 However, his independent candidacy siphoned off enough votes from Lieutenant Governor Jack Mildren, the Democratic candidate, to allow Frank Keating, a Reagan administration official, to become only the third Republican governor in Oklahoma history at that point.Watkins tallied over 233,000 votes, far more than Keating's 171,000-vote margin over Mildren.He dominated his former congressional district, winning many of the counties there by large margins.