June 3, 2008 (Page 5A)

By Kristen M. Daum

Staff Writer

IHOP waiter Dustin McGowen said he wants to offer an unconventional idea this election year that Republicans, like him, don’t often promote: Change.

“Just because I’m a Republican doesn’t mean I can’t change things,” said McGowen, 21, who filed for House District 54 today.

He said he’s running because “there’s never been a better time for young people to get involved in our state’s political process.”

For McGowen, a Moore resident, change would mean debating on the floor of the State House rather than taking orders at the local IHOP.

McGowen said he knows from personal experience how the nation’s struggling economy affects Oklahomans. McGowen waits tables and has another job to pay for his rent, food and upcoming final year at Northeastern State University, where he studies political science.

A longtime political junkie, McGowen said he was first bitten by the political bug at 11 years old when he became enamored with the drama of former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings in 1998.

Incumbent Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, filed Monday to defend his seat.

Wesselhoft, 60, said this afternoon that he didn’t know of McGowen’s candidacy, but “it means I’ll have to do some fundraising and work hard.

“I will take every candidate seriously,” said Wesselhoft, chairman of the House Industry and Labor committee.

In a year where change and youth are at the forefront of the Democrats’ political stage, McGowen said those qualities aren’t solely for liberals.

“Younger people – people who don’t necessarily have as much experience – can benefit our state by offering new solutions to old problems,” McGowen said. “I don’t have to look at things through the glass of how things have been done before.”