OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma House has narrowly defeated a bill to ask voters to decide whether the governor and lieutenant governor should run jointly.
Representatives on Wednesday voted 46-44 for the measure, but it takes at least 51 members to approve legislation in the 101-member House. The author of the proposed constitutional amendment, Republican Rep. Gary Banz of Midwest City, asked that the vote be reconsidered on a later date.
The measure calls for a vote of the people on whether the governor and lieutenant governor should be elected jointly beginning with the 2018 general election. Currently, the two positions are elected separately.
Banz has said the idea has been endorsed by former Oklahoma Govs. David Boren and George Nigh, both Democrats, and Frank Keating, a Republican.