Lance Cargill

Lance Cargill (born 1971) is an American lawyer and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Cargill served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from January 2, 2007 to January 28, 2008. He resigned his leadership role due to tax and ethics controversies and was succeeded as speaker by Chris Benge.

Cargill was born and raised in Harrah, Oklahoma where he attended Harrah Public Schools. After graduating from high school, Cargill moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma where he attended Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. He then attended the Vanderbilt University Law School and earned a Juris Doctor.

Cargill was first elected to the Oklahoma House in 2000 and served four terms in that body. In 2004, he won his re-election with more than 70% of the vote. In December 2006, Cargill was selected by his party to serve as the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. He was formally elected on the constitutionally-mandated organizational day on January 2, 2007. At the time of his election, Cargill was the youngest state house speaker in the United States.

One of Cargill's noteworthy achievements was to head up a 100 ideas Oklahoma campaign.

On January 28, 2008, following heavy criticism for his failure to pay state taxes in a timely manner and questions about questionable fundraising activities by a PAC he led in 2006, Cargill resigned as Speaker of the House. In a press release, he stated that news accounts about his personal issues were overshadowing the important work ahead for legislators. He remained in the Legislature as a state representative, and did not file for re-election to his seat in 2008.

On August 29, 2009, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission publicly reprimanded both Cargill and the Oklahoma County Republican Party for their role in the controversial PAC.