Lance Cargill

Lance Cargill (born 1971) is an American lawyer and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Cargill served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House from January 2, 2007 to January 28, 2008. He resigned after one year as House Speaker due to tax and ethics controversies and was succeeded as House Speaker by State Representative Chris Benge.

Biography

Cargill was born and raised in Harrah, Oklahoma where he attended Harrah Public Schools. After graduating from high school, Cargill moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma where he attended Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. He graduated from OSU with a Bachelor of Science degree. He then attended the Vanderbilt University Law School and earned a Juris Doctor.

Cargill was first elected to the Oklahoma House in 2000 and served four terms in that body. In December 2006, Cargill was selected by his party to serve as the Speaker of the House. He was formally elected on the Constitutionally mandated organizational day on January 2, 2007. At the time of his election, Cargill was the youngest Speaker of the House in the United States. He was also the first representative from Oklahoma County to serve as Speaker in many decades.

Resignation as House Speaker after tax, ethics problems

On January 28, 2008, following heavy criticism for his failure to pay state taxes and questions about a PAC he led in 2006, Cargill resigned as Speaker of the House.^[1] In a press release, he stated that news accounts about his personal issues were overshadowing the important work ahead for legislators. He remained in the Legislature as a state representative, and did not file for re-election to his seat in 2008.^[2]

On August 29, 2009, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission publicly reprimanded both Cargill and the Oklahoma County Republican Party for their roll in the controversial PAC.^[3]

One of Cargill's noteworthy achievements was to head up a 100 ideas Oklahoma campaign.^[4]

References

1. ^ Hinton, Mick. "Cargill quits as House speaker." Tulsa World, January 29, 2008.
2. ^ "Cargill does not file for re-election." Blog.Oeta.Tv. 10-14-09
3. ^ "Ethics commission publicly reprimands Representative Lance Cargill, the Republican State House Committee and the Oklahoma County Republican Committee for Multiple Ethic Rules Violations." 10-14-09
4. ^ "100ideasOK.org: About 10-14-09