Ada Man With DUI Conviction Can Run For Seat

The Oklahoma State Election Board has upheld the candidacy of an Ada man with a drunken driving conviction.

Democratic state Sen. Susan Paddack argued that her Republican challenger, Fred Smith, couldn't be a candidate because he wasn't a registered voter in Senate District 13 and he had a misdemeanor embezzlement conviction.

Election board members voted unanimously at a hearing on Monday that Smith had registered to vote in the six months before candidate filing and that a fraudulent check conviction wasn't the same as a misdemeanor embezzlement conviction.

Oklahoma law bars convicted felons and those convicted of misdemeanors for embezzlement from running for political office.

Smith told the board his ex-wife wrote the fraudulent checks on a joint account while he was deployed in the Army.