formerly held by Democratic co-President Pro Tem Mike Morgan, is another key battleground. Democratic candidate Robert Murphy's lone campaign report showed $35,900 of his $51,600 in individual donations had come from the trial bar.

To be sure, the Republicans in these races have raised funds from constituents in the business and medical professions, groups that advocate for meaningful tort and workers' compensation reform. But 70-75 percent?

Some lawyers who gave to these campaigns listed their occupations as "self employed or "consultant. We've seen "rancher and "homemaker used in other cases. This is rich. It also may help explain why "unknown was given as the occupations of many injured workers who donated ? often unknowingly ? to a political action committee run by workers' comp attorneys. How are some attorneys supposed to keep their clients' professions straight when they're not sure of their own.

GOP control of the Senate could put lawsuit reform back in play. Trial lawyers know this and are rallying their forces. Their goal is a return to the good old days when Democrats ran the Senate and ran every tort reform bill into the ground.