Pauls Valley resident Blake Cummings is about two years ahead of himself.

The independent oil and gas consultant has been active in politics for several years and was planning on possibly running for an elected office in 2010.

“When the filing period started earlier this month I kept waiting to see who would be the Democratic candidate for Oklahoma’s Congressional District 4 seat,” he told the Daily Democrat.

As the deadline for filing for political office neared, no Democrat had yet stepped forward to challenge Congressman Tom Cole’s candidacy.

“I thought then, ‘Maybe this is the time for me go for it.’ So, I filed for office,” Cummings said.

Cummings said he has nothing against Cole. “I just felt it’s time for a change in the Fourth District and that’s why I decided to run,” he said.

Painting himself as a moderate Democrat, Cummings said he holds certain conservative values that most Democrats in Oklahoma appreciate.

“I’m for a strong military, income tax reform and I’m opposed to abortion as a form of birth control. These are some of the conservative values that Oklahomans have and I support,” he said.

Born in Muskogee, Cummings graduated from Kinta High School, located in southeastern Oklahoma, and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Petroleum Land Management.

A registered Choctaw and lifelong Democrat, he has been active in the oil and gas industry as a land consultant for most of his adult life.

“Of course the biggest concern Oklahomans have right now is the high price of gas and how it is affecting every facet of our lives,” he said.

Cummings said oil and gas companies are being taken to task over the high price of oil and believes strongly in breaking the nation’s addiction to foreign oil.

“We need an energy policy that includes drilling in protected territories such as ANWR (Alaska National Wildlife Reserve). I understand the environmentalists’ concerns but with today’s technology I believe we can drill for oil in those regions while protecting our natural resources.

“A strong energy policy and continued development of new technologies will eventually allow us to say no to foreign oil. Ending our dependency on Middle East oil will help the United States, and the world, on many levels.”

Cummings said he opposes a wind fall profit tax on oil companies and would like to see oil companies instead invest a portion of their profits in alternative energy solutions.

“A wind fall profit tax will only be passed on to the consumer. I would rather see oil companies invest in hybrid technology and other alternative energy sources,” he added.

The other hot issue during this election campaign is the war in Iraq. Cummings believes the United States should set a deadline for leaving Iraq and then begin the process of removing troops from that region of the world.

“We accomplished our initial goal and that was the liberation of Iraq. It’s now time to come home,” he said.

One of his greatest concerns is the way the current administration in Washington has usurped the Constitution and its powers.

“In the past few years the Constitution and its long-standing position as the greatest written representation of how a free society should govern itself has been tested by those who would like to re-interpret the Constitution to give greater power to the executive branch,” he said.

“We simply can’t let this continue.”

Cummings and his wife, Donna, have lived in Pauls Valley for the last three years. Their daughter Abby attends Lee Elementary School.