There will be nine different senate and house elections in Tulsa County. Depending on the district you are in you may or may not see any senate or house districts on your ballot. Many of these elections have already been decided in the primary and runoff elections. There are five senate and four house races that will be on various ballots in Tulsa.
The District 25 Senate race pits Republican Brian Guthrie against Democrat Karen Gaddis. There is no incumbent in this race as Guthrie defeated Sen. Jeff Boatman in the primary election.
Guthrie is from Bixby and has spent 12 years on the Bixby City Council, six of them as mayor. He also sits on the board of INCOG and serve as a trustee of the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority, which oversees operations at the Tulsa County Jail. He is a realtor.
His three key issues are:
- State government spending has grown by 50% from $8 million in 2020 to $12 million in 2024. Our population has only grown approximately 9%. We need to reduce spending and the size of our government. As our state grows, the additional revenues should allow the state to reduce taxes and put tax payer’s money back in their pockets.
- Protecting and fighting for our rights including parental rights, individual rights, and our god-given rights such as those outlined in the Constitution.
- He says he is Pro-Life, Pro 2nd amendment, and will protect our traditional Oklahoma values.
Gaddis is from Tulsa and was a math teacher for 27 years and a high school counselor for 13 more. She was in the Oklahoma House for about a year and a half in 2017 and 2018. She earned both her bachelor and master’s degrees at the University of Tulsa.
Her three key issues are:
- “I am the agent of change. For over 60 years, District 25 has been represented in the Oklahoma Senate by Republicans. Where has that gotten us? We are at the bottom of the rankings in education, incarceration, poverty, child hunger, women’s issues, and healthcare – both physical and mental. As a Democrat, I will change the decades-long votes on all these important issues for Oklahoma citizens.
- As a retired educator having spent 40 years in public education, I will return public dollars to public schools. The State of Oklahoma is constitutionally required to provide a public education to all students. I support parental choice, but if parents choose private or other non-public schools, it is not the state’s responsibility to provide financial resources. Teachers’ salaries need to be commensurate to their college-educated, professional level and teaching para-professionals need a living wage. Class sizes need to be reduced (All studies of class size related to education attained have determined that more learning occurs in smaller classes.). Teachers are not “indoctrinators” and teacher unions are not ‘terrorists”!
- I am the common sense candidate. Separation of church and state was provided by our national forefathers in order to avoid the animosity it engendered in their forefathers in Europe. Public money should go to public schools. Nobody wants to take your guns away. We just want common sense gun laws, like we have for drivers’ licenses (age restrictions, insurance, and training – with bigger guns, like bigger vehicles, requiring more training). ALL adults should be able to make their own medical decisions and parents should be able to make medical decisions regarding their own children. ALL personal life decisions made by adults regarding religion, sex, lifestyle, whatever are personal and should be accepted as such.”
The District 33 race has Republican Christi Gillespie and Democrat Bob Willis running.
Gillespie came through a crowded primary to challenge Willis for Sen. Nathan Dahm’s senate seat. Gillespie is a current city councilor for Broken Arrow. Gillespie has worked in sales for over 30 years, most recently as the Director of Sales & Training, North America for SeneGence, International. She is currently on the Broken Arrow City Council as Vice Mayor (position voted on by the City Councilors.) She was first elected to the Council in 2019. She has a degree in Mass Communications.
She has listed four key issues on her website: 1) Economic Development (especially in the technology sector), 2) Public Safety 3) Education (empower parents to have final say in child’s education and make Northeaster State University – BA a 4-year university, 4) and Individual Liberty (right to bear arms, worship and free speech).
Willis did not have a Democrat primary election and says he is running because there was no else to oppose the Republican candidate. He is currently retired from Engineering & Construction work as a cost estimator, contract administrator, construction manager. Although he volunteers with the Lions club and Junior Achievement he has no government experience.
He says he wants to promote social diversity, wants higher teacher salaries, reorganize state and district offices, and provide no school vouchers.
Democrat incumbent Jo Anna Dossett and Republican Dean Martin will face off for the Senate District 35 seat, neither one faced a primary opponent.
Dosset was first elected to the senate in 2020. She earned 0% on the Conservative Index (Oklahoma Constitution magazine) for 2024 and a lifelong index of 6% (100% being the most conservative). She is a former teacher of 15 years who moved into the political arena to change things. Her campaign issues are education, affordable healthcare, criminal justic reform and women and children issues.
Martin has lived in District 35 for most of his life, and is very aware of the needs of this community and wishes to give District 35 the voice in the Oklahoma Senate that is now missing. He is a businessman, most of his career has been in sales and business management, but he’s always had an entrepreneurial drive. He and his family have started multiple small companies. His wife Tricia is a retired math teacher.
He is pro-Life, wants to lower taxes and have a limited government, supports education reform, energy independence and wants to reduce the cost of living.
District 37 will see Republican Aaron Reinhardt and Independent Andrew Nutter faceoff.
Reinhardt defeated the incumbent Cody Rogers in the primary. He says “I want to fight for Oklahoma families. We need conservative business leaders who have the ability to lead and get things done. I will fight to protect our Oklahoma values and help move this state forward.” He says on his website that he is
- Pro-Life, pro-family and will stop liberal efforts coming into our state
- Member of the NRA and supporter of the Second Amendment
- Believes in limited government and low taxes
On education he believes that EVERY child should be able to proficiently read, write and excel at mathematics. He will fight for our schools and our teachers, and work to improve our schools and empower parents to be involved in their child’s education.
Nutter is an Independent who previously ran as a Democrat. He says he is now running as an Independent because I believe good ideas don’t belong to any one party. He wants subsidies for home ownership, he would like to reform the State Department of Education and he would like to see the Minimum Wage Petition pass along with the capping of insurance costs. He would also like to reform the voting process in Oklahoma with ranked choice voting and online voting.
The last Senate seat is District 39 with incumbent Republican Dave Rader and Democrat newcomer Melissa Bryce. Both candidates advanced to the general election without a primary opponent. Rader has held the seat since 2016.
Dave Rader is a well known name in Tulsa from his high school and college and coaching days at TU. He has a degree in mechanical engineering and was in sales after his coaching career. He believes three areas will build a prosperous Oklahoma:
- jobs, retaining and creating jobs in Oklahoma.
- education – a quality education with equal access to obtaining an education and strengthen the work force.
- transportation infrastructure – good roads, bridges and highways.
He also is pro-life and believes in the Constitutional rights we are given.
Bryce is a former teacher and believes that most solutions to our state problems begin with education. Our future, our workforce and equitable healthcare start with education. She wants to work on alleviating homelessness and providing affordable housing for Oklahomans. Bryce also “supports investments in transportation, broadband access, and public services that will help Oklahoma’s communities stay connected and competitive in the 21st century.”
There are three state representative races that will be on the ballot Tuesday.
In House District 16 incumbent Republican Scott Fetgatter will compete with Democrat Rosie Lynch. Neither Fetgatter nor Lynch faced a primary opponent, their first election this year will be on Nov. 5.
Fetgatter was first elected in 2016. He has a facebook page in which he declares that he supports Trump, but has no real issues on it. He does say he protects life, wants border security and cutting taxes.He has been endorsed by the NRA. He is from Okmulgee (part of his multicounty district) and has The Oklahoma Constitution Conservative Index of 70 % in 2024, but only 50% cumulative.
Lynch describes herself as “Active Okmulgee citizen who stands up for ALL to feel safe, heard, regardless of political affiliation, religious beliefs, age, or gender. I fully support public education, unions, the ability to organize, the right to vote, and the needs of our Veterans.” Her three key issues according to Ballotpedia are
- “Alleviating issues of homelessness, job instability, and food insecurity
- Rural healthcare, including mental healthcare is a state crisis that combined with drug and alcohol addiction created an emergency in our communities. I will focus on bringing affordable healthcare options, including mental health and rehabilitation programs for people in need of stability in recovery.
- Connecting services with our community. It seems that our rural communities suffer and do not have adequate help in regards to veterans care, transportation, and wrap around services for people struggling to make financial ends meet.”
Republican Brad Banks will face incumbent Democrat Suzanne Schreiber in the House District 70 race once again. Schreiber won the last time they both ran in 2022.
Banks is a Marine veteran with foreign service experience. He earned a civil engineering degree at University of Texas San Antonio. He is a business owner that specializes in concrete, drainage, grading, and fencing work and has served the greater Tulsa area since 2016.
His main issues are freedom of speech, the 2nd Amendment, pro-life protections, medical mandates, and providing a good education.
Schreiber is a lawyer who clerked in the federal courts and had a private practice before working for a local foundation. She also served 12 years on the Tulsa School Board. She was elected to the Oklahoma House in 2022. Her key issues are strong public schools with local control, creating an economy that produces jobs and stability, and rejecting divisive extremism.
She earned only 7 percent on the cumulative Conservative Index with her votes in the House.
The final race in the Oklahoma house for Tulsa County is District 79, between incumbent Democrat Melissa Provenzano and Republican challenger Paul Hassink.
Provenzano has served in the House since 2018. She previously worked as a teacher and school principal. She currently serves as the Assistant Minority Leader for the Democratic Caucus.
On education she says that it’s time to reshape the narrative around our public education system – so that we can have a system that meets the needs of ALL kids. That she will continue to fight to expose the corruption at the State Department of Education.
She believes that affordable health care is an essential right. Melissa will fight to make sure Oklahomans have access to the care they need. She is ready to fight for social equity.
She claims to be a bipartisan problem solver, yet in her votes at the capitol she consistently votes liberal, her Conservative Index rank is at 0% for 2024 and only an 8% cumulative score.
She voted against school choice, against keeping boys out of girl’s sports and locker rooms. She voted against tax relief for low income earners in Oklahoma. She voted against biological sex being determined at birth.
Hassink has a bachelor and masters degree in electrical engineering and has worked for AEP. He is retired now and wants to ensure we do not lose our freedoms.
On education Hassink’s approach is to invest in education that aligns with Oklahoma’s values and economic development goals, securing a future where our children are not just educated but are prepared, motivated, and excited to contribute to our state’s growth, to give parents the right to direct their child’s education.
He supports the 2nd Amendment and is endorsed by the NRA.
Hassink believes in protecting life’s sanctity at every stage.
He believes that it is only eligible, verifiable voters participate in Oklahoma’s elections, through rigorous maintenance of voter rolls and mandatory voter identification.