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Oklahoma
Posted: Feb 03, 2026 9:36 AMUpdated: Feb 03, 2026 9:50 AM
Cindy Byrd for Lt. Governor
Tom Davis
The political season is on in Oklahoma. Appearing on COMMUNITY CONNECTION, Grace Farmer introduced to our audience our state auditor and inspector for the state of Oklahoma, Cindy Byrd, who is also running for the position of lieutenant governor.
Cindy has served the people of Oklahoma now for seven years as the state auditor. She said, "There's a lot of government to audit out here from your state level to your county level, your cities and school districts and as your state auditor, I've been talking about a lot of issues that Oklahoma is facing, specifically with entitlement programs, how we're going to make our budget cover all the core services that's needed in this state." She added, "As I look forward, I know I have a lot left to offer the state as a CPA. I have been doing the deep dives into different issues that that affect everyday Oklahomans."
Cindy continured, "We all want, you know, safe streets. We want good education for our children. We want good infrastructure, roads and highways. As I've been doing these audits across the state, I pointed out some issues that we really need to take a look at fixing in the state. We want to be the best."
She acknowlkedged the excellent work of current Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell has done in promoting the state. She said, "But even he's hit a glass ceiling at this point until we take a step back and really start looking at fixing some of the things that we're facing. Cindy used a basketball analogy saying, "I tell people, if you love the Thunder, even the Thunder took a step back and rebuilt their foundation before they came back and became the world champions. And that's what Oklahoma needs to do right now."
Byrd said, " We're facing a huge budget issue with Medicaid. We know that the SNAP program is really increasing in Oklahoma. We don't have the safeguards in place to make sure that these entitlement programs aren't growing bigger than what our taxes can currently fund. So those are the things that I think as the lieutenant governor, I'm going to be able to help fix some of the financial issues in this state so that we can promote Oklahoma at the highest level."
According to Byrd, people forget that important role that the lieutenant governor holds. And that's for the purpose of driving economic success in the state. Now, when we take a step back, we're going to reassess.
We're going to see where we are. We're going to see what needs fixing. And we're going to, after identifying them, go out and get them fixed.
Byrd said, "We keep waiting on big companies to come in with jobs. I have a different approach to this. It's time to invest in our homegrown businesses, help them expand those businesses who share our Oklahoma values, our conservative values and help them make our state better. We will be the best when we build from within."
More information can be foound at www.CINDYBYRD.com
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