The Republican is from Atoka in southeast Oklahoma, which could bring a unique perspective on water to the capitol.

But raising taxes, even in the guise of a voter-approved fee, is a tough task in red-state Oklahoma.

A report released in August by the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior cites Oklahoma as “the primary surface mining state with ongoing, unresolved AOC problems.”

This all comes as a surprise to the Kiowa Tribe, which has used Longhorn Mountain for hundreds of years.