Races for Oklahoma Legislature

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Races for Oklahoma Legislature

Oklahoma’s Primary elections were held June 16, and many races for seats in the state legislature were filled because there are only candidates from a single party. For those seats in which no candidate in the party primary received more than 50 percent of the vote, a Runoff Primary Election will be held on August 25 between the top two candidates. The General Election will be on November 3 for the races with there are opponents from other parties and/or an independent candidate.

One incumbent state senator was defeated on June 16, and the fate of three other incumbents – two senators and a representative – will be decided in the runoff primary elections on August 25. All are Republicans. Conservative Sen. Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin) was defeated in the GOP primary. He finished in third place. Two other incumbent senators, conservative Dana Prieto (R-Tulsa) and moderate Jack Stewart (R-Yukon) and are in primary runoff elections. One incumbent representative – moderate David Smith (R-Arpeler) – also faces a runoff. Liberal Republican Sen. Grant Green (R-Wellston) was nearly defeated, he won by just 66 votes. No incumbent House members were defeated.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives has 101 members and the Oklahoma Senate has 48 members (only half of the senate seats are up each election cycle). A number of legislators were not able to run for reelection due to Term Limits. Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly adopted a State Question in 1990 that placed limitations on the terms of lawmakers. Legislators are limited to a total combined service in the House and/or Senate of 12 years.

This year, six legislators could not run for reelection due to Term Limits. All are Republicans. The list includes five members of the House, and one member of the Senate.

The five term-limited members of the Oklahoma House are: Chad Caldwell (R-Enid), Chris Kannady (R-Oklahoma City), Mark Lepak (R-Claremore), Ken Luttrell (R-Ponca City), and John Pfeiffer (R-Orlando). Rep. Pfeiffer is seeking to continue in public office, filing for the open Commissioner of Labor post. He finished second in the June 16 primary and will compete in the August 25 runoff. The term-limited member of the upper chamber is Sen. Shane Jett (R-Shawnee).

A number of other legislators decided not to run, even though they were not term-limited, including thirteen members of the Oklahoma House, and three senators. Instead of running for reelection, many of those chose to run for a higher office.

With First District Congressman Kevin Hern running for the U.S. Senate seat that was held by Senator Mullin, Rep. Mark Tedford (R-Tulsa) decided to run for Hern’s open seat, and secured the GOP nomination in the June 16 Republican primary.

The House Minority (Democrat) Leader, Rep. Cyndi Munson (D-Oklahoma City), is running for Governor and secured the Democrat nomination in the June 16 primary.

Three of the legislators not running for reelection ran for Lieutenant Governor. Those included Sen. Darrell Weaver (R-Moore), Rep. Brian Hill (R-Mustang), and Rep. Justin JJ Humphrey (R-Lane). Since T.W. Shannon won the Republican nomination with over 50% of the vote on June 16, their campaigns ended unsuccessfully.

Rep. Brad Boles (R-Marlow) ran for the open seat on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, and won the GOP nomination in the Republican primary. Cole Stevens of Blanchard won the Republican nomination, and was elected to in the June 16 primary to replace Boles. Rep. Toni Hasenbeck (R-Elgin) ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction, but failed to make the August 25 runoff primary. Her House seat was won by Sam Mitchell of Fletcher who won the June 16 Republican primary and was elected replace Hasenbeck. And Rep. Kevin West (R-Moore) is running for Commissioner of Labor. He finished in first place on June 16, but must compete with Rep. John Pfeiffer in the runoff primary.

Other legislators are not running for reelection for various other reasons. Those include Senators Brent Howard (R-Altus) and Darcy Jech (R-Kingfisher), along with representatives Eddy Dempsey (R-Valliant), Scott Fetgatter (R-Okmulgee), Dell Kerbs (R-Shawnee), Mike Osburn (R-Edmond), and Rande Worthen (R-Lawton).

State Rep. John Waldron (D-Tulsa) filed for reelection, but later suspended his campaign due to a political scandal. Because he ended his reelection bid after the time expired to withdraw from the race, his name still appeared on the Democratic primary ballot on June 16. But, with Waldron suspending his campaign, Kristina Garbiel of Tulsa won the primary and was elected to the seat since no other candidates filed.

Some former legislators decided to attempt a return to the Oklahoma Legislature.

With Rep. Mark Tedford running for Congress, Republican Sheila Dills of Jenks filed for the open seat and won the GOP nomination on June 16. She previously represented the South Tulsa, Jenks and Bixby area in the Oklahoma House from 2018 to 2022. She chose not to run for reelection in 2022.

Former Rep. Wendi Stearman (R-Collinsville) challenged Rep. John Kane (R-Bartlesville) to regain her former seat. Kane took the seat from Stearman in 2022. She unsuccessfully ran for the state senate in 2024. She failed to retake the seat on June 16, and Rep. Kane was reelected to another term.

Former Rep. Dean Davis (R-Broken Arrow) failed to retake his seat from Rep. Gabe Woolley (R-Broken Arrow). Woolley took the seat from Davis in 2024. Woolley now moves on to the General Election where he faces a Democrat challenger.

Former Democratic Rep. Chelsey Branham , who was defeated for reelection in House District 83 in 2020, filed this year for the House District 85 seat. She won the Democrat nomination in the primary and will face Republican Joe Fallin, the former husband of Gov. Mary Fallin, in November.

Senators serve four-year terms, with half of the seats up for election each election cycle. The odd numbered districts will not be on the ballot until 2028. The 24 even numbered seats are up for election this year. However, one odd numbered seat (District 17) will be on the ballot this year due to Term Limits. The seat held by Sen. Shane Jett (R-Shawnee) would not be up for election this year, but Senator Jett reached the 12-year term-limit in the middle of his term due to the time he previously served in the Oklahoma House. That seat therefore will become vacant and an election is being included this year to fill the remainder of his term. The winner in this election would need to run for reelection to a full-term in 2028.

Republicans currently hold a 40-8 majority in the 48 member Senate. The 24 even numbered districts are up for election this year. But, as previously mentioned, the odd numbered seat of Sen. Shane Jett is also on the ballot due to Term Limits. Republicans hold 21 of the odd numbered seats not on the ballot this year, with Democrats holding only two. So, the GOP only needs to win four of the 25 seats on the ballot his year to maintain control.

Seven senators were automatically elected because no other candidates filed. Six of those are Democrats and only one was a Republican. Therefore, Republicans already had 22 seats, and were just three seats short of the 25 needed for continued control of the upper chamber. Meanwhile, the Democrats had eight seats. Republicans will pick up three more seats at the conclusion of the primary elections, since only Republicans are running for those seats. One of those seats will be resolved in the runoff primary. Democrats will not gain any more seats until the General Election in November. So, the GOP will have 25 seats before going into the General Election, compared to eight for the Democrats. So, Republicans are guaranteed to remain in control of the Oklahoma Senate. The remaining 15 seats will be filled in the November General Election.

All 101 Oklahoma House seats are up for election each election cycle since they serve two-year terms. In the House there are currently 81 Republicans, 18 Democrats, and two seats are vacant due to the recent resignation of the Democrat incumbents. Because no other candidates filed, or their opponents withdrew or were stricken from the ballot after filing, 27 members of the House elected after filing. That number includes 19 Republicans and 8 Democrats. Fourteen Republicans and four Democrats will be elected in the primary elections, since the respective party nominee will face no opposition in the General Election. Two of the Republican seats will not be resolved until the runoff primary. Therefore, the GOP will go into the General Election guaranteed to have 33 seats compared to 12 for the Democrats.

The remaining 56 seats will be decided in the General Election. In two of those races, no Democrats filed and the Republican will only face a independent candidate. One seat does not have a Republican running, and the Democrat is only competing with an independent. Because Democrats made a concerted effort to have a member of their party on the ballot this year, it is theoretically possible for Democrats to regain control of the Oklahoma House. However, it is expected that the GOP will again end up with a super-majority.

The following incumbents were reelected to the Senate because they had no opponents:

Jerry Alvord (R-Wilson)

Mary Boren (D-Norman)

Michael Brooks (D-Oklahoma City)

Carri Hicks (D-Oklahoma City)

Julia Kirt (D-Oklahoma City)

Mark Mann (D-Oklahoma City)

Nikki Nice (D-Oklahoma City

The following incumbents were reelected to the House because they had no opponents:

Stacy Jo Adams (R-Duncan)

Arturo Alonso (D-Oklahoma City)

Nick Archer (R-Elk City)