Edmondson signs Open Government Pledge as candidate for governorship

State Attorney General Drew Edmondson has signed FOI Oklahoma's Open Government Pledge as a gubernatorial candidate.

Edmondson first signed the pledge in 2008. He was the first incumbent statewide official to do so. Edmondson is a longtime member of FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s board of directors.

In signing the document again, Edmondson pledged that the governor's office would "comply with not only the letter but also the spirit of Oklahoma's Open Meeting and Open Records laws.”

The Democrat also promised “to support at every opportunity the public policy of the State of Oklahoma that the people are vested with the inherent right to know and be fully informed about their government so that they can efficiently and intelligently exercise their inherent political power.”

Freedom of Information Oklahoma Inc. invites other candidates for statewide offices and those running for legislative seats, municipal offices and school board seats to sign the pledge.

Instructions and a list of signers for the 2010 elections can be found on FOI Oklahoma’s Web site.

FOI Oklahoma began the Open Government Pledge in spring 2008 as part of a national effort to spur public commitments to government transparency from candidates for president down to city council contests.

For the 2008 and 2009 elections, 58 candidates for local or statewide offices signed the pledge. Of those, 28 were elected.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism