Ron Jenkins

Ron Jenkins, Capitol correspondent for The Associated Press, has covered Oklahoma politics for more than a quarter of a century.

Jenkins, 59, was named to the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 1996. He is a Katie Award winner.

His weekend Statehouse Focus pieces have been a fixture in newspapers across the state, giving behind-the-scenes insights about happenings at the Capitol.

Jenkins has covered the administrations of five Oklahoma governors, from David Boren to Brad Henry.

Born in Fort Smith, Ark., he became a reporter as a teenager for a hometown weekly. He later worked for the Fort Smith Times Record and Southwest American, while attending Westark College. He worked primarily on the news desk in Fort Smith and became sports editor of the Southwest American.

He joined The AP in Oklahoma City in January, 1971, after three years at the Oklahoma Journal, where he was news editor and assistant city editor.

He was The AP's Oklahoma sports editor for six years, covering Oklahoma and Oklahoma State home football games. This was during the Sooners' glory years under Barry Switzer when they won back-to-back national championships. Jenkins covered the Sooners' Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl appearances during that period.

Jenkins says his first interest in Oklahoma politics was perked by watching televisions ads of J. Howard Edmondson's famous "prairie fire" campaign for governer in the 1950s.

He particularly likes covering political campaigns because of the elements of drama and surprise.

His favorite campaign story occurred during the 1980s when the wife of a prominent judge filed for Congress, then disappeared.

Acting on a hunch, Jenkins located the woman in a mental ward of a hospital, where he conducted an unusual interview in which the woman defended her sanity and zinged the incumbent.

Jenkins and his wife, Cheryl, live in Choctaw and plan to build a house in the Norman area, where they lived for several years. They enjoy traveling, hunting for antiques and entertaining their two 11-year-old grandchildren, Skyler and Haley. Jenkins says he also likes golf and fishing, but seldom finds time for either.