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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — As Oklahoma prepares for the 2024 election season, prospective candidates traveled to the state capitol this week to solidify their campaigns. With several vacated seats, Oklahoma is in for a busy election year.
Candidates have until Friday, April 5 to lock in their bids. As of Thursday afternoon, over 230 people have filed for state or federal office. Although Oklahoma is a Republican supermajority, several Democratic districts exist.
State Senate
Representative Regina Goodwin has represented Tulsa’s 73rd House district since 2015. In January, she announced that she is pursuing State Senate District 11. Currently, only one other candidate has filed for the race, Joe Williams. Williams is a former Tulsa City Councilmember who originally planned to run for Goodwin’s current seat of HD 73. The current seat holder for District 11 is Black Caucus member Oklahoma State Senator Kevin Matthews.
After serving as the District 46 Senator for 10 years, Kay Floyd is vacating the seat. She currently serves as the Senate Minority Leader, a spot that will be taken over by Julia Kirt. Running for Floyd’s vacated and traditionally Democratic seat are Mark Mann and Sam Wargin Grimaldo. Mann has served on the Oklahoma City Public School Board since 2018. In 2021, Grimaldo ran for Oklahoma City Council but lost to incumbent Todd Stone.
In February, State Senator for District 48 George Young announced that he would be resigning from his position in November. Two local politicians with plenty of name ID to fall back on have answered the call to fill the seat. District 48’s main constituency is the predominantly Black east side of Oklahoma City. Nikki Nice currently represents Oklahoma City Council Ward 7 and has held the council seat since 2018. Also filed to run in the Democratic primary against Nice is former seatholder Connie Johnson. Johnson served District 48 from 2005 to 2014.
State Representative
The State of Oklahoma has 101 House Districts.
With Rep. Monroe Nichols shifting his focus to the Tulsa Mayor’s race, he’s leaving an empty seat in the state House. Two Democrats have filed to fill his position, Michelle McCane and Adam Martin. McCane is a resident of north Tulsa who was named the 2023-2024 TRAICE High School Teacher of the Year. Martin ran for Congressional District 1 in 2022 but lost to Republican incumbent Kevin Hern.
On Wednesday, Rep. Mauree Turner announced that they would not be running in the 2024 election cycle. Filing in their place is their legislative assistant Nicole Maldonado who has received Turner’s official endorsement. She will face Ellen Pogemiller in the June primaries.
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Currently, the Legislative Black Caucus member representing House District 97 is Rep. Jason Lowe. As it stands as of Thursday afternoon, Lowe is running uncontested for his incumbent seat.
House District 99 Democrat incumbent Ajay Pittman has a challenger for her seat in the June primaries. Pittman is the daughter of former State Representative and Senator Anastasia Pittman. Ajay has held the District 99 seat since 2019. Brittane Grant filed to run against Pittman. Grant has experience with the Greater OKC Chamber and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.
Finally, two Democrats have filed for House District 100 against Republican Incumbent Marilyn Stark. Cyndi Parish has a career in education and hasn’t run for office before her 2024 filing. Chaunté Gilmore previously ran for the seat in 2022 but lost by an 8.8% margin.
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