State Representative Doug Cox M.D. has announced his intention to seek reelection for his sixth and final term as state representative for House District 5, covering parts of Delaware and Mayes Counties. Due to Oklahoma term limit laws, the upcoming 2014 election will be Rep. Cox’s last for the legislature. State law does allow term limited legislators to run for a state-wide elected office.
Dr. Cox stated, “I have enjoyed my ten years serving the people of Delaware and Mayes Counties in the Oklahoma Legislature. I have served both in good times, when there was plenty of money to appropriate, and also through the very lean times of the great recession where we essentially had a revenue failure in Oklahoma and to some extent had to rely on the “federal bail out” money to balance our budget for two years.
“We have made many great accomplishments for our state over the last 10 years. However, there is much work left to do”. When asked about what he wanted to see happen in his last years in the legislature Cox stated, “It is time to step up to the plate and adequately fund education for our state’s children. In addition, our state employees deserve a wage competitive with private industry to help us stop our high employee turnover rate”.
The first physician elected to the Oklahoma legislature in 20 years resulted in Cox being placed in charge of the health care budget and health policy issues. However, Cox has always seen himself as champion for education. “Most of the problems facing our state, including those that consume massive amounts of tax dollars, will decrease as we improve the education level of our citizens”, he stated. “Having a well funded education system with high standards is truly the key to a bright Oklahoma future.”
A champion for Oklahoma, Cox feels he has developed a good relationship with our federal legislators and state agencies such as the Dept. of Transportation, Grand River Dam Authority, and the Dept. of Tourism, to name a few, that are so important to issues in our area. Known as the “flag man”, Rep Cox takes great pride to always having Oklahoma flags to give free of charge to his constituents. “We need to display our pride in this great state. What better way than to fly our state flag?”
“ I have always appreciated and been honored to serve as a State Representative and hope the folks will elect to send me back for a final two year term.”
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