Oklahoma REALTORS®

This election cycle has officially come to an end with a number of impactful results including the outcome of the Presidential race, state races, and state questions. View our in-depth analysis of each candidate and race below.

  

Hello, REALTORS®!

It’s the end of a long election cycle, and we have a lot to report as we see where our state races shook out. With this being a presidential year, the focus was on former President Donald Trump and Vice President Harris’s battle for the White House. But there were several legislative races that the RPAC Trustees played in, and some that they didn’t, where we saw some fresh faces come in to join the crowd at 23rd and Lincoln.

As we know, half of the 48-seat state Senate was up for re-election, and many of those seats were decided in the primary or because no one ran for re-election. Of the 24 seats that would have been decided, only 12 were up for grabs this cycle in the general election, and the only 3 incumbents with elections were all sent back to the Senate. Those 15 Senate seats are as follows:

  • District 3: Republican Julie McIntosh, the challenger who beat incumbent Sen. Blake “Cowboy” Stephens, defeated her independent opponent Margaret Cook for the seat east of Tulsa.
  • District 7: Incumbent Republican Senator Warren Hamilton has been re-elected after defeating Democrat Jerry Donathon for a seat in southwest Oklahoma.
  • District 9: Former state representative Avery Frix returned to the Capitol after leaving the House to run for the 2nd congressional district seat now occupied by Congressman Josh Brecheen. Frix ran as the Republican candidate, as he did when he represented Oklahoma House District 13 prior to his congressional run, winning without appearing on the ballot in either the primary or general elections.
  • District 13: While there was no general in District 13, newcomer Jonathan Wingard took the Senate district from Ada after becoming Senator due to defeating Senate Floor Leader Greg McCortney in the June primary.
  • District 15: Newcomer Republican Lisa Standridge defeated Democrat Elizabeth Foreman for a seat on the west side of Norman, a seat Standridge’s husband Rob has held for the last 12 years and relinquished after being term-limited.
  • District 21: After Sen. Tom Dugger announced his intention not to seek re-election, District 21 was an open seat and the Republican candidate, Randy Grellner, kept the seat for the Republicans in a fairly lopsided victory over Democrat Robin Fuxa.
  • District 25: Republican newcomer and REALTOR® Champion Brian Guthrie, a REALTOR® member, defeated Democrat Karen Gaddis in a seat formerly held by REALTOR® Champion Joe Newhouse. Like Newhouse, Brian is a real estate broker and has a solid understanding of our issues. We were proud to support Brian in his race and are thrilled that he will be taking his seat in the state Senate.
  • District 31: After incumbent Senator Chris Kidd withdrew from his primary, citing a need to return home after 8 years at the Capitol, the primary consisted of Spencer Kern, Rick Wolfe, and Pamela McNall-Granier. Kern advanced from the primary and automatically ascended to the seat, as there was no general election post-primary.
  • District 33: Republican Christi Gillespie defeated Democrat Bob Willis in a seat in Tulsa formerly held by Sen. Nathan Dahm, the current chair of the Oklahoma Republican Party.
  • District 35: Incumbent Democratic Senator Jo Anna Dossett, a REALTOR® Champion, defeated Republican challenger Dean Martin to keep her seat in Tulsa.
  • District 37: Sen. Cody Rogers, a REALTOR® Champion who announced his intention not to seek re-election before deciding to run after all, lost his race to his challenger Aaron Reinhardt in the Republican primary. Reinhardt went on to defeat independent candidate Andrew Nutter in a metro Tulsa seat.
  • District 39: Incumbent Senator and REALTOR® Champion Dave Rader, Senate Finance Chair and the former head coach of the University of Tulsa football team, won his re-election campaign against Democratic challenger Mellissa Bryce.
  • District 43: Republican newcomer Kendal Sacchieri, who defeated incumbent Sen. Jessica Garvin in the Republican primary, went on to defeat Democrat Sam Graefe for the seat representing McClain and Stephens County.
  • District 46: While Sen. Kay Floyd was technically in the middle of her most recent Senate term, the Oklahoma Constitution limits legislators to a combined 12 years between House and Senate, and a special election was called to replace her. Democrat Mark Mann prevailed over Republican Charles Barton in a district which is traditionally heavily Democratic.
  • District 47: REALTOR® Champion Kelly Hines defeated Democrat Erin Brewer in what ended up being by far the most expensive race of the cycle, where over $300,000 was spent in the contest for outgoing Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat’s seat. Sen. Hines takes a seat that Democrats thought would potentially turn blue, but remains red for the 2024-28 terms.

 

As we know, all 101 House seats are up for election every two years, and although many House members were re-elected without opposition in the primary or the general elections and some were elected after winning the primary, there were still several seats which were contested throughout the state. The races listed below were those which had general elections. Those races are as follows:

  • District 1: House Representative Eddy Dempsey easily beat his Libertarian challenger, Victoria Lawhorn, in the heavily Republican Broken Bow area of Oklahoma.
  • District 4: RPAC Champion Bob Ed Culver, a state representative since 2020, won his re-election to office after beating Democratic challenger Christopher Wier by a 2:1 margin.
  • District 12: RPAC Champion Kevin McDugle withdrew from the Republican primary for personal reasons and as a result, Mark Chapman won the Republican nomination without opposition. Chapman followed that result with a resounding win over Democrat Crystal LaGrone, 79%-21%.
  • District 16: Another RPAC Champion, Scott Fetgatter, a real estate investor from the Muskogee area, easily won re-election to his seat over Democrat Rosie Lynch.
  • District 20: In an open seat vacated by Sherrie Conley, who announced her intention not to seek re-election in mid-2023, Republican Jonathan Wilk defeated Democrat Mitchell Jacob 76%-24%.
  • District 26: Dell Kerbs once again won re-election to his seat in Shawnee, defeating the Democratic challenger Kerri Keck by a 2-1 margin. While not supported this cycle, Kerbs has previously been a recipient of RPAC funds.
  • District 34: In a seat in the heart of Oklahoma State’s campus in Stillwater, Democratic Rep. Trish Ranson, a REALTOR® Champion, won re-election over her Republican challenger, Andrew Muchmore.
  • District 37: Ken Luttrell, who was previously elected as a Democrat in the mid-2000s and returned to contest his old seat as a Republican beginning in 2018, won re-election to his seat representing Ponca City. Independent challenger Carter Rogers of Fairfax was beaten 78%-22%. Luttrell is another REALTOR® Champion and supporter of Oklahoma REALTORS®.
  • District 38: In Northwest Oklahoma, Republican Rep. John Pfeiffer, an OAR bill author in 2022 and 2023, won re-election to his seat 85%-15% over his Democratic challenger, Doyle Lewis. Rep. Pfeiffer is also a REALTOR® Champion and has been a great supporter of ours over his term.
  • District 39: Winning re-election to his seat in north Edmond, RPAC Champion Erick Harris defeated perennial Libertarian challenger Richard Prawdzienski 76%-24%. Harris went unchallenged in a seat that was hotly contested in the primary and the general in the special election to replace Ryan Martinez just a year ago.
  • District 41: REALTOR® Champion Denise Crosswhite Hader defeated Democratic challenger Mike Bockus for the second election in a row by a greater margin than two years ago. Crosswhite Hader has now held the seat in the 41st District, west of Edmond and encompassing Cashion, since 2018.
  • District 43: REALTOR® Champion Jay Steagall won re-election in his race in Yukon in a seat contested by Independent challenger Cassie Kinet. Steagall, a REALTOR® Champion and business owner in Yukon, retains the seat he has held since 2018.
  • District 45: Democrat Annie Menz retained her seat in a 3-way race for District 45 in Norman, which was contested by Republican Matt Watson and Libertarian candidate Robert Murphy.
  • District 46: Democrat Jacob Rosecrants, a REALTOR® Champion, defeated his challenger, Republican Alexander Torvi, to retain the seat he has held since 2017.
  • District 62: Republican Rep. Daniel Pae, another REALTOR® Champion, defeated his Democratic challenger, Allison Offield, to retain his seat in Lawton for a seat that has trended Republican over time and now seems solidly so.
  • District 63: In another Lawton seat, Rep. Trey Caldwell, the incoming chairman of the House Appropriations & Budget Committee after previous chairman Kevin Wallace lost his primary bid, won re-election over Democratic challenger Shykira Smith for the second consecutive election.
  • District 64: In the final Lawton House seat, Rep. Rande Worthen, an OAR bill author in 2022 and RPAC Champion, won re-election to his seat 54%-46% in a relatively close election.
  • District 66: In Skiatook, Oklahoma, RPAC Champion Clay Staires won re-election to his House seat over Libertarian challenger Kenneth Blevins, 76%-24%.
  • District 70: RPAC Champion Suzanne Schreiber won re-election to her Tulsa seat in the House of Representatives over Republican Bradley Banks, who she defeated in 2022 to win her seat for the first time.
  • District 74: Rep. Mark Vancuren, an RPAC Champion whose wife Sheila is a REALTOR® member, won big in his re-election effort in Jenks over Independent challenger Aaron Brent, 76%-24%.
  • District 79: Rep. Melissa Provenzano, an RPAC Champion from central Tulsa, won her re-election over Paul Hassink, who she defeated in the 2022 race as well. Provenzano improved on her win, gaining 54% of the vote compared with 51% in 2022.
  • District 83: Rep. Eric Roberts, a REALTOR® Champion who also had the National Association of REALTORS® play in his race with independent expenditure money, defeated his Democratic challenger, Jimmy Lawson, 55%-45%. Rep. Roberts, an OAR bill author in 2024, begins his third term as a House member when session starts.
  • District 84: Rep. Tammy West, the incumbent in District 84 since 2016, won re-election over Democrat Jeremy Lamb for the second consecutive election cycle. Rep. West, an RPAC Champion, was in a district that it was assumed was tightening but ended up going 58%-41% Republican.
  • District 85: House Democratic Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, an RPAC Champion, defeated former Oklahoma County Clerk David Hooten, who resigned from his seat in 2022 after it was alleged he acted inappropriately with employees. Munson returns to the seat that she has held since a special election in 2015.
  • District 86: Republican David Hardin easily won his re-election campaign over Democrat Annie Fite, 77%-23%. Hardin returns to the legislature after being elected in 2018 and running unopposed in 2020 and 2022.
  • District 87: Freshman Democrat Ellyn Hefner, an RPAC Champion, easily won re-election in her central Oklahoma City seat over Republican challenger Dave Schnittger, 62%-38%.
  • District 88: In one of the most heavily Democratic districts in Oklahoma which was previously represented by Mauree Turner, who decided not to seek re-election, the seat unsurprisingly stayed blue. Democratic newcomer Ellen Pogemiller defeated Independent Bobby McCollum to retain the House seat for the Democrats.
  • District 90: House Republican Floor Leader Jon Echols, a power broker in the state legislature for the past several years, was term-limited this year and his seat was filled by now-freshman House member Emily Gise, a REALTOR® Champion. Gise defeated Nana Dankwa, a perennial candidate who ran for state office in 2021, 2022, and now 2024.
  • District 94: REALTOR® Champion Andy Fugate, a Democrat from Midwest City, defeated his Republican challenger, Suzanne Jobe, to retain his House seat. Fugate remains an outspoken member of the Democratic caucus to begin his fourth term as a member of the House of Representatives.
  • District 95: Republican Rep. Max Wolfley of Midwest City, a REALTOR® Champion who faced an uphill battle to retain his seat, defeated Democrat Tegan Malone by a sizable margin. Wolfley begins his third term when the legislature is seated.
  • District 98: Previously represented by Rep. Dean Davis, a member who lost his primary after he had some public legal troubles, the seat remained Republican. Gabe Woolley defeated Democrat Cathy Smythe by a 2-1 margin to keep the seat red.
  • District 100: In our last seat contested in a general election, REALTOR® Champion Marilyn Stark won her seat in by far the closest legislative race, winning by 188 votes over the Democratic challenger Chaunte Gilmore.

 

House Republicans maintain their dominance at an 81-20 majority with every incumbent winning re-election, and Senate Republicans are also well represented at 40-8. That’s all for a very contentious election on a federal level, and a generally ho-hum election here in Oklahoma. Legislative orientation is on January 7, after which there will be a month before session begins on February 3.

Oklahoma REALTORS® also facilitated a couple of independent expenditures with the help of NAR in this election cycle. An independent expenditure is a campaign communication which is sent to voters on behalf of an outside group to support a candidate for office without the candidate’s knowledge. In our case, we supported Senator-elect Kelly Hines to replace Senator Greg Treat, the outgoing Senate Pro Tem, in his race for an open seat against Erin Brewer. A retired Army colonel, Hines has held himself out throughout the campaign as a strong supporter of business and property rights. The race for District 47 was by far the most expensive race of the cycle, with over $300,000 combined spent just by the candidates themselves, before outside money like our I.E. is factored in. As mentioned above, Hines won the race, and we look forward to partnering with him throughout his term on issues that affect property rights and REALTORS® across the state. Similarly, we did a separate independent expenditure for Rep. Eric Roberts, a REALTOR® Champion who is a real estate broker by trade. Rep. Roberts has been a long-time supporter of our initiatives and he had a close fight against his challenger in a district that has begun to turn purple on the west side of Oklahoma. We have partnered with Rep. Roberts throughout his tenure, including on the Landowners Bill of Rights last year, which allowed parties whose land is taken by eminent domain to repurchase it at the amount that they received in compensation. Rep. Roberts is a stalwart in the protection of property rights in the state of Oklahoma and we are pleased to congratulate him on his return to the House.

We look forward to the legislative session beginning with two OAR bills filed to be heard before the legislature in 2025. We will have a pre-session e-mail for everyone in January once the Government Affairs Committee has met for Bill Reading Day. Thanks to everyone who voted and a special thanks to those who participated in RPAC so that we could send our REALTOR® Champions back to the Capitol. For more information on RPAC, visit okrealtors.com/rpac, and when session begins, be sure to visit the OAR Bill Tracker at okrealtors.com/billtracker