President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate

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Mike Morgan, the 40th and current President "pro tempore"

Oklahoma

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

Constitution

State government Governor Lieutenant Governor Attorney General Secretary of State State Treasurer State Cabinet Legislature Senate President of the Senate President pro tempore House of Representatives Speaker Court System Supreme Court Court on the Judiciary Court of Impeachment Nominating Commission Political Parties Democratic Republican Minor parties Counties Federal government United States Senate James Inhofe (R) Tom Coburn (R) United States House John Sullivan (R) Dan Boren (D) Frank Lucas (R) Tom Cole (R) Mary Fallin (R)

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The President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the Senate and the highest-ranking senator. The Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma is the President of the Senate ex officio, and thus is the highest-ranking member of the Senate; during her absence, the President pro tempore presides over the Senate.

The President pro tempore is elected by the Senate; by custom, he is typically the most senior senator in the majority party. Normally, since the Lieutenant Governor traditionally doesn’t preside, the duty falls to the President “pro tempore.” The office of President “pro tempore” was created in 1907 by Oklahoma Constitution, the President “pro tempore” is selected by the Senate.While not a Constitutional requirement, every President “pro tempore” has been a member of the Majority Party.

The President pro tempore is second in line of succession to the Governorship of Oklahoma, behind the Lieutenant Governor. The President’s counterpart in the Oklahoma House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House.

The current President pro tempore of the Senate is Mike Morgan, a Democrat from Stillwater, who has held the office since March of 2005. However, as a result of 2006 elections, the Senate is split evenly 24-24 between the Democrats and the Republicans. A power sharing agreement has been reached that creates a co-president pro tempore. Under this agreement, Mike Morgan will serve as President pro tempore during the first session of the 51st Legislature, while Glenn Coffee (R-Oklahoma City) will serve during the 2nd session, When not serving as president pro tempore, Morgan and Coffee will hold the new office of co-president pro tempore. But both will preside over the Senate every other day, effectively making them both president pro tempore. The reason for the creation of the co-presidency is because the President pro tempore's role in gubernatorial succession and therefore there can only be one president pro tempore elected.

[edit] History

Henry S. Johnston was the first President "pro tempore" and seventh Governor of Oklahoma.

Following the statehood of Oklahoma in 1907, the first President “pro tempore” was elected. Unlike present day Speaker elections, since all candidates had no prior service in the Senate, there were no prominent former Senate leaders to select from. With the Democrats controlling the Senate, the popular State Senator Henry S. Johnston of Perry was selected to serve as the first President “pro tempore”. Sworn into office on November 16, 1907, (the same day Oklahoma was admitted to the Union) Johnston served as the President “pro tempore” from 1907 to 1909.

Unlike the Oklahoma House of Representatives, the Senate has never fallen out of Democratic control in it’s nearly century of existence. As such, every President “pro tempore” has been a Democrat. For its first 60 years, no one person ever held the office for more than one term consecuatively. State Senator Tom Anglin of Holdenville was the first to hold the office a second time: first from 1923-1925 and a second time from 1943-1945. Clem McSpadden was the first President to serve two consecutive terms, from 1965 to 1969. As in the House, once one person held the camber’s highest office, the trend continued.

From 1965 to 2006, ten Presidents have been selected to serve over the 41 year period, a period which would allow for the election of 22 Presidents. Of those ten Presidents, only James E. Hamilton of Poteau and Carl Hobson of Lexington serving only a single term. Hamilton sought the U.S. Senate nomination in 1980,unsuccessfully. Hobson, was forced to resign during the legislative session, by a vote of the Senate Democratic Caucus, in 2005 due to alcohol abuse. Hobson in 2006 sought unsuccessfully to be the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor.

Four Presidents have served two consecutive terms and two presidents have served three consecutive terms. Currently, Stratton Taylor of Claremore holds the record of four consecutive terms. State Senator Taylor held the office for eight years, 1995 to 2003, serving as the President "pro tempore" under the entire administration of Governor Frank Keating.

[edit] Powers

The President “pro tempore” holds a variety of powers as the presiding officer of the Senate. Before any member may speak, he must seek the presiding officer's recognition. The presiding officer may call on members as he pleases, and may therefore control the flow of debate. The presiding officer decides all questions of orders during debate, seats in the camber, calls members to order for violating rules, and approves all claims for supplies and services. He is responsible for maintaining decorum in the Senate, and enforces the rules. On the floor of the Senate, the presiding officer is always addressed as "Mister President" (even if the President himself is not the individual presiding).

William J. Holloway was the tenth President "pro tempore" and eighth Governor of Oklahoma.

The President's powers and duties extend beyond presiding in the chamber. In particular, he has great influence over the committee process. The President appoints all members of committees and assigns each committee a room in the Oklahoma State Capitol. Moreover, when a bill is introduced, the President determines which committee shall consider it. The President is also an ex officio voting member on all House committees.

As a member of the Senate, the President is entitled to participate in debate and to vote. By custom, however, he does so only in exceptional circumstances. Normally, the President votes only when his vote would be decisive, and on matters of great importance (such as constitutional amendments). Even if the President does not vote on the floor, the President still retains the right to vote in committee.

[edit] Other Duties

The Legislature may be called into special session by a written call, with specifically set out in the call, with a signed call by two-thirds of the members of the Senate and two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives. After the number of Senators and Representatives is met, the call is filed with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives who must issue a join order for the convening of the special session.

According to Section 16 of Article Six of the Oklahoma Constitution, the President “pro tempore” is second in line to succeed to the Governorship in the event of a vacancy in the office. First in line is the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma, then the President “pro tempore”, followed by the Speaker of the House. No President “pro tempore” has ever had to become the Governor.

[edit] List of President “pro tempore”

The complete (as of 2006) list of Speaker is below. Note: All locations are in Oklahoma.