Drew Edmondson

William Andrew 'Drew' Edmondson
Attorney General Drew Edmondson and his wife Linda.
Attorney General of Oklahoma
Incumbent
Assumed office  1995
Preceded by	Susan B. Loving
Born	October 12, 1946 (1946-10-12) (age 63) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Linda Larason Edmondson
Website	Edmondson 2010

Oklahoma

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Oklahoma

Constitution United States Constitution Oklahoma Constitution Executive Government Governor: Brad Henry Lieutentant Governor: Jari Askins Secretary of State: M. Susan Savage State Auditor: Steve Burrage Attorney General: Drew Edmondson State Treasurer: Scott Meacham State School Superintendent: Sandy Garrett Labor Commissioner: Lloyd Fields Insurance Commissioner: Kim Holland Corporation Commission State Cabinet and State Agencies Legislature Legislature: 52nd Senate President of the Senate: Jari Askins President pro tempore: Glenn Coffee House of Representatives Speaker of the House: Chris Benge Judiciary Court System Supreme Court Court of Criminal Appeals Court of Civil Appeals Court on the Judiciary Court of Impeachment Nominating Commission Elections Elections State Election Board Last election Political parties Democratic Party Republican Party Political party strength Divisions Counties Cities and Towns Federal Relations Federal representation Senate Jim Inhofe (R) Tom Coburn (R) House of Representatives 1: John Sullivan (R) 2: Dan Boren (D) 3: Frank Lucas (R) 4: Tom Cole (R) 5: Mary Fallin (R) Politics of the United States

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view • talk • edit

William Andrew "Drew" Edmondson (born October 12, 1946), is an American lawyer and politician from Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, Edmondson is the 16th and current Attorney General of Oklahoma.

Early life

Drew Edmondson was born in Washington, D.C., and is the son of former U.S. Congressman Ed Edmondson and June Edmondson. He is also a nephew of former Governor J. Howard Edmondson. His brother, James E. Edmondson is a Justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. As a child, he grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C. and graduated from Muskogee High School in 1964. In 1968, he earned a B.A. in speech education from Northeastern State University, where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity. While a college student, he married Linda Larason of Fargo, Oklahoma. The couple has two children.

Early career

From 1968 to 1972, he served in the United States Navy including a year of duty in Vietnam.^[1] From 1974 to 1976, he served one term in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. He graduated from the University of Tulsa Law School in 1978. That same year, he joined the Muskogee County District Attorney's Office as an intern and became an Assistant District Attorney the following year. Following a brief stint in private practice with his brother, he was elected as Muskogee County District Attorney in 1982, and subsequently reelected unopposed in 1986 and 1990. As District Attorney, he personally prosecuted cases ranging from DUI to death penalty. He resigned in 1992, half way through his third term and reentered private practice.

Attorney General

Edmondson was elected as Oklahoma Attorney General in 1994. During his first term, he joined other state attorneys general in filing suit against the tobacco industry, successfully advocated for reform of the death penalty appeals process, and created a victim assistance unit. In 1998, he became the second Oklahoma Attorney General to win reelection unopposed. He was elected to a third term in 2002, defeating state Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode. During 2002-2003, he served as President of the National Association of Attorneys General. Notable cases investigated during his tenure as Attorney General have included the August, 2003 indictment of WorldCom and its former CEO Bernard Ebbers on charges of violating state securities laws although the charges were later dropped following Ebbers's federal sentencing. Furthermore, he conducted a corruption investigation against now-former State Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher, which resulted in Fisher's impeachment, resignation, and indictment on charges including embezzlement, tax evasion, perjury, and bribery.

In 2001, Edmondson became involved in a legal dispute with then-Governor Frank Keating over the Governor's restruction of his Cabinet, winning a state Supreme Court ruling that Keating had no authority to restructure his Cabinet without legislative approval in the case of Keating v. Edmondson.

Following the 2002 federal appeals court decision declaring the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, he joined several other state attorneys general in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision. Drew Edmondson's legal activities have not been limited to Oklahoma - they have reached as far away as New Jersey. He decided to support a New Jersey lawsuit in 2000 against the Boy Scouts of America, in an attempt to require the Boy Scouts to accept homosexual scout leaders.^{[citation needed]} The Supreme Court ruled against Edmondson's position, ruling that the Boys Scouts of America had the authority to set the criteria for leadership within their organization.

In October 2007, Edmondson indicted term limits and initiative rights activist Paul Jacob and two others on the grounds that they had illegally used out-of-state petitioners to collect signatures on a ballot initiative.^[2] On December 18, 2008 the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the underlying Oklahoma law that barred out of state petition circulators, noting that it was in violation of the First Amendment. Edmondson appealed the decision on behalf of Secretary of State Susan Savage. On January 21, 2009 the Tenth Circuit court denied the state's appeal, effectively ending the case.^[3]. The Attorney General's office dismissed the charges against Jacob and the other defendants, with Edmondson saying "The statute under which these defendants were charged has been declared unconstitutional, and the appellate process is complete...The statute is no longer enforceable."^[4] on January 22, 2009. The indictment of Jacob drew criticism for being politically motivated. 2008 independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader referred to the laws such as the one Jacob was charged with breaking as “Jim Crow laws,” adding, “We’ve seen this before against African Americans.^[5] The Wall Street Journal editorialized against the prosecution twice, calling it "bizarre"^[6][7], and Steve Forbes asked the question "Has North Korea Annexed Oklahoma?".^[8]

Edmondson was elected to a fourth term in the 2006 election, running against Republican James Dunn in the general election.

2010 Governor's Election

Edmonson announced on June 10, 2009 that he is a candidate for Governor of Oklahoma in the 2010 election cycle.

Awards and honors

On March 6, 2009 Edmondson was honored by his alma mater Northeastern State University with a 100 Centurion award. This award was given to 100 individuals that have had a positive impact on the NSU community in the last 100 years.

References

1. ^ "About Drew." Campaign Website. Retrieved 10-13-09.
2. ^ "Out of State Petition Circulators May Be Out Of Luck This Time." The Edmond Sun, October 8, 2007. Retrieved 10-13-09
3. ^ "Statement from Tenth Circuit Court"
4. ^ "Oklahoma won't appeal initiative petition ruling.". Daily Oklahoman, January 22, 2009
5. ^ "YouTube: Ralph Nader on CSPAN" FreePaulJacob.com. Retrieved 10-13-09
6. ^ "Oklahoma's Most Wanted", Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2007
7. ^ "Still Oklahoma's Most Wanted", Wall Street Journal, December 26, 2008
8. ^ "Has North Korea Annexed Oklahoma?", Forbes.com, November 26, 2007