WASHINGTON –Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma Attorney General whose long-running environmental lawsuit against several poultry companies is still unresolved, lost the Democratic primary election for governor last Tuesday and says he will probably retire from politics, according to the national Chicken Council’s most recent issue of The Washington Report. Edmondson lost the gubernatorial primary to first-term Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins by less than 1,500 votes after serving 15 years as attorney general.

“I’m in my 60s, I’m not ready to start a career somewhere else,” Edmondson said. “I may engage in the practice of law, I may teach, I may write the great American novel, but I don’t think I'm going to run for office again.” Edmondson attributed his loss to a failure to turn out favorable voters.


In 2005, Edmondson filed suit in U.S. district court against several poultry companies, accusing them of polluting the Illinois River watershed. After detours through appeals courts, a non-jury trial got underway last September and lasted until February. Judge Gregory Frizzell has given no indication when he may issue a ruling.