2025 Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 special election
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Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 | ||||||||||
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A special election in the U.S. state of Oklahoma is scheduled to be held on June 10, 2025, to elect a new member for the 71st District in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing a portion of Tulsa County. The election will fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Democratic state representative Amanda Swope upon her appointment to become the Tulsa Director of Tribal Policy & Partnership.
Procedure and background
[edit]- Libertarian (1.19%)
- Republican (36.18%)
- Democratic (38.26%)
- Independent (24.37%)
Two-round special primary elections are held before the general election. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round of a primary, they automatically win the nomination and precede to the general election. However, if no candidate receives 50%, a second round is held between the top two candidates. Political parties may choose whether to have open primaries or closed primaries. The Oklahoma Democratic Party has open primaries and allows independents to vote in their primaries, while the Oklahoma Republican Party and the Oklahoma Libertarian Party have closed primaries, where only party members can vote. If only one candidate files for the primary, no primary election is held and they automatically win the nomination, and if they have no opponents in the general election, no general election is held.[1]
The special election was made necessary by the resignation of incumbent Democratic representative Amanda Swope effective January 28, 2025, to become Tulsa's director of tribal policy. She had served in the state house since November 2022.
The primary election was scheduled for April 1, 2025, with a runoff on May 13. The general election will be held on June 10.[2] The winner of the general election will serve the remainder of the unexpired term until November 2026.
As of January 15, 2025, there were 24,626 registered voters in HD 71, with 9,421 Democrats (38%), 8,909 Republicans (36%), 294 Libertarians (1%), and 6,002 independents (24%).[3]
Previous results
[edit]This table shows every election in HD 71 won by the previous incumbent, Democrat Amanda Swope, and the election immediately preceding.
| Year | Democrats | Republicans | Mgn. | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Amanda Swope (i) | Unopp. | D+100 | [4] | ||||
| 2022 | Amanda Swope | 7,028 | 60.79% | Mike Masters | 4,534 | 39.21% | D+21.58 | [5] |
| 2020 | Denise Brewer (i) | 8,042 | 54.30% | Mike Masters | 6,767 | 45.70% | D+8.60 | [6] |
Republican primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]Advanced to runoff
[edit]- Beverly A. Atteberry, attorney and businesswoman, candidate for this seat in 2020 and 2018
- Tania Garza, real estate and insurance agent
Eliminated in first round
[edit]- Heidemarie Fuentes
Results
[edit]First round
[edit]
| Atteberry: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 80–90% Tie: 30–40% 40–50% | Garza: 50–60% 60–70% Fuentes: 30–40% 50–60% 60–70% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Beverly A. Atteberry | 219 | 48.56% | |
| Republican | Tania Garza | 132 | 29.27% | |
| Republican | Heidemarie Fuentes | 100 | 22.17% | |
| Total votes | 451 | 100.00% | ||
Runoff
[edit]
| Atteberry: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90–100% | Garza: 50–60% 80–90% Tie: 50% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Beverly A. Atteberry | 147 | 66.22% | |
| Republican | Tania Garza | 75 | 33.79% | |
| Total votes | 222 | 100.00% | ||
Democratic primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]Nominee
[edit]- Amanda Clinton, businesswoman and adjunct professor, Cherokee Nation employee[9]
Eliminated in primary
[edit]- Dennis Baker, former police officer and FBI worker, candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022, nominee for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district in 2024[9]
- Hudson Harder, teacher[9]
- Ben Riggs, teacher[9]
Endorsements
[edit]Politicians
- Monroe Nichols, mayor of Tulsa (2024–present)[9]
Organizations
- Advance Native Political Leadership (co-endorsement with Baker)[10]
Politicians
- Amanda Swope, state representative for this district (2022–2025)[9]
Results
[edit]
| Clinton: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | Tie: 40–50% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Amanda Clinton | 1,146 | 51.25% | |
| Democratic | Dennis Baker | 587 | 26.25% | |
| Democratic | Ben Riggs | 363 | 16.23% | |
| Democratic | Hudson Harder | 140 | 6.26% | |
| Total votes | 2,236 | 100.00% | ||
General election
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Amanda Clinton | |||
| Republican | Beverly A. Atteberry | |||
Fundraising
[edit]| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | As of... |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Baker (D) | $189,345.87 | $132,841.47 | May 5, 2025 |
| Amanda Clinton (D) | $95,185.00 | $85,023.15 | May 5, 2025 |
| Heidemarie Fuentes (R) | $3,625.00 | $5,832.30 | May 5, 2025 |
| Tania Garza (R) | $4,322.88 | $2,024.41 | May 5, 2025 |
| Hudson Harder (D) | $15,358.00 | $15,358.00 | May 4, 2025 |
| Ben Riggs (D) | $43,515.00 | $24,791.05 | May 5, 2025 |
| Total | $351,351.75 | $265,870.38 |
See also
[edit]- 2025 Oklahoma elections
- 2025 Oklahoma House of Representatives District 74 special election
- 2025 Oklahoma Senate District 8 special election
- 2025 United States state legislative special elections
External links
[edit]Official campaign Web sites
[edit]- Amanda Clinton (D)
- Tania Garza (R)
- Dennis Baker (D, eliminated)
- Heidemarie Fuentes (R, eliminated)
- Hudson Harder (D, eliminated)
- Ben Riggs (D, eliminated)
References
[edit]- ^ "Primary and Runoff Primary Elections". Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ "Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71". Ballotpedia. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ "Current Registration Statistics by District" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ "NOVEMBER 05 2024 Official Results". Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ "NOVEMBER 08 2022 Official Results". Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ "NOVEMBER 03 2020 Official Results". Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ a b "Official Results: April 1, 2025". OK Election Results. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ "FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 71 (UNEXPIRED TERM)". OK Election Results. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g Loveless, Tristan (March 27, 2025). "Cheat sheet: With $305,000 raised, 4 Democrats compete in expensive HD 71 primary". NonDoc. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ a b "2025 Endorsements". Advance Native Political Leadership. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ "The Guardian". Oklahoma Ethics Commission. Retrieved May 7, 2025.