Republican Erick Harris and Democrat Regan Raff to Face Off for Oklahoma State House District 39
The special election was called following the resignation of State Representative Ryan Martinez (R).
The Democratic and Republican primaries occurred today to select candidates for the February special election to fill a vacancy in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. A candidate only needs to achieve a plurality of the vote to receive their party’s nomination today.
The special election for Oklahoma State House District 39 was called following the resignation of State Representative Ryan Martinez, a Republican, after pleading guilty to driving while under the influence. He represented this district from November 2016 to September 2023.
In the Republican primary, Erick Harris has been declared the winner. The race was called in his favor as he’s currently leading with 27.16% against Ronda Peterson with 26.34%, Cris Price with 15.34%, Tim Hale with 13.91%, Ross Vanhooser with 13.00%, Kristen Ferate with 3.70%, and William Gaige Jr. with 0.55%. 3,299 votes have been counted.
Harris has taught at the University of Central Oklahoma as an adjunct professor since 2011.
Peterson currently works as a school bus driver for Edmond Public Schools.
Price has served as the President and Owner of Price Mortgage Group LLC since January 2014.
Hale has been the area ministry coordinator for Officer’s Christian Fellowship since March 2022.
Vanhooser has worked as a radiologist at Raddocs Imaging since December 2004.
In the Democratic primary, Regan Raff has been declared the winner. The race was called in her favor as she’s currently leading with 82.37% against Paul Timmons with 17.63%. 1,163 votes have been counted.
Raff is a small business owner and accounting professional.
Timmons is the SVP and Director of Accounting at Bank7 Corp. in Oklahoma City since May 2023.
Oklahoma State House District 39 covers the northern suburbs of Oklahoma City including the city of Edmond.
The special election for this seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives will occur on February 13, 2024. Republicans currently control the 101-member legislative chamber with an 80-20 supermajority against Democrats. This is the chamber’s sole vacancy.