By Constitution Staff

The United States Congress is composed of two chambers. Senators serve six-year terms with only a third of the seats up each election year. Each state has two seats in that upper chamber and have staggered terms. Only one of Oklahoma’s two U.S. Senate seats is up for election this year.

Senator James Lankford was reelected in 2022, and his term will not be up until the 2028 election. The late Sen. Jim Inhofe was reelected in 2020 and his term would have ended in 2026, but he resigned just two years into his term, so a Special Election was held in 2022 to fill the remainder of Inhofe’s term. Second District Congressman Markwayne Mullin won that election and was running for reelection for a full-term this year until he was tapped by President Trump to be Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). With Senator Mullin no longer running for reelection, there was a opportunity for additional candidates to consider the race.

The seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up each election year since the members serve two-year terms. The incumbents holding the Oklahoma seats had all planned to run for reelection and all had challengers. But, with Senator Mullin becoming the Secretary of DHS, several of the current members of the U.S. House considered running for the open senate seat. In the end, only First District Congressman Kevin Hern opted to run for the senate seat.

The candidate filing period for offices for the 2026 Oklahoma elections was April 1-3, the Primary Elections will be held on June 16, and the Runoff Primary Elections on August 25. The General Election will be on November 3.

U.S. SENATE

With Senator Mullin no longer running for reelection, a plethora of candidates filed for the open seat. While some candidates had already announced while Mullin was still running for reelection, many more joined when it became an open seat. Thirteen candidates filed, including members of all three recognized political parties, plus a couple of independent candidates. That list includes five Republicans, five Democrats, one Libertarian, and two independent candidates.

Republican Candidates

Republican First District Congressman Kevin Hern was the first major contender to confirm he was making the race. President Trump’s early endorsement of Hern made him the frontrunner for the senate race, and probably deterred other major candidates from entering.

Congressman Hern, 64, of Tulsa was first elected to the U.S. House seat in 2018, and was reelected in 2020, 2022 and 2024. He serves on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, and chairs the Republican Policy Committee. In the 118th Congress, Hern served as Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, which is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the U.S. House.

Hern is the owner of KTAK Corporation which at one time operated 24 McDonald’s restaurants. In addition to the McDonald’s franchises, Hern has other businesses involved in banking, manufacturing, real estate development, sports publishing, and multiple technology companies.

Congressman Hern will face four other candidates vying for the Republican nomination. But, Hern is definitely the favorite, not just for the GOP nomination, but to win in November.

Next to Hern, the only Republican candidate with broad name recognition is country singer, song writer, and guitarist Gary Ty England, 62, of Bethany (located in central Oklahoma). England was the college roommate of Garth Brooks when both were students at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. After Brooks landed a recording contract, England toured with Brooks as his guitarist and backup vocalist. England eventually got his own recording contract and began a solo career. He is currently touring and promoting his latest album.

Nick Hankins, 40, of Moore was one of four candidates challenging Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole for the Republican nomination in 2024. He finished in last place in the GOP primary with 2 percent of the vote. He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and works as a business intelligence developer for a insurance company.

Sean Buckner, 55, is a Cherokee citizen from Sallisaw. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran and has worked in real estate. He is a self-proclaimed government watchdog.

Brian Ragain, 46, of Chickasha has worked as a firefighter-paramedic, registered nurse, ER manager, medical administrator, and onsite health technician.

The winner of the GOP Primary elections will advance to the November General Election.

Democrat Candidates

Five candidates are competing for the Democrat nomination for the U.S. Senate. Three of the five were already running when Senator Mullin was still running for reelection.

Jim Priest, 71, retired as a trial lawyer of over 34 years, is an ordained minister, and nonprofit leader. After retirement he has served as executive director for several Oklahoma nonprofit groups, including CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma. In 2010 he was the Democrat nominee for Oklahoma Attorney General, and lost to Republican State Sen. Scott Pruitt.

Troy Green, 59, says for 30 years he has taught martial arts. In 2022, he retired from teaching full-time, and founded Safe Haven Oklahoma, a nonprofit fighting human trafficking and child exploitation. He has also worked as a realtor, bail bond agent, and a private investigator. He also lists on his LinkedIn page that he is a “Humanist.” He unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Oklahoma House in 2012.

N’Kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas, 31, of Ardmore is a Chickasaw citizen, a registered nurse, and liberal activist. She boasts that if elected she would be the first Black, Native American women to hold the seat. She says she was born and raised in Ardmore by a black woman. She said on Facebook, “I believe in protecting reproductive rights and women’s healthcare, preserving Native sovereignty (I am a proud Chickasaw citizen), and standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, because equality and dignity are not negotiable.”

Former State Senator Ervin Stone Yen, 71, of Oklahoma City joined the race after it became an open seat. Dr. Yen was an anesthesiologist and has had a checkered past in politics. He was originally registered as a Democrat before changing to Republican prior to his election to the state senate in 2014. He served one term before being defeated for reelection in 2018. He was the first Asian American to serve in that body, and also the most liberal Republican to serve in the Oklahoma Senate, earning a cumulative average of just 24% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index published by the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper. He had changed his registration from Republican to independent, anticipating a run for Governor in 2022, but switched to Democrat for the run. He had been critical of Governor Stitt’s handling of the COVID pandemic, and even demanded a statewide mask mandate. While serving in the Senate he pushed for the elimination of religious and personal exemptions for the vaccination of children. He is making this race as a Democrat.

The other new Democrat entry is attorney R.O. Joe Cassity, Jr., 82, of Ponca City. He previously ran for the U.S. Senate in 2020 when Sen. Jim Inhofe was reelected. Cassity finish in last place in the Democrat primary with 11 percent of the vote.

The winner of the June 16 Democrat Primary will advance to the November General Election.

Libertarian Candidate

Sevier White, 77, of Norman is a former teacher and wrestling coach. He was the Libertarian candidate for the U.S. House in the Fourth District in 2016, and received 4 percent of the vote in the General Election. Since he is the only Liberian Party candidate, he will appear on the General Election ballot.

Independent Candidates

Two candidates filed as independents – no political party – and both will appear on the General Election ballot.

Ron Meinhardt, 46, of Nowata is founder and executive director of Entering Wedge Media and Healthislife.org (a multifaceted organization focusing on primary health education and gospel evangelism). He promotes the “entering wedge” concept, a Seventh-day Adventist approach that the gospel’s first concern is one’s health.

Curtis Stinnett, 39, of Tulsa is a pharmacist. He was a pharmacist for The Chickasaw Nation in Ardmore, and more recently at Sam’s Club. He received his doctor of pharmacy degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

U.S. HOUSE – FIRST DISTRICT

The First Congressional District includes all of Tulsa County, eastern Creek County including Sapulpa, western Wagoner County, and a small part of western Rogers County. With Republican incumbent Congressman Kevin Hern running for the open U.S. Senate seat, instead of reelection, eleven Republicans and one Democrat filed for this open seat.

Republican Candidates

Kim David, 64, of Porter was among the first candidates to announce for the open seat. She was elected to one of the three seats on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) in 2022. Corporation Commissioners serve six-year terms and she is not up for reelection until 2028, so she does not have to abandon the post if she is not elected to Congress. Prior to running for the OCC spot, she was a member of the Oklahoma Senate and served as Senate Majority Leader. She was unable to run for reelection to another term in the Legislature in 2022 due to Term Limits. During her time in the Legislature she had a 60% cumulative average on the Oklahoma Conservative Index published by the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper.

Jackson Lahmeyer, 34, of Owasso is pastor of the Sheridan Christian Center in Tulsa, and founded Pastors for Trump. He is also the owner of Lahmeyer Investment Company. In 2022, he was one of two candidates challenging Sen. James Lankford for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate, and finished in second place to Lankford, with 26 percent of the vote.

Jed Cochran, 39, of Tulsa has been involved in politics and government service since his graduation from Oral Roberts University. He began his career as an intern for U.S. Senator Tom Coburn in Washington, D.C. He went on to work for the Oklahoma Republican Party playing a key role in the historic 2010 Republican sweep of statewide offices and legislative majorities. He later served as Senior Advisor for Steve Russell’s winning Fifth Congressional District runoff and returned to Washington D.C. as Political Director for Congressman Russell. He returned to Oklahoma and served as Northeast Oklahoma Field Representative and District Director for U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe. From 2019 to 2023, he was Chief of Intergovernmental Relations for Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, where he led the city’s engagement with federal, state, tribal, and local partners. He is currently a partner at Capitol Ventures Government Relations in Tulsa, advocating for more than 15 clients on federal issues. He also leads a consulting firm focused on economic development, site selection, construction, energy infrastructure, and local business recruitment.

Paul Royse, 55, of Tulsa was one of 11 Republicans that ran for the U.S. Senate seat that was being vacated by Sen. Jim Inhofe in 2022. He received less than 1 percent of the vote in the GOP Primary. Previously he was the Republican candidate for a seat in the Oklahoma House in 2020. He challenged Congressman Hern for the Republican nomination in the 2024, and received 13 percent of the vote in the GOP Primary. Royse has mostly worked in law enforcement including being a security guard, private detective, police officer, and for the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs.

State Rep. Mark Tedford, 56, of Tulsa, was first elected to the Oklahoma House in 2022, and was reelected in 2024. He abandoned his reelection campaign to the Legislature to make the run for Congress. During his four years in the Legislature he compiled a 61% cumulative average on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. He is the owner of an insurance agency.

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, 53, of Owasso is a commissioned officer in the Oklahoma National Air Guard. He is a decorated F-16 Fighter Pilot with three combat tours in Iraq. Rooney is also the founder of Folds of Honor, a non-profit organization that provides educational scholarships to fallen or disabled military service members and first responders. And, he is a PGA professional golfer.

Nathan Butterfield, 47, of Owasso owns several businesses including All-Star Disaster Restoration which specializes in water damage, fire damage, storm damage, and mold remediation.

Kelly B. Walsh, 36, of Tulsa has worked for over a decade as an analytical chemist in the pharmaceutical, petroleum, and cannabis industries. He currently works at Oklahoma Cannabis Testing Laboratories, ensuring the safety and quality of cannabis products for Oklahoma’s medical marijuana patients.

Courtney Gill, 33, of Tulsa earned a scholarship to study economics at Cambridge, and subsequently earned her MBA at Oxford. She built a career in aerospace, and most recently has been working to bringing companies to Tulsa.

Nancy Dyson, 72, Owasso retired after a 30 year career with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

Todd Woods, 58, Tulsa is also running. No additional information was provided.

Democrat Candidate

Democrat candidate John Croisant, 49, serves on the Tulsa Public Schools board. He taught 6th grade geography and was the head girls soccer coach for 12 years, before retiring in 2018 to open his own insurance agency. Since he was the only Democrat to file, he will have a place on the General Election ballot.

U.S. House – Second District

The Second District covers most of eastern Oklahoma, stretching south from the Kansas state line to the Red River border with Texas. Josh Brecheen was first elected to the seat in 2022 and reelected in 2024. Brecheen, 46, of Coalgate was a member of the Oklahoma Senate from 2010 to 2018. During his eight years in the Oklahoma Senate he had an impressive cumulative average score of 82% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. Before his election to the Legislature, he worked for former U.S. Senator Tom Coburn. He has also owned a quarter-horse breeding operation. Brecheen won reelection in 2024 with 74% of the vote and is running for reelection in 2026. Brecheen is being challenged for reelection by another Republican, two Democrats, and an independent in 2026.

He is being challenged for the Republican nomination by Will Webb, 34, of Eufaula. Webb served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 2014 to 2020. His career experience includes working as an advocate, Army Chaplain Corps, peer support specialist, pharmacy tech, ASIST instructor, and missionary.

Democrat Candidates

Brandon Wade, 49, was the only candidate filing for the Democrat nomination for the seat in 2024. In the General Election he finished way behind Congressman Brecheen, receiving just 21% of the vote. Previously, he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022, but lost in the Democratic Primary. Wade has been a machinery assembler for Schlumberger in Bartlesville where he has also served as president of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 351.

Democrat Erik Terwey, 44, of Bartlesville is the manager of a small business and a former public school teacher of world languages. He earned a Master’s degree in French literature from the University of Oklahoma. He ran for a city council seat in 2020. In his unsuccessful campaign for the city council, at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, he supported a mask mandate for Bartlesville saying, “It is time that we are led by science, not science fiction.”

The winner of the June 16 Democrat Primary will advance to the General Election.

Independent Candidate

Ronnie Hopkins, 69, of Rose is a pastor and filed as an independent and will be on the General Election ballot. He also ran for the seat as an independent in 2024 and received 4 percent of the vote in the General Election.

U.S. House – Third District

The third district covers most of the north central and western parts of the state, including the panhandle. Geographically, it covers about half the land area of the state due to the low population density. The boundary changes following the 2020 U.S. Census extended the district into southwestern Oklahoma County, which includes a portion of south Oklahoma City and a part near downtown.

Long-time Congressman Frank Lucas, 66, of Cheyenne was first elected to the seat in a Special Election in 1994. He is the longest serving member among the current Oklahoma Delegation in the U.S. House and is running for reelection. He is a former State Representative and runs a ranching operation. In 2024 Lucas faced two challengers for the Republican nomination and emerged as the victor in the Primary with 73% of the vote. Since no Democrats, Libertarians or independents filed for the office, the race was decided in that GOP Primary with the reelection of Congressman Lucas. In 2008, Lucas voted against the infamous Big Bank Bailout, along with then-Senator Jim Inhofe.

Wade Burleson, 64, of Enid is challenging Lucas for the Republican nomination this year. Burleson also opposed Lucus for the nomination in 2022. For thirty years, until his retirement in 2022, he was Lead Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, which has a congregation of over 3,000 members. He also served two terms as President of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He is an author with published books and articles on American history and biblical theology. Burleson said that Congressman Lucas is a career politician who doesn’t look beyond the agricultural industry and has compromised conservative principles.

Burleson raised some eyebrows when he supported Beth Moore, a liberal Bible teacher, who left the Southern Baptist Convention to become an Anglican. Although at one time she was known as a conservative Christian speaker, she has stirred controversy by noting that homosexuality is not listed as a sin in Galatians %:19-21. When noted Christian leader John MacArthur publicly criticized Moore, he in turn was lambasted by Burleson, who said he had lost respect for MacArthur, and said he would be glad to have her speak in his church’s pulpit.

Democrat Candidates

Jules Roberson, 37 of Anadarko says he (she?) is an avowed progressive, a Native American (Wichita), a transwoman, and an Amazon warehouse worker. And “is pro Palestine, pro choice, pro union, pro green energy, and pro national works projects that see the infrastructure hardened against climate change.” He (she?) said in an earlier post: “While times are harder now for trans people then they were 7 years ago (I’m 36), part of the reason I seek office (is) to impart this will to those who find themselves oppressed.”

Suzie Byrd, 71, of Enid has been a reporter for the Enid News & Eagle newspaper. She was an All American athlete when she was a student at Oklahoma State University.

The winner of the June 16 Democrat Primary will advance to the General Election.

U.S. House – Fourth District

The Fourth District covers much of south central and the southwestern parts of the state. Congressman Tom Cole, 76, of Moore is running for reelection. Cole was first elected to Congress in 2002. Prior to his election to Congress, he served in the Oklahoma Senate 1989-90. During his time in Congress, Cole has moved up to leadership positions, and is Chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Cole was reelected in 2024 with 65% of the vote and is running for reelection in 2026. He is being opposed by a Republican, two Democrats, and an independent.

Congressman Cole is being challenged for the Republican nomination by Marcie Everhart, 62, of Moore. The former journalist and marketing manager holds a BA in Journalism and MBA from the University of Central Oklahoma. For the past 15 years she has been a freelance writer.

Democrat Candidates

Mitchell Jacob, 34, of Newcastle served in the U.S. Army from 2017 to 2022. He received a law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 2025. His career experience includes working as a stockbroker, banker, and mortgage loan originator. He was the Democrat nominee for a seat in the Oklahoma House in 2024.

Jeff Pixley, 53, of Norman retired as an Air Force Colonel after a career of over 30. He was a Fighter Pilot, and the former Commander of the U.S. Air Force’s Basic Military Training in San Antonio, TX. He settled in Oklahoma following his retirement.

The winner of the June 16 Democrat Primary will advance to the General Election.

Independent Candidate

Rocco Bonacci, 51, of Lawton filed as an independent – no political party – candidate and will be on the November General Election ballot. He is a disability advocate and a member of the Lawton Access Board.

U.S. House – Fifth District

The Fifth District includes most of Oklahoma City in Oklahoma County, all of Lincoln, Pottawatomie and Seminole counties. It also extends into the southern part of Logan County, including Guthrie, and a portion of eastern Canadian County, including Yukon and Piedmont.

In 2018 the Fifth District seat flipped from Republican to Democrat when Kendra Horn defeated the incumbent, Steve Russell. Oklahoma had not had a Democrat in Congress since 2012, and for the first time in state history Oklahoma had a Democrat woman to Congress. But, in 2020 state Sen. Stephanie Bice of Edmond secured the Republican nomination and went on to defeat Congresswoman Horn.

Bice was elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 2014 and reelected in 2018. Although Bice was a moderate Republican, earning a 56% cumulative average on the Oklahoma Conservative Index for the six years that she had been in office, she has been far more conservative than the liberal Congresswoman Horn. Congresswoman Bice, 52, won reelection in 2022 and 2024 and is running for a fourth term. She was reelected in 2024 with 60% of the vote. She is running for reelection for a fourth term and is unopposed for the Republican nomination. She will face the winner of the Democrat Primary, and two independent candidates in the General Election.

Democrat Candidates

Jena Nelson, 48, of Edmond was the only Democrat to file for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2022. She received 43% of the vote against Ryan Walters in the General Election. She had worked as an educator for more than 16 years and won Oklahoma Teacher of the Year in 2020. She now works as a nonprofit development professional, corporate leadership developer and most recently served as acting Executive Director and Director of Programs for the Oklahoma Faith Network.

Trey Martin, 39, of Edmond is also running for the Democratic Party nomination. He was a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President.

The winner of the June 16 Democrat Primary will advance to the General Election.

Independent Candidates

Two candidates filed as independents – no political party – and both will appear on the General Election ballot.

Austin Nieves, 30, of Oklahoma City is a dancer, performer, accountant, animal rescuer, inventor, and an Aero-Hydro-Solar Mechanic. He has also served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Central Oklahoma where he received a business degree and MBA.

Robert P. Henri, 49, of Edmond is also running as an independent. He says he is running under the platform “Project Due Course,” aimed at forcing votes on major, popular reforms and ensuring congressional accountability. He did not provide any information about education, experience, or employment.