Jim Barker yields the floor

Former Oklahoma House Speaker Jim Barker has died from a stroke in Oklahoma City.

Barker, a Democrat, represented a Muskogee-area district in the House from 1969 to 1970 and again from 1976 to 1990; he was chosen as Speaker in 1983, succeeding Dan Draper, who was convicted of taking part in a vote-fraud scheme. In 1989, dissident House members of both parties ousted Barker, and he did not seek reelection the following year.

Barker was 69.

Posted at 8:44 PM to Soonerland