Todd Lamb (politician)

Todd Lamb (born October 19, 1971) is an American politician and university administrator who is the current president of the University of Central Oklahoma. He previously served as the 16th lieutenant governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019 and as a member of the Oklahoma state senate from 2005 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Todd Lamb
22nd President of the University of Central Oklahoma
Assumed office
July 1, 2023
Preceded byPatti Neuhold–Ravikumar
16th Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
In office
January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2019
GovernorMary Fallin
Preceded byJari Askins
Succeeded byMatt Pinnell
Member of the Oklahoma Senate
from the 47th district
In office
January 3, 2005 – January 10, 2011
Preceded byMike Fair
Succeeded byGreg Treat
Personal details
Born (1971-10-19) October 19, 1971 (age 53)
Enid, Oklahoma, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMonica
Children2
EducationOklahoma State University–Stillwater (BA)
Oklahoma City University (JD)

In the 2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial election, Lamb campaigned for the Republican nomination, but placed third in the primary behind former Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett and Kevin Stitt, who advanced to a runoff.

Early life and education

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Lamb is the son of Norman Lamb and Belva Lamb. Lamb was raised in Enid, Oklahoma, and graduated from Enid High School.[1] Lamb attended Louisiana Tech University, where he was member of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team.[2] After two years at La. Tech, he transferred to Oklahoma State University where he received his bachelor's degree.[1][2] Todd also received his Juris Doctor from Oklahoma City University School of Law.[3]

Career

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In 1993, he joined Frank Keating's campaign for governor of Oklahoma, and, following its success in November 1994, was appointed to the governor's staff. In 1998 he resigned to become a special agent with the United States Secret Service, where he conducted criminal investigations of counterfeiting, bank fraud, identity theft, and threats against the president of the United States. During the 2000 presidential election campaign, he served as a site supervisor for George W. Bush's campaign. In 2001, he was appointed to the national Joint Terrorism Task Force; after the September 11 attacks, he was assigned to help investigate them.[4][failed verification]

Oklahoma Senate

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From 2005 to 2011, Lamb was a member of the Oklahoma Senate representing the 47th Senate District (which includes part of Oklahoma City as well as Edmond).[3]

Lieutenant governor

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Lamb in 2011

In 2010, Lamb decided to run for lieutenant governor. He faced four Republican primary election opponents in John A. Wright (R-Broken Arrow), a member of the Oklahoma State House; Bill Crozier, a former Republican candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction; Bernie Adler, an Oklahoma City real estate investor; and Paul Nosak, a tree removal service owner from Oklahoma City. Lamb won the primary election with over 66% of the votes cast, thus avoiding a runoff.[5]

In the general election, Lamb faced Democrat Kenneth Corn and independent candidate Richard Prawdzienski, but he defeated them, garnering more than 64% of the votes.[6]

During his tenure, Lamb served in the cabinet of Mary Fallin as the small business advocate.[when?] However, he resigned from that position on February 16, 2017, due to his opposition to proposed tax increases.[7]

2018 gubernatorial campaign

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Lamb ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Oklahoma in the 2018 election.[8] On June 26, 2018, he lost the primary election to Mick Cornett, former mayor of Oklahoma City, and businessman Kevin Stitt.[9] Stitt won the runoff and later defeated his Democratic opponent, former attorney general Drew Edmondson, in the November general election.[10]

Flash Point

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On June 2, 2019, Lamb announced he would become a panelist on Flash Point, a locally-produced Sunday morning political talk show on Oklahoma City’s NBC affiliate KFOR-TV, starting on the June 16 broadcast. He took over the conservative panelist seat being vacated by former Oklahoma City mayor Kirk Humphreys.[11][12]

University of Central Oklahoma presidency

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The Board of Regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO) named Lamb the 22nd president of the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO). Lamb assumed the presidency beginning July 1, 2023, replacing Andrew K. Benton, who had been named interim president of UCO in January 2023.[13][3]

Personal life

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Lamb is married to his wife Monica and they have two children.[14]

Electoral history

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November 2, 2004, Election results for Oklahoma State Senator for District 47
Candidates Party Votes %
Todd Lamb Republican Party 25,918 71.36%
Adam Miller Democratic Party 10,403 30.76%
Source: [1]

November 4, 2008, Election results for Oklahoma

State Senator for District 47

Candidates Party Votes %
Todd Lamb Republican Party n/a 100.00%
July 27, 2010, Election results for Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
Candidates Party Votes %
Todd Lamb Republican Party 156,834 66.84%
John A. Wright Republican Party 41,177 17.55%
Paul F. Nosak Republican Party 13,941 5.94%
Bill Crozier Republican Party 12,177 5.19%
Bernie Adler Republican Party 10,515 4.48%
Source: [2] Archived 2012-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
November 2, 2010, Election results for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
Candidates Party Votes %
Todd Lamb Republican Party 659,242 64.03%
Kenneth Corn Democratic Party 334,711 32.51%
Richard Prawdzienski Independent 35,665 3.46%
Source: [3] Archived 2012-08-13 at the Wayback Machine

November 4, 2014, Election results for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma

Candidates Party Votes %
Todd Lamb (inc.) Republican Party 562,008 68.5
Cathy Cummings Democratic Party 258,564 31.5
Republican primary results[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mick Cornett 132,806 29.3
Republican Kevin Stitt 110,479 24.4
Republican Todd Lamb 107,985 23.9
Republican Dan Fisher 35,818 7.9
Republican Gary Jones 25,243 5.6
Republican Gary Richardson 18,185 4.0
Republican Blake Stephens 12,211 2.7
Republican Christopher Barnett 5,240 1.2
Republican Barry Gowdy 2,347 0.5
Republican Eric Foutch 2,292 0.5
Total votes 452,606 100.0

References

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  1. ^ a b Barron, Robert (June 13, 2011). "Lamb: Oklahoma poised for great things". Enid News & Eagle. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Todd Lamb: Oklahoma's lieutenant governor a former Louisiana Tech receiver". The Oklahoman. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Derksen, Cheyenne (May 19, 2022). "Todd Lamb named next president of University of Central Oklahoma". The Oklahoman. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  4. ^ "Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb - About Todd Lamb". Ok.gov. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  5. ^ "SUMMARY RESULTS: Primary Election -- July 27, 2010". Ok.gov. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  6. ^ "Election Results" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 16, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
  7. ^ Stewart, Sarah (February 16, 2017). "Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb resigns from Gov. Fallin's cabinet". KFOR. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  8. ^ "Lt. Governor Todd Lamb files candidacy paperwork for 2018 governor's race". KFOR. April 7, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  9. ^ Rupar, Terri (June 26, 2018). "Lieutenant governor concedes in GOP gubernatorial race in Oklahoma; runoff set". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  10. ^ Felder, Ben (November 6, 2018). "Kevin Stitt wins governor's race". The Oklahoman. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  11. ^ Jordan Miller (June 4, 2019). "Todd Lamb to join KFOR's 'Flash Point'". The Norman Transcript. Community Newspaper Holdings. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  12. ^ K. Butcher (June 2, 2019). ""It's been a great season here," Member of Flash Point team makes big announcement". KFOR-TV. Tribune Broadcasting. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  13. ^ "UCO Press Release: RUSO Names University of Central Oklahoma's Next President". uco.edu. May 18, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  14. ^ "LT. Gov. Todd Lamb". Four Star Leadership. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  15. ^ "State Election Results, Statewide Primary Election, June 26, 2018". www.ok.gov. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
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Oklahoma Senate
Preceded by
Mike Fair
Member of the Oklahoma Senate
from the 47th district

2005–2011
Succeeded by
Preceded by Majority Leader of the Oklahoma Senate
2009–2011
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
2010, 2014
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
2011–2019
Succeeded by