Changes

==Political life==

==Political life==

Bellmon served a single term as a state representative fourteen years before his initial election as governor. After his two terms in the U.S. Senate, he returned to the governorship.  In 1960, he was the Oklahoma Republican state party chairman. Two years later, he defeated the Democrat developer W. P. "Bill" Atkinson (1906-1999), who planned Midwest City, Oklahoma, with 392,316 votes (55.3 percent). Governor Bellmon served as the chairman of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission andsat on the executive committee of the National Governor's Association.<ref name="CongBio">[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000351 Henry Bellmon] at the [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]].</ref> He was unable to run for reelection in 1966 because of term limit, which were abolished that years; at the time, Oklahoma did not allow governors to succeed themselves. Fellow Republican [[Dewey Bartlett]] was elected as Bellmon's successor.

Bellmon served a single term as a state representative fourteen years before his initial election as governor. After his two terms in the U.S. Senate, he returned to the governorship.  In 1960, he was the Oklahoma Republican state party chairman. Two years later, he defeated the Democrat developer W. P. "Bill" Atkinson (1906-1999), who planned Midwest City, Oklahoma, with 392,316 votes (55.3 percent). Governor Bellmon served as the chairman of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission andsat on the executive committee of the National Governor's Association.<ref name="CongBio">{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000351|title=Henry Bellmon|publisher=''The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''|accessdate=July 13, 2021}}.</ref> He was unable to run for reelection in 1966 because of term limit, which were abolished that years; at the time, Oklahoma did not allow governors to succeed themselves. Fellow Republican [[Dewey Bartlett]] was elected as Bellmon's successor.

His 1974 contest for a second term in a heavily Democrat year ended in a disputed outcome. On election night, he led former ten-term [[U.S. Representative]] Edmond Augustus "Ed" Edmondson (1919-1990) by only 3,835 votes. Edmondson challenged the result and alleged irregularities in the voting, specifically that Tulsa County did not have levers to allow straight-ticket voting as required under state law. The state Supreme Court ruled that Edmondson could not demonstrate that the irregularities would have made him the winner. Edmondson then appealed to the Senate in January 1975, but the Senate voted, with all the Republicans and nine Democrats in agreement, to seat Bellmon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/contested_elections/138Edmondson_Bellmon.htm |title=The Election Case of Edmond A. Edmondson v. Henry L. Bellmon of Oklahoma|date=1976 |publisher=United States Senate |accessdate=July 12, 2021}}</ref>

His 1974 contest for a second term in a heavily Democrat year ended in a disputed outcome. On election night, he led former ten-term [[U.S. Representative]] Edmond Augustus "Ed" Edmondson (1919-1990) by only 3,835 votes. Edmondson challenged the result and alleged irregularities in the voting, specifically that Tulsa County did not have levers to allow straight-ticket voting as required under state law. The state Supreme Court ruled that Edmondson could not demonstrate that the irregularities would have made him the winner. Edmondson then appealed to the Senate in January 1975, but the Senate voted, with all the Republicans and nine Democrats in agreement, to seat Bellmon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/contested_elections/138Edmondson_Bellmon.htm |title=The Election Case of Edmond A. Edmondson v. Henry L. Bellmon of Oklahoma|date=1976 |publisher=United States Senate |accessdate=July 12, 2021}}</ref>