Charlie Laster is an American attorney and former Democratic member and Minority Leader of the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

history in which the Republican Party and

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

had equal representation in the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

in 1976, and received his J.D. from the

University of Oklahoma College of Law The University of Oklahoma College of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of Oklahoma. It is located on the University's campus in Norman, Oklahoma. The College of Law was founded in 1909 by a resolution of the OU Boar ...

in 1979. While at Oklahoma State University, Laster played competitive

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

in the

Big 8 Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

Political career

Laster was first elected in a special election on February 11, 2003Results of 2003 Special Election
Oklahoma State Election Board (accessed April 29, 2013) to replace the seat left vacant by

Brad Henry Charles Bradford Henry (born July 10, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who was the 26th governor of Oklahoma from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002. Henry won re-election for a second term ...

who was elected governor in 2002. Laster's opponent,

Kris Steele Kris Steele (born July 11, 1973) is a United States politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma who served as state representative. Steele served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives as the Speaker of the House, a position he took over after ...

, later went on to be the

Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives The Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives is the speaker (politics), presiding officer of the lower house of the Oklahoma Legislature, the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The speaker exercises administrative and procedural functions ...

. Laster rose to leadership within the Democratic caucus, serving as chair of the committee that vets criminal and tort reform legislation. When

and Republican Party attained equal membership in the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

would recapture the majority of Senate seats, Laster was named President Pro Tempore-designate by the Democratic caucus. They failed to do so, losing two seats to the Republicans. Despite the poor showing of the caucus in the elections, Laster was named unanimously as the Minority Floor Leader for the 52nd Legislature in November 2008.

Election results

2008 General Election2008 Election Results
Oklahoma State Election Board (accessed April 29, 2013) Primary Election July 27, 2004
Oklahoma State Election Board (accessed April 29, 2013) February 11, 2003 Special General Election January 14, 2003 Special Primary Election

References

External links

Profile
from

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Follow the Money Profile
2008
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2006
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2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Laster, Charlie Democratic Party Oklahoma state senators 1954 births Living people People from Shawnee, Oklahoma 21st-century American politicians