OKLAHOMA CITY – Call him one of the seven.
A last-minute candidate, wellversed in business with a solid understanding of state government, he is making a bid for the Lieutenant Governor’s office.
David Ostrowe knows he doesn’t have a whole lot of time for a campaign, but he said he comes with plenty of experience. He is one of seven candidates – six Republicans and one Democrat – running for the office of Lt. Governor Currently, Ostrowe serves the Governor’s office as Chief Operating Officer and Secretary. In that post, he’s responsible for Cabinet coordination and supporting agency directors statewide. In addition to his public service, Ostrowe is also the President & CEO of O&M Restaurant Group, where he said he has led the expansion of established brands and launched new concepts across multiple states.
Ostrowe also previously worked as the state’s first Secretary of Digital Transformation and Administration, overseeing 54 agencies, boards, and commissions.
And hasn’t always been an easy ride, he said.
Six years ago, Ostrowe – while serving as Secretary of Digital Transformation – was indicted by then-Attorney General Mike Hunter. That indictment came after a multicounty grand jury heard only two rounds of testimony from only one indirect witness. Ostrowe was charged with attempted bribery related to conversations regarding former state Sen. Jason Smalley’s delinquent business taxes.
Roughly a year later, Hunter dismissed Ostrowe’s indictment. Two years later, in February of 2023, new Attorney General Gentner Drummond sent Ostrowe an apology letter.
Drummond wrote that Hunter failed to avoid the appearance of impropriety and called the attempted prosecution a result of political retribution.
Ostrowe said the fight against Hunter was worth it.
“I didn’t like the fact that they were bullying people. And so, we decided that we were going all the way,” he said. “They had no evidence of a crime. So, all of a sudden, in the five months that I had a black cloud over me, we never saw a judge because they had nothing to present to the courts. On a Friday afternoon — Memorial Day weekend — Mike Hunter dismissed the charges against me.”
Well-schooled in a political fight, Ostrowe said that event was one of the reasons he sought office.
“I want to make sure that never happens in Oklahoma, ever or anywhere else the country,” he said. “I mean, you could say, you know, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, you just need to scratch your head on what this country did to Donald Trump. I can relate. I’m glad it’s over.”
Today, he said his goal is to keep the state moving forward. He said Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has done a great deal to improve Oklahoma, and he wants to continue that approach.
“The first and foremost (goal) is to work with the governor,” he said.
Pointing to the Republican field, Ostrowe said he knows the field’s four main candidates well and is ready to work with whomever is elected.
“I’ve worked closely with all four of them in the past, and so my role as lieutenant governor would be to directly support those governors,” he said.
The beauty of the Lt. Governor’s office, he said, “is that it can go wherever the new governor wants it to go, from being an ambassador to for growth, to helping get things passed.”
In addition to being the state’s traditional leader in its tourism efforts, Ostrowe said the Lt. Governor’s office should bring its own agenda.
“The traditional roles I can easily fulfill,” he said. “As far as setting the agenda, I think the office should set an independent agenda. The most important thing we can do is have the office be the ambassador to work with Commerce; to work on bringing more companies here, to employ more Oklahomans.”
To bring jobs to more Oklahomans and to encourage companies to locate in Oklahoma, Ostrowe said, the state must continue to improve its educational systems and exploit it positives.
“We have to have an educational system that’s not dead last on the planet,” he said. “And there’s a lot of good things about Oklahoma. When I talk to friends in the Northeast or California about the lifestyle that we live in Oklahoma, they’re shocked.”
There are many issues, he said, that must be addressed.
“We need to be able to sit down and work with the Legislature,” he said. “When we look at the closing funds that we give the governor, we need to target certain industries that will literally hire 1000 people for high-paying jobs. And I think we need to pick and choose the companies we go after and literally, if that means deploying assets.”
The end game, he said, is to develop a solid team and work to make the state the best it can be.
“I think I’m the most qualified. I’m the only veteran. I’m the only guy that’s built businesses, and frankly, I’m the only guy that’s run entire state government,” he said. “I mean, my role as COO is the little governor and so and again, I don’t want to diminish my boss, Kevin Stitt, because he sets the tone, but we set the strategy and the implementation and government is not running the vacuum.”
Oklahoma government, Ostrowe said, is not run by one person.
“If you want to pick a good governor, good president, pick somebody that can pick they can build a team well,” he said. “We’re the stewards of other people’s money, and if we’re not respectful of how we spend the taxpayer money, then the taxpayer should throw us out.”
M. Scott Carter is an award-winning political and investigative reporter with more than 40 years’ experience covering federal and state government and politics in Oklahoma. He can be reached at scott.carter@swoknews.com.