Brian John Bingman (born December 9, 1953) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma who has served in elected and appointed offices since the 1990s. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected to the Sapulpa city commission in 1992, before being elected mayor by his fellow commissioners in 1994. He would serve in both of these offices until 2004, when he was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives to represent the 30th district. After one term in the house, Bingman ran for the 12th district of the Oklahoma Senate in 2006 and would hold the seat until term limited in 2016. In 2011, he was elected by Republican senators to serve as the President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate, a position he would hold until retirement in 2016.
Bingman ran for city commissioner Ward 5 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, in 1992 against incumbent Donnie Lowery;[3] he won the election with 377 votes to Lowery's 217.[4] In 1994, incumbent mayor and city commissioner J.D. Marketic was defeated in his re-election bid for the city commission.[5] At the time, the mayor of Sapulpa was elected by the city commissioners from among their members.[6] The city commission selected Bingman to be the new mayor of Sapulpa in April 1994.[5] In 1996, he was re-elected to the city commission after facing Bill Bennett in the general election.[7] In 1998, he presided over Sapulpa's centennial celebrations.[8] Bingman did not run for re-election in 2004, instead choosing to run for the 30th district of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.[9] He was succeeded as mayor by Doug Haught and in his city commissioner seat by Carlos Hernandez.[10][11]
Oklahoma legislature
Bingman ran in 2004 to succeed term-limited state representative Mike Tyler. He faced Darren Gantz in the Republican primary and, later, John Mark Young, the Democratic Party's nominee in the general election.[12] After winning 56% of the vote, he became the first Republican to represent the 30th district.[13][14] During his term, he opposed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights reform proposals.[15]
After his first term, he did not seek re-election to the Oklahoma House, and instead announced a campaign for the 12th district of the Oklahoma Senate.[16] The incumbent Democratic senator, Ted Fisher, was term limited.[17] He faced John Mark Young again in the general election.[18] He was endorsed by the Tulsa World and U.S. Senator Tom Coburn.[19][20] Young led in polling by 8%, but lost the general election.[21][22] Bingman and Anthony Sykes's wins led to an even split between the Democratic and Republican parties in the Senate during the 51st Oklahoma Legislature.[23] He was sworn into his senate seat on November 16, 2006.[24]Mark McCullough would succeed him in the 30th house district.[25] Bingman endorsed Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. in the 2009 Tulsa mayoral election.[26] He ran unopposed for re-election in 2010.[27]
In 2014, he faced John Knecht in the Republican primary.[33] The Tulsa World endorsed his re-election campaign.[34] In 2015, he authored successful legislation to fund the OKPOP museum.[35] In 2016, he endorsed Ted Cruz's presidential campaign.[36] He was succeeded by James Lockhart in 2016 after being term-limited from the Oklahoma Legislature.[37]
In 2017, Bingman announced his campaign for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.[38] He faced incumbent Bob Anthony and Harold Spralding in the Republican primary.[39] Bingman garnered 38% of the vote to Anthony's 47%, forcing a runoff election.[40] He lost the runoff after receiving 47.6% of the vote.[41]
Stitt Administration and Oklahoma Secretary appointments
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