Mary Fallin
Mary Fallin (/ˈfælɪn/; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She is the first and so far only woman to be elected governor of Oklahoma. She was the first woman to represent Oklahoma in Congress since Alice Mary Robertson left office in 1923.
Mary Fallin | |
|---|---|
Fallin at the 2015 Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City | |
| 27th Governor of Oklahoma | |
| In office January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2019 | |
| Lieutenant | Todd Lamb |
| Preceded by | Brad Henry |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Stitt |
| Chairwoman of the National Governors Association | |
| In office August 4, 2013 – July 13, 2014 | |
| Deputy | John Hickenlooper |
| Preceded by | Jack Markell |
| Succeeded by | John Hickenlooper |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 5th district | |
| In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Ernie Istook |
| Succeeded by | James Lankford |
| 14th Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma | |
| In office January 9, 1995 – January 2, 2007 | |
| Governor | Frank Keating Brad Henry |
| Preceded by | Jack Mildren |
| Succeeded by | Jari Askins |
| Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from the 85th district | |
| In office January 8, 1991 – January 9, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Hunter |
| Succeeded by | Odilia Dank |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mary Copeland December 9, 1954 Warrensburg, Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (1975–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic (before 1975) |
| Spouses | Joseph Fallin
(m. 1984; div. 1998)Wade Christensen (m. 2009) |
| Children | 3 (with Fallin) 3 stepchildren (with Christensen) |
| Education | Oklahoma Baptist University Oklahoma State University, Stillwater (BS) |
| Signature | |
Beginning a career in politics, Fallin was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1990. She served two terms in the Oklahoma House, representing a district in Oklahoma City, from 1990 to 1995. In 1994, Fallin was elected to serve as the 14th lieutenant governor of Oklahoma; being elected to a total of three terms, she served under two different governors from 1995 to 2007. After seven-term Republican incumbent Ernest Istook announced that he would retire from his seat to run for governor, Fallin declared her candidacy for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district, where she was elected to two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011. Fallin became the first woman elected to Congress from Oklahoma since Alice Mary Robertson in 1920, when Alice Mary Robertson became Oklahoma's first (and the nation's second) woman to be elected to Congress.
Fallin ran for Governor of Oklahoma in 2010. She defeated three other opponents with 54% of the vote in the Republican primary, and defeated the Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins, with 60% of the vote in the general election. She won reelection in 2014, defeating Oklahoma state representative Joe Dorman. Term limits barred Fallin from seeking a third term to the governorship in 2018; fellow Republican Kevin Stitt was elected to succeed her.