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Oklahoma
Posted: Feb 06, 2026 9:38 AMUpdated: Feb 06, 2026 9:38 AM
Chip Keating for Governor
Tom Davis
Chip Keating is running for governor. Appearing KWON's COMMUNITY CONNECTION, Keating said he comes for a line of public servants. His great-grandfather was a one-term congressman in the 1920s in Illinois. Many people remember his father, Frank Keating, who was governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003 and during the tragedy of the Oklahoma City bombing. Chip said that from that tragedy and recovery, the Oklahoma Standard was birthed.
Chip Keating was state trooper with the OHP. He said he was 15 at the time that the bombing occurred and after seeing the heroes running to danger and not from it, that made him want to be one of them.
Keating is no longer a state trooper and he says his best job now is being the husband to his beautiful wifeof 20 years, and being the dad of three beautiful kids.
Keating has been in the oil, gas and real estate business. He started his own companies in 2009. He said, "I've been run my own businesses for about 17 years, but service has always been embedded in my heart, starting back being a state trooper. And so I'm originally from Tulsa, live in Oklahoma City now." He added, "I enjoy serving in my community. I've never been elected to public office. So I'm not a career politician."
Keating did serve the state in 2019 and 2020 with Governor Stitt as his secretary of public safety during very challenging times during civil unrest and covid. Keating said, "That's when I realized leadership, courageous leadership is really important and who we have in office during very trying times matters."
When it come to running for Governor, Keating said, "The old slogan of Oklahoma, is OK. That means we're average and mediocre. That's not what I want. I want a greater Oklahoma. And we've got a lot of work to do. I am not a career politician. I'm a businessman, but I care. And as I think about where our state and our potential where we can go. "
Keating identified some of the state's troubles saying, "Being 50th in education is unacceptable. We've got an illicit drug crisis in our state. Our tax system hasn't been modernized since 1930. We've got a mental health issue crisis in our state. These problems are fixable."
Keating provided a little contrast in the crowded field running for Governor of Oklahoma saying, "I am the only non-career politician running. I think I have a unique background for the moment to help lead our state for we're at a crossroads. And I think the path we travel can either, frankly, keep us as an "OK" Oklahoma or if we can hit the fuel on this place, we'll have a greater Oklahoma and I want a greater Oklahoma.
Keating said, "As I think about public service, that's what it should be about, not what your next office is going to be. And what I want to do, I have no interest in doing anything but this. We've got big problems in our state. I know I can solve them. I have the leadership style to do so. And then I want to go back to the private sector. "
When Keating was asked if he sees Oklahoma as zero income tax state, he replied, "I do. And so as we think about there's 11 states in the country that don't have an income tax, and it's not like that they're failing.
Keating then laid a "to do" list on education saying, "We're 50th in education, number one in incarceration. Those two tie together. Our kids can't read. One in four of our eighth graders can't read. Literacy is a key factor. Why we've turned our back to this when we talk about the Mississippi miracle. That miracle in Mississippi is common sense. So as I think about tax restructuring, tax reform, how we fix public education, we don't need to do science experiments. We know states that are working. This isn't our 1776 moment or a 1907 moment. We've got to do good, sound public policy."
When asked about the marijuana situation on Oklahoma, he said, "It's outrageous. Oklahoma last year alone produced 77 million pounds of marijuana. We accounted for two million pounds. Seventy five million pounds went unaccounted for. That attributed to 60 percent of the black market marijuana industry in the United States. This is the CCP, the Sinaloa cartel, the Russian mob. We aren't smuggling drugs into Oklahoma across the Rio Grande. We are producing them right here in this state. It's outrageous."
Keating said, "I tell people I'm the only candidate has a plan to do what we're going to do to combat this. Day one, we declare a public safety emergency, activate the National Guard. Let's go arrest these folks, put them out of business, take these properties back, get them back on the courthouse steps to the rightful owners. Oklahoma homans, these laws are on the books. They haven't been enforced.: He added, "I am the only candidate that's taken an oath to protect and serve been issued a gun, a badge. I know these bad actors that are in our state. No more talk. It's time to we got to hammer this."
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