Brad Henry
Henry in 2007
26thGovernor of Oklahoma
In office January 13, 2003 – January 10, 2011
Lieutenant	Mary Fallin Jari Askins
Preceded by	Frank Keating
Succeeded by	Mary Fallin
Member of theOklahoma Senate from the 17th district
In office 1992–2003
Preceded by	Carl Franklin
Succeeded by	Charlie Laster
Personal details
Born	Charles Bradford Henry (1963-07-10)July 10, 1963 (age 61) Shawnee, Oklahoma, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Kim Blaine
Children	4
Education	University of Oklahoma (BA,JD)

Charles Bradford Henry (born July 10, 1963)^[1] is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 26thgovernor of Oklahoma from 2003 to 2011. ADemocrat, he previously served in theOklahoma Senate from 1992 to 2003.

Henry was elected governor in2002 with 43.2% of the vote and reelected for a second term in2006 with 66.5% of the vote.^[2] He was the third governor and second Democrat in Oklahoma history to serve two consecutive terms, along with DemocratGeorge Nigh and RepublicanFrank Keating. Henry was unable to seek a third term in the2010 election due to term limits set by theOklahoma Constitution. He was succeeded as governor by Republican former Lieutenant Governor and former U.S. RepresentativeMary Fallin on January 10, 2011.

Henry had been mentioned as a possible candidate for theU.S. Senate, but declined to run in the2014 special election to replaceTom Coburn.^[3]

As of 2025, Henry is the lastDemocrat to serve as and/or be elected Governor of Oklahoma.

Brad Henry was born inShawnee, Oklahoma, the son of Charles Henry, a prominent judge and former state representative.^[4] After graduating from Shawnee High School in 1981, Henry attended theUniversity of Oklahoma as a President's Leadership Scholar and earned a bachelor's degree ineconomics in 1985.^[4] He was a member ofDelta Tau Delta fraternity. In 1988, he was awarded hisJ.D. degree from theUniversity of Oklahoma College of Law, where he served as managing editor of theLaw Review.^[4]

Henry practiced law inShawnee, Oklahoma before running for theOklahoma State Senate.^[5] He served as a state senator from 1992 until he became governor.^[5]

In the 2002 election for governor, Henry defeated State SenatorEnoch Kelly Haney and businessman Vince Orza in the primary election. In the general election, he defeated formerRepublicanCongressmanSteve Largent, anNFL Hall of Famer, by just over one-half of one percent of the vote, in a race that also included Independent candidateGary Richardson, a retired federal prosecutor. Henry received 448,143 votes (43.27%) to Largent's 441,277 votes (42.61%). Richardson, a former Republican candidate, received 146,200 votes (14%).^[6]

Henry ran a campaign of "barnstorming" rural areas, and stopping atWal-Mart stores in an RV with supporters. Henry was endorsed by football coachBarry Switzer, who has widespread popularity in Oklahoma and accompanied Henry to many campaign events.

On the policy side of the campaign, Henry branded himself as the "education governor." He argued for increasing teachers' salaries and funding for higher education in the state by approving astate lottery to raise money.

In the Democratic Party primary election on July 25, 2006, Henry received 218,712 votes, 86% of the vote.^[7]

In the November 7 general election, Henry faced Fifth DistrictU.S. CongressmanRepublicanErnest Istook and won with 66% of the vote.^[2] He won with a higher total than any gubernatorial candidate in almost fifty years.^[8] He only lost the three counties of thePanhandle, and won by large margins in a number of counties that normally vote Republican.

Henry was sworn in as Oklahoma's 26th governor on January 13, 2003, with the oath of office being administered by his cousin, federal appeals court judgeRobert Harlan Henry.^[9] As governor, he was a member of theNational Governors Association, theSouthern Governors' Association, and theDemocratic Governors Association. He was the president of theCouncil of State Governments in 2007.^[10]

Henry was generally seen as a moderate Democrat.^[11][12] Henry ispro-choice and has vetoed legislation to mandate ultrasound viewings prior to abortion procedures. He has a mixed view of racial affirmative action, supporting it in college and graduate schools, but not in hiring for the bureaucracy. Henry supports expanding public healthcare and holding HMOs accountable for poor care; however, he also is in favor of upholding the death penalty and is against gun control. The governor supports tax cuts for the lower and middle classes and believes in keeping the income tax; he also supports using the "War on Drugs" strategy to combat methamphetamine use within his state.^[12]

Henry made national headlines by givingsanctuary from thecontroversial redistricting warrant toTexas Democrats in that state's legislature by allowing them to travel across state lines into Oklahoma en masse to deny a quorum for voting on a redistricting plan. "Our position is that, without a warrant signed by a judge, we have no authority. Even under those circumstances, we are hesitant to get pulled into a Texas political battle.If we're going to do battle with Texas, we prefer that it be on the football field," Henry said through his spokesman.^[13]

On May 27, 2004, Governor Brad Henry issued Executive Order 04-21, which created the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council.^[14] The Ethnic American Advisory Council then published an English translation of theQuran embossed with theOklahoma State seal which was then distributed to 149 Oklahoma state legislators.^[15] There were 35 lawmakers who declined to accept the copy of the Quran that they were offered.^[16] After refusing the copy of the Quran, Republican State Representative Rex Duncan wrote a letter to his colleagues explaining, "Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology."^[17]

In 2003, Henry signed bills into law that: made downloading child pornography a crime, strengthened the financial oversight of HMOs by the state, created a $300,000 cap on noneconomic damages for obstetric and emergency room cases except in wrongful death cases or if negligence is shown and made other changes to regulate medical liability actions, penalized predatory lending, authorized payday lending, and placed a moratorium on the sale of water from a sole source aquifer.^[18] He also was a strong supporter of a ballot proposal to establish a statewide lottery to benefit schools.^[18]

In 2004, he signed a bill into law that set out a total of $2,100 in across-the-board salary increases for state employees, public school teachers and state troopers.^[19] He also signed legislation to limit the sale of pseudoephedrine used to make crystal meth.^[19]

In 2008, he vetoed an anti-abortion measure which required, among other things, women to get an ultrasound before having an abortion. The veto was overridden and was the first override in Oklahoma since 1994, when Gov.David Walters was in office.^[20] That law was struck down by a state district court, but passed again in April 2010, whereupon Henry again vetoed it.^[21] His veto was again overridden.^[22] However, that same year, Henry signed legislation that would prevent women from getting abortions based on the gender of the fetus, require that only qualified physicians administermifepristone and protect employees who refuse to participate in abortions.^[23]

Despite high job approval ratings and avoidance of controversy, Oklahoma voters approved a term limit holding the governor to a total length of time of eight years in office. The law already provided for a term limit of two consecutive terms for the governor. This effectively prohibited Henry, then 47, from making a comeback attempt at a later date.^[24]

Governor Henry appointed the following Justices to theOklahoma Supreme Court:

• James E. Edmondson – 2003
• Steven W. Taylor – 2004
• Tom Colbert – 2004, making Henry the first governor to appoint an African American justice to the Court.
• John F. Reif – 2007
• Doug Combs – 2010
• Noma Gurich – 2010

Governor Henry submitted the following budgets to theOklahoma Legislature:2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010, and2011.

Henry was seen as a candidate for President of theUniversity of Central Oklahoma.^[25] However, the state's largest newspapers, The Daily Oklahoman and The Tulsa World, both editorialized against the appointment of Henry as UCO president by the UCO Board of Regents, which was appointed by Henry. Another candidate,Don Betz, was named to the position. Henry was considered a likely choice to be Dean of theOklahoma City University School of Law. However, U.S. Federal Magistrate Valerie Couch was appointed. As governor, Henry appointed 5 members of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and delivered the 2010 commencement address at the OCU School of Law.

In 2013, supporters had asked Henry to run in the 2014 elections against incumbent Republican governorMary Fallin, but he declined.^[26] However, Henry said the term limit initiative voters passed didn't apply to him as he had already been term limited by the State Constitution before the proposition was approved.^[27] Henry was considered a contender for the2014 U.S. Senate Special Election,^[28] but ultimately did not run. He would also be sought out for the election for a full term 2 years later, but again, was not a candidate.^[29]

On June 8, 2016, Henry joined the law firm Spencer Fane.^[30]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBrad Henry.

• Oklahoma Governor Brad Henryofficial state website
• Everett, Dianna."Henry, Charles Bradford (1963–)" Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. Retrieved 10–13–09
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1963 births
• Living people
• People from Shawnee, Oklahoma
• Democratic Party governors of Oklahoma
• Democratic Party Oklahoma state senators
• 21st-century members of the Oklahoma Legislature
• Oklahoma lawyers
• University of Oklahoma alumni
• University of Oklahoma College of Law alumni
• Baptists from Oklahoma
• Shawnee High School (Oklahoma) alumni
• 20th-century Oklahoma politicians

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• People appearing on C-SPAN