Latest news with #OklahomaHouseofRepresentatives
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Election results: Voters pick new OKC, Tulsa-area representatives in three House races
The polls have closed on three legislative races to fill vacant seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, including one in Oklahoma City that will now be held by a former district judge. House lawmakers finished this year's session with empty seats after three members resigned to take other jobs. The seats were filled in special elections held in Oklahoma County and the Tulsa area. The state Senate filled its own vacancy in May with the election of Republican Bryan Logan, who is the new state senator for a district in eastern Oklahoma. The political balance of the Oklahoma House of Representatives won't change much, if at all. Each of the winners during the Tuesday, June 10 election are the same party as their predecessor, meaning neither party lost a seat. The special election leaves the House with 81 Republicans and 20 Democrats. Former District Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons was victorious in the special election to fill a seat vacated in April by recently elected Oklahoma County Commissioner Jason Lowe. Timmons defeated JeKia Harrison in the Democratic primary with 59% of the vote, according to results posted by the Oklahoma State Election Board. This primary was a winner-take-all election. No Republicans or independents filed for the open House of Representatives seat. District 97 includes portions of far northeast Oklahoma City, plus the metro-area communities of Spencer, Lake Aluma and Forest Park. The district also includes voters in parts of Jones and Midwest City. Timmons, 64, was an elected Oklahoma County district judge for about a decade before she retired from the position in March. Before joining the bench in 2014, she was an attorney working on civil rights and employment law, and also worked for a time in the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office. Timmons is a graduate of OKC's John Marshall High School and earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Oklahoma State University. She obtained her law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Harrison, 35, has worked at the Oklahoma State Capitol as a legislative assistant for Tulsa state Rep. Meloyde Blancett. Harrison previously worked as child welfare specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and also owns a political campaign consulting business called Pen 2 Paper Consulting. House District 71 is a sliver of land along the Arkansas River in south Tulsa. The seat became vacant after the resignation of Democratic state Rep. Amanda Swope, who left state government to work for the city of Tulsa. In the district's special election, Democrat Amanda Clinton won by a wide margin over Republican attorney Beverly Atteberry. Clinton secured 85% of the votes. Clinton, 46, runs a public relations firm and is an adjunct professor at Oklahoma State University. She also sits on boards for Planned Parenthood and the OSU Foundation Board of Governors. Clinton previously said she's an advocate for reproductive health freedom, access to medical care, clean water and minimizing "state Superintendent Ryan Walters' impact on public schools." She is also active in tribal policy. "District 71 deserves leadership that shows up, speaks truth, and fights like hell for working people, and that's exactly what I plan to do," Clinton said in a news release celebrating her victory. Although once a Republican stronghold, District 71 has been held by a Democrat since 2018. More: One election may have reshaped Oklahoma Senate GOP's politics. Could it shift even further right? Owasso pastor and Republican nominee Kevin Wayne Norwood was victorious in House District 74. Norwood defeated Democrat Amy Hossain with about 65% of the vote. The district straddles Tulsa and Rogers counties in northeastern Oklahoma. Voters have elected a Republican in that district for 25 years. The seat became vacant in December when Mark Vancuren took a job in Tulsa County government. Norwood, 58, is a pastor and works with community initiatives like Keep Owasso Beautiful and Owasso Cares. Norwood has said he wants to build a vibrant economy, safer communities and strong infrastructure and to give Oklahomans tax relief. His priorities also include revitalizing community main streets, and he criticized the "green energy grift" on his website. Hossain, 50, is the chief human resources officer Tulsa's Domestic Violence Intervention Services. She is also the president of the nonprofit Khan Ohana, which works to "break the cycle of poverty among college students." This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma election results for House Districts 97, 74, 71
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Election results: Vacant House seats in OKC, Tulsa area filled during special election
The polls have closed on three legislative races to fill vacant seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, including one in Oklahoma City. House lawmakers finished this year's session with empty seats after three members resigned to take other jobs. The seats were filled in special elections held in Oklahoma County and the Tulsa area. The state Senate filled its own vacancy in May with the election of Republican Bryan Logan, who is the new state senator for a district in eastern Oklahoma. In House District 97, JeKia Harrison and Aletia Haynes Timmons faced off for the Democratic primary to fill a seat that was vacated in April by Jason Lowe after Lowe won election to the Oklahoma County Commission. Shortly after the polls closed at 7 p.m., Timmons was leading, according to early tabulated results posted by the Oklahoma State Election Board. This primary was a winner-take-all election. No Republicans or independents filed for the open House of Representatives seat. District 97 includes portions of far northeast Oklahoma City, plus the metro-area communities of Spencer, Lake Aluma and Forest Park. The district also includes voters in parts of Jones and Midwest City. Timmons, 64, was an elected Oklahoma County district judge for about a decade before she retired from the position in March. Before joining the bench in 2014, she was an attorney working on civil rights and employment law, and also worked for a time in the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office. Timmons is a graduate of OKC's John Marshall High School and earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Oklahoma State University. She obtained her law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Harrison, 35, has worked at the Oklahoma State Capitol as a legislative assistant for Tulsa state Rep. Meloyde Blancett. Harrison previously worked as child welfare specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and also owns a political campaign consulting business called Pen 2 Paper Consulting. She is a graduate of Millwood High School, which is located in House District 97, and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. House District 71 is a sliver of land along the Arkansas River in south Tulsa. The seat became vacant after the resignation of Democratic state Rep. Amanda Swope, who left state government to work for the city of Tulsa. In the district's special election, Democrat Amanda Clinton was on track to win a wide victory over Republican attorney Beverly Atteberry. With more than half of the precincts reporting, Clinton had 86% of the votes counted. Clinton, 46, runs a public relations firm and is an adjunct professor at Oklahoma State University. She also sits on boards for Planned Parenthood and the OSU Foundation Board of Governors. Clinton previously said she's an advocate for reproductive health freedom, access to medical care, clean water and minimizing "state Superintendent Ryan Walters' impact on public schools." She is also active in tribal policy. "District 71 deserves leadership that shows up, speaks truth, and fights like hell for working people, and that's exactly what I plan to do," Clinton said in a news release celebrating her victory. Although once a Republican stronghold, District 71 has been held by a Democrat since 2018. More: One election may have reshaped Oklahoma Senate GOP's politics. Could it shift even further right? Democrat Amy Hossain faced off against Republican nominee Kevin Wayne Norwood in Owasso's House District 74. As precincts began reporting votes after 7 p.m., Norwood took a strong lead in the count. The district straddles Tulsa and Rogers counties in northeastern Oklahoma. Voters have elected a Republican in that district for 25 years. The seat became vacant in December when Mark Vancuren took a job in Tulsa County government. Norwood, 58, is a pastor and works with community initiatives like Keep Owasso Beautiful and Owasso Cares. Norwood has said he wants to build a vibrant economy, safer communities and strong infrastructure and to give Oklahomans tax relief. His priorities also include revitalizing community main streets, and he criticized the "green energy grift" on his website. Hossain, 50, is the chief human resources officer Tulsa's Domestic Violence Intervention Services. She is also the president of the nonprofit Khan Ohana, which works to "break the cycle of poverty among college students." Her priorities include raising the minimum wage, better funding for public schools, access to affordable and accessible health care and housing, according to her website. (This is a developing story and has been updated to add new information.) This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma election results for House Districts 97, 74, 71
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
McCall vying to be Oklahoma's next governor
After serving eight years as the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Charles McCall is now vying to be the next governor of Oklahoma. McCall was elected to House District 22 in 2012 and elected Speaker in 2016, serving as the state's longest-serving Speaker of the House. Outside of his political role, McCall is the CEO and Board Chairman of AmeriState Bank in Atoka. He previously served as Mayor of Atoka from 2005 to 2012. According to his campaign, while serving as Speaker, McCall focused on getting the state's fiscal house in order, helped decrease personal and corporate income taxes and was the leader of there Parental Choice Tax Credit, which allowed parents control over their children's education. ' When I came into speakership in 2017, it was just the worst of times here in the state of Oklahoma fiscally,' McCall said. 'We'd done a four-year contraction, no reserves, cut budgets, just really difficult. And I was picked to be the speaker because of that, because I was a banker.' McCall said the caucus chose him to help navigate the state out of a bad financial situation, which he said was achieved in about two years, he said. The past six has been 'record year after record year,' he said. ' So Oklahoma's now in a place where we're not in a hole. We are thriving, we have reserves now,' he said. 'What motivates me (to run for governor) and what I'm excited about is the opportunity that's on the horizon for the people, the state of Oklahoma, as well as businesses. I think we're just right on the cusp of taking another huge step forward.' He said the economy doubled its output in the past six years and the appropriated budget, which was about $6 billion when he became Speaker, is about $13 billion today. ' Oklahoma is no longer a flyover state. We are a fly-to state,' McCall said. ' We have people with great values and good work ethic. So Oklahoma's starting to be recognized on the national stage. We're already, in some areas, we're the best in the country already. But we really, once again, we're just on the cusp of being able to have a real breakthrough for the people of the state economically.' He said the next governor of Oklahoma needs to be somebody with business experience and success while also knowing how the government operates and being able to seize opportunities. He said Oklahoma has yet to land a big industry or company moving to the state, adding that the state has been on the shortlist but is always bumped out. The state has seen growth and success in the aviation and aerospace industry, McCall said, which is the state's second largest industry beating out agriculture and tourism. McCall said he thinks Oklahoma has the best opportunities to grow in the technology sector. ' Our low cost of energy and low cost of living and natural resources — and our proximity in the country— make us the ideal choice. We just have to have the right environment, the right incentive,' McCall said. ' I really think that's where the opportunity is. We're seeing a lot of investment in the state around technology right now. Data centers, in (particular) are the most emerging technology everybody is chasing.' The growth of data centers, and companies interest in building centers in Oklahoma, was a topic of discussion during a legislative summary in Chickasha with Rep. Dick Low, R-Amber, and Brad Bowles, R-Marlow back in February. Boles said it takes the same amount of power required for 250,000 houses to power one 500-megawatt data center. During the meeting with Grady County locals, Boles said potential centers would have to go through the Southwest Power Pool, which takes about two years to get approval. Boles also said he authored a bill during this year's legislative session that would allow data centers or large industrial companies to come to Oklahoma if they were off the grid. This would require the companies to provide their own power generation to the facility while going through the two year process to be added to the grid. McCall said data center companies want to come to Oklahoma because the state has the power capacities but added that the state is approaching some capacity within the power grid and will need to bring additional generation to that state. He also said he believe rural areas have the opportunity to grow as people are looking for more space to live, for quality of life and more space to roam and run, adding that he believes that's why people are leaving Dallas and Houston. EDUCATION While Speaker, McCall authored the bill that created the Parental Choice Tax Credit allowing parents control over their children's education and providing a income tax credit that can be used for tuition and fees for eligible private school educations. McCall said education was a top priority for him as Speaker and will continue to be if elected governor. 'I think the legislature's done what it needs to do in supporting the funding of education but there's some things that need to happen in the executive branch of government,' McCall said. Despite having an elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction, McCall said he believe the next governor will need to push for a 'very disciplined plan' to improve the state's education outcome. ' That's something that I'm prepared to do. I don't think it can be accomplished, you know, in year one or year two,' he said. 'I don't want to give anybody the expectations that we will move our education outcomes from 48th or 49th to in the twenties in two years. But tackling the problem… We just need to have some discipline on it and we need a good plan that addresses our weaknesses and deficiencies within education.' INCOME TAX In terms of finding success in economic development, McCall said he believes one of the keys is to bring down personal income tax. He said the state should follow the model Tennessee used, which decreases income tax over time as the economy grows. ' We've got to get down to zero because right now, people have a choice to move to Oklahoma or Texas… They are going to bypass Oklahoma because they get a 4.75% raise immediately just by living in Texas,' McCall said. 'They may drive over to Oklahoma for their job, but they want residency there just because they're saving money on the personal income tax.' McCall added that every time income tax was lowered while he was Speaker, the states revenue increased because there was more money left in individuals pockets. ' They're gonna spend it but they get to spend it the way they want to,' McCall said. 'It comes back to the state after it bounces around here (in) Chickasha, at Norman. Both at the city and county level, it throws off consumption revenue to the state of Oklahoma. I think every time we bring that personal income tax rate down and we quit taxing productivity and just focus on consumption, that's a net positive for the state.'
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Todd Russ formally announces campaign for re-election as Oklahoma's state treasurer
Oklahoma State Treasurer Todd Russ has formally announced he's running for a second term in 2026. Russ, a Republican who's from Cordell, made the announcement on Wednesday, June 4, becoming the first person to enter the race for treasurer. He first won election to the office in 2022, capturing 64.8% of the vote to succeed Randy McDaniel, who chose not to run for re-election. Russ, a former banker, registered with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission last September to begin raising money for his 2026 reelection effort. His most recent campaign finance report, for the first quarter of 2025, indicated he had $14,429 in that account. Before being elected as treasurer, Russ represented District 55 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 2009 to 2022. During his tenure, he served as chairman of the House Transportation Appropriations and Budget subcommittee and was a member of former House Speaker Charles McCall's leadership team. 'As Treasurer, I use my extensive background in banking and business, along with more than a decade of mastering the inner workings of state government, to help conservatively manage Oklahoma's money and financial resources, significantly improving the state's financial position,' Russ said in a statement. The state treasurer serves on ten boards: the State Board of Equalization, the Council of Bond Oversight, the Teacher's Retirement System, the Public Employees Retirement System, the State Pension Oversight Commission, the Oklahoma College Savings Plan, the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, the Capitol Improvement Authority, the Industrial Finance Authority and the Oklahoma Broadband Governing Board. Russ has more than 30 years of banking and business experience. He once served as president and chief executive officer of the Washita State Bank in Burns Flat and he also has worked in management consulting. He has served on the Oklahoma Bankers Association Board of Directors and as chairman of that organization's Small Bank Council. During Russ' first 2½ years as treasurer, the state's bond rating has twice been upgraded by Standard & Poor's and Moody's, the nation's two largest credit rating agencies and Oklahoma's investment portfolio has posted the highest earnings in the state's history. The state's education savings program, known as Oklahoma 529, is administered by Russ' office and has grown by 21.6%, passing the $1 billion mark in account withdrawals in October 2023. Russ' tenure has not been completely smooth sailing, though. Russ and another statewide elected official, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, have gotten crossways over multiple issues, including legal representation in a case involving a controversial law that blocks Oklahoma from contracting with financial firms that limit oil and gas investments. More recently, a board led by Russ, the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Board of Investors, sued Drummond over who has the final say when the state enters into contracts or other legal agreements with investment managers. The Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit on Monday, with Russ and Drummond exchanging sharply worded statements criticizing the other. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Todd Russ, Oklahoma's state treasurer, announces re-election bid
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Stitt vetoes bill targeting 'fake' service animals. Is there another solution?
Oklahoma may have narrowly avoided creating a new criminal charge targeting people who misrepresent their pet as a service animal. The proposed law, which has been vetoed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, targeted people who claim their animal is a service dog when it doesn't meet federal guidelines for trained service dogs. House Bill 1178 would have made such an act a misdemeanor. Although it was vetoed by the governor, the state House and Senate could now override the decision and place it into law. That would be a challenging request, however, because an earlier House vote did not reach the number of votes to be considered veto-proof. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, service animals are defined as dogs that are trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, or calming a person with post-traumatic stress disorder. In his veto message released Wednesday, May 14, Stitt suggested lawmakers find another solution. "While we all might agree that an animal mislabeled as a service animal is frustrating, criminalizing the practice is an overreaction," Stitt wrote. "There are other ways to address this issue without adding more criminal statutes to our code." The bill's author, state Rep. Marilyn Stark, R-Bethany, said she had been working on the legislation since 2019 and introduced it after constituents who own service animals complained about untrained dogs approaching theirs. "For me, this just says don't lie about what your animal is. Be honest. If the business wants to let you in, they can," Stark said during discussion earlier this year in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. "There are people not getting service animals because it's such a problem; they don't want to have to interact with the untrained 'service' animals that are out there." If the bill became law, Oklahoma would have become one of 35 states that have laws against the use of fraudulent service dogs, according to the Michigan State University Animal Legal and Historical Center. Businesses that serve the public can ban most animals from their premises but cannot turn away legitimate service animals that are properly controlled by their handler. Problems can arise, however, because privacy laws only let businesses ask two questions to determine their legitimacy: Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? What work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff cannot ask about the person's disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the task. Both Stark and the bill's Senate author, David Bullard, R-Durant, have said that posting a sign on business doors warning about the misdemeanor could be an effective deterrent against people trying to misrepresent their animal's function. If a business owner believed someone was violating the law, they could call the police, Bullard said. "If a person misrepresents (their use of an animal), they would be asked to leave. If not, (the business) could call the police in to do that," he said. Under Oklahoma law, someone convicted of a misdemeanor faces up to a year in county jail or a fine of no more than $500, or both. The bill made it through the Legislature along mostly party-line votes, with some Republicans crossing over to vote against it. Although opponents recognized the issues that both business owners and service animal handlers have faced, they called for better education rather than simply hanging the threat of criminal misdemeanor over someone's head. During debate in the House, Oklahoma City Democrat Forrest Bennett criticized the bill as helping one class of people at the disadvantage of another. "I would love, in certain situations, to ask why a friend needs an AR-15 to walk into a Subway to order a sandwich. But I don't get to come up here and have my friends help me pass a law to make that easier for me to do. I just have to deal with that in public," he said, warning that the bill could also spur unintended lawsuits. "Right now, a business owner with a backbone can say, 'You and your service animal are causing a problem. We have a reason to ask you to leave.' That's a reality in Oklahoma right now." Lawmakers must finish their annual work, including any veto overrides, by May 30. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma bill criminalizing false service animal claims is vetoed
