Mary Fallin
Mary Fallin (born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who is the 27th and current governor of Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, Fallin was elected governor in 2010 and is the current Chairperson of the National Governors Association. Born in Warrensburg, Missouri, Fallin is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. Beginning her career working for multiple Oklahoma State Government agencies after college, Fallin entered the private sector in 1983, becoming a regional hotel manager and a real estate broker. Entering 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 from 2007 to 2011. In September 2009, Fallin announced her intentions to run for the Republican nomination for governor of Oklahoma. She defeated three other opponents with 54% of the vote in the Republican primary and went on to defeat Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins, with 60% of the vote in the general election. She was sworn into office of January 10, 2011. Fallin was the second woman elected to the United States Congress from Oklahoma and the first since 1921 when Alice Mary Robertson was elected to Congress and served for one term from 1921 to 1923. She was also the first Republican and first woman to serve as Oklahoma's lieutenant governor, as well as the first woman to serve as governor in Oklahoma's state history. Fallin's fourth year as governor of Oklahoma has been notable because of serious controversy surrounding her support for the execution of Clayton Lockett which was botched in April 2014.