Mary Fallin

Mary Newt Fallin (; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician and real estate broker who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district from 2007 to 2011, and as lieutenant governor from 1995 to 2007. As of 2026, Fallin remains the only woman to have served as governor of Oklahoma. Beginning a career in politics, Fallin was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1990. She served two terms in the Oklahoma House, representing a district in Oklahoma City, from 1990 to 1995. In 1994, Fallin was elected to serve as the 14th lieutenant governor of Oklahoma; being elected to a total of three terms, she served under two different governors from 1995 to 2007. After seven-term Republican incumbent Ernest Istook announced that he would retire from his seat to run for governor, Fallin declared her candidacy for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district, where she was elected to two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011. Fallin ran for Governor of Oklahoma in 2010. She defeated three other opponents with 54% of the vote in the Republican primary, and defeated the Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins, with 60% of the vote in the general election. She won re-election in 2014, defeating Oklahoma state representative Joe Dorman. Term limits barred Fallin from seeking a third term to the governorship in 2018; fellow Republican Kevin Stitt was elected to succeed her.