While Oklahoma’s Legislature has been Republican-dominated for more than a decade, the State Senate remains a place where thin margins define the balance of power and the fate of controversial measures.
In 2024, a one-vote margin decided the Senate Republican Caucus’ closed-door vote for leadership, with current President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) prevailing over Sen. David Bullard (R-Durant). The split symbolized friction among Senate Republicans that has rubbed relationships raw in recent years.
With 25 of the Senate’s 48 seats up for grabs during Oklahoma’s 2026 election cycle — a Shawnee-area seat features a special election — all eyes are on a slate of contests that could tip the balance of power in the upper chamber next year.
In short, Oklahoma’s most conservative Republicans — some under the banner of the “Freedom Caucus” — believe Paxton and his supporters have not done enough to “abolish” abortion, extinguish the renewable energy industry, prohibit the application of “humanure,” legalize the sale of raw milk and unravel the tentacles of corporate welfare.
On the other hand, business-minded Republicans believe the hard-line conservatives’ stances are out of touch with efforts to grow Oklahoma’s economy, fund education needs and maintain core government services.
A notable off-cycle exit from the Senate, pushing the number of open seats above half of the chamber, is Freedom Caucus Chairman Sen. Shane Jett (R-Shawnee), who is term-limited owing to his six years of service in the House from 2004 to 2010.
Sen. Darcy Jech (R-Kingfisher) is also term-limited, opening the race for Senate District 26. Two other members of the Senate are not running for reelection. Sen. Darrell Weaver (R-Moore) is instead running for lieutenant governor, and his soon-to-be-open seat is shaping up to be hotly contested. Sen. Brent Howard (R-Altus), who serves in leadership as an assistant majority floor leader and chief presiding officer, chose not to seek reelection to a third and final term.
Democrats have also had a successful year courting candidates, with a Democratic challenger waiting in the wings in more than half of the 19 races for Republican seats.
The following rundown details the dynamics in all 25 Senate districts up for grabs in 2026, with seven seats elected by default.
Senate District 2, Rogers and Tulsa counties
Incumbent Sen. Ally Seifried (R-Claremore) drew two challenges, one Republican and one Democrat.
Seeking a second term in office, Seifried, 33, will face construction professional Peyton Pepin, 41, in the GOP primary. The winner of the primary will face 68-year-old Democrat Randy Cowling, the former director of Owasso Community Resources.
Senate District 4, Adair, Cherokee, Delaware and Sequoyah counties
Incumbent Sen. Tom Woods (R-Westville) is facing a challenger in the primary and will have a Democrat waiting in the general. Kenny Smith, a 68-year-old developer, is challenging Woods, 31, in the primary, calling him a “liberal.”
Ellen Cuff, 49, is running as a Democrat.
Senate District 6, Atoka, Bryan, Choctaw, Johnston and Pushmataha counties
Incumbent Sen. David Bullard (R-Durant) drew a general election challenger — 32-year-old Democrat Patrick Southerland. Bullard, 47, is seeking a third and final four-year term representing the southern Oklahoma district.
In 2025, Bullard reportedly finished one vote behind Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton for the body’s top position, and while no one challenged Paxton in a recent GOP Caucus “designee” vote for next legislative session, the outcome of this year’s State Senate elections could spur Bullard to seek the post again.
Senate District 8, Okmulgee, Okfuskee, Creek, McIntosh and Muskogee counties
Incumbent Sen. Bryan Logan (R-Paden) did not draw a primary challenger in his pursuit of his first full term representing the eastern Oklahoma district.
Logan, 42, won a 2025 special election over several Republicans and Democrat Nathan Brewer, who has filed to challenge Logan again in 2026. Logan won last year’s special election over Brewer, also 42, with 61.62 percent of the 5,003 votes cast to fill the SD 8 seat following former Sen. Roger Thompson’s resignation.
Senate District 10, Kay, Osage and Tulsa counties
Incumbent Sen. Bill Coleman (R-Ponca City), who serves in Senate GOP leadership as majority whip, is being challenged in the Republican primary by 26-year-old Jadan Terrazas, who bills himself as a “Christian conservative” and promises to serve only two terms and push a reduction in term limits from 12 to eight years.
Coleman, 65, owns and operates Team Radio Marketing Group, a network of nine radio stations in northern Oklahoma. He is seeking his third and final term in office.
Chayelynn Moore, 46, filed for SD 10 as a Democrat and will face the primary winner in the Nov. 3 general election.
Senate District 12, Creek and Tulsa counties
Assistant Majority Floor Leader Todd Gollihare (R-Kellyville), 61, is also facing a challenger in the Republican primary. Craig Stump, 59, is contesting the seat and bills himself as a “conservative constitutionalist.”
Gollihare is an attorney and U.S. Marine Corps veteran whose recent legislation involving places of worship put him at odds with Sen. Dusty Deevers (R-Lawton), who is running for reelection on a platform of constitutional conservatism.
When people visited Gollihare’s church to “admonish” him for his position on an anti-abortion proposal, he decided to author SB 743 — passed and signed earlier this year — to expand the criminal penalties and definitions related to disturbing a religious meeting. Deevers debated against the bill, which seemingly sought to balance two First Amendment rights in a way that some considered inappropriate.
The SD 12 primary winner will face 38-year-old Democrat Erica Watkins, a mother and veteran whose campaign website had been oriented toward a 1st Congressional District campaign prior to her decision to seek the State Senate seat.
Senate District 14, Carter, Coal, Marshall, Murray and Johnston
Incumbent Sen. Jerry Alvord (R-Wilson) won reelection to a second term by default. Alvord, 62, is an assistant majority floor leader in the Senate.
Senate District 16, Cleveland County
Similarly, 59-year-old incumbent Sen. Mary Boren (D-Norman) did not draw a challenger and was reelected by default to a third and final term.
Senate District 17, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma and Cleveland counties
With Sen. Shane Jett’s prior House service term-limiting him in the middle of SD 17’s current term, the race for the east-central Oklahoma district is shaping up to be one of the year’s busier contests. Five candidates have filed to succeed Jett (R-Shawnee), who has clashed with Senate Republican leaders on a variety of topics, including property tax reform.
Four Republicans filed for SD 17:
- Steve King, 70, an Air Force veteran;
- Abby Thompson, 39, a Pottawatomie County commissioner;
- Randy Cornelius, 57, a career firefighter; and
- Justin Wood, 36, a former member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, former principal chief of the Sac and Fox Nation and the current communications director for Tecumseh Public Schools.
Former Shawnee Mayor Ed Bolt, 69, is running as a Democrat.
Senate District 18, Canadian and Oklahoma counties
Incumbent Sen. Jack Stewart (R-Yukon) is set to face 45-year-old Misty Shannon and 40-year-old Yukon resident Tyler Herring in the Republican primary. Herring is the husband of lobbyist Brittany Adkins-Herring.
Stewart, 76, is seeking a second term in the State Senate after serving as a Canadian County commissioner.
The winner of the SD 18 Republican nomination will face 38-year-old Democrat Meredith McGinnis, an attorney who posted that she is also participating in a boxing tournament next month.
Senate District 20, Noble, Logan, Pawnee, Payne and Kingfisher counties
Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee Chairman Chuck Hall (R-Perry) is facing a challenger in the Republican primary. Hall, 59, will face Mark LeMarr, 63. LeMarr is a pastor and former mayor of Cimarron City, according to his website.
Hall, who is seeking a third and final term, is CEO and board chairman for Exchange Bank. No other candidates filed for the seat.
Senate District 22, Oklahoma and Canadian counties
Incumbent Sen. Kristen Thompson (R-Edmond) is unchallenged in the Republican primary but will face 39-year-old Kenny Kemper, an attorney who is running as a Democrat in the general election.
Seeking a second term, Thompson, 40, owns businesses in the commercial construction and hospitality industries.
Senate District 24, Cleveland County
With Sen. Darrell Weaver mounting a bid for lieutenant governor, seven people have filed for SD 24.
Five Republicans are running for the open seat, setting up a competitive primary — and potentially a runoff — among:
- Robert Keyes, 67, a businessman who ran unsuccessfully for Senate District 15 in 2024 with billboards proclaiming he is “tough as a $2 steak”;
- Tammi Didlot, 60, a third-generation farmer;
- Bryan Husted, 49, a former OKCPD officer who retired from law enforcement in 2012;
- Heather Boss, 38, a minister who co-founded the Remnant Church of God in Moore; and
- Jon Painter, 60, an optometrist.
Jonathan Morales, 45, is running as a Democrat, and Melissa Elder, 48, is running as an independent.
Senate District 26, Kingfisher, Caddo, Canadian, Custer and Blaine counties
With Sen. Darcy Jech term limited, three candidates — all Republicans — are vying for the western Oklahoma open seat.
Brady Butler, 39, is an oil and gas business owner who lost to Jech by 4.58 percent in the 2022 Republican runoff. A self-proclaimed “paradigm-shifting” candidate who has opposed the separation of church and state, Butler has produced a 40-page campaign booklet, in which he calls Jech one of the most “liberal” Republicans in the Senate.
Jessica Winegeart, 42, is an agriculture professional in Calumet who lives on her family farm and works as a hay broker. She has served on the Calumet Public Schools Board of Education for five years, according to her website.
Rick Koch, 65, is the founder of ASAP Energy, a gas station company with divisions in retail, hospital, marketing and petroleum. Koch established the company in 1979, and it now transports fuel across eight states.
Senate District 28, Lincoln, Logan, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie and Seminole counties
Seeking his second term, Sen. Grant Green (R-Wellston) has fielded two primary challengers and significant opposition from Lincoln County-area activists who helped defeat his friend and former colleague, Kevin Wallace, in 2024.
Green, 57, is being challenged by Robert Trimble, 59, an Army veteran and furniture businessman from Shawnee.
Democrat Kevin Connor, 48, awaits either Green or Trimble in the general election.
Senate District 30, Oklahoma County
Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, (D-OKC), did not draw a challenger. That means Kirt, 52, has been reelected by default.
Senate District 32, Comanche County
Incumbent Sen. Dusty Deevers (R-Lawton) drew two primary challengers: Dr. Jean Hausheer, 68, and Curtis Erwin, 57. Hausheer is an ophthalmologist ,and Erwin is the founding pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Elgin, according to his website.
Deevers won a 2023 special election to represent SD 32. In the special Republican primary election, Deevers prevailed over Hausheer and other candidates with only 37 percent of the vote. Hausheer received 30.8 percent. In 2024, lawmakers changed special election laws to eliminate the winner-take-all format that allowed Deevers to win the GOP nomination without heading to a runoff.
Democrat Booker T. Newton, 54, will await the GOP nominee in November. Newton is a U.S. Army veteran who works with other military members to help them transition back to civilian life.
Independent Valentin Pena, 30, is also running for the seat.
Senate District 34, Tulsa County
Incumbent Sen. Dana Prieto (R-Tulsa) is facing three Republican challengers as he pursues a second term. A strong critic of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Prieto, 69, is the owner of Everlasting Enterprises. He ousted former Sen. J.J. Dossett (D-Owasso) in 2022.
The three Republicans challenging Prieto all live in Owasso:
- Aaron Forst, 43, a “faith-driven leader” and entrepreneur who claims to be a direct descendant of Scottish King Robert the Bruce;
- Kent Taylor, 62, a business professional who retired from Helmerich and Payne and who plays the trumpet; and
- Brent Driskill, 38, an Owasso businessman who formerly worked at Endeavor Energy Solutions.
Amy Hossain, 51, filed as a Democrat and will face the primary winner in the general election. Hossain works in human resources for Domestic Violence Intervention Services in Tulsa, and she unsuccessfully ran for House District 74 in a 2025 special election.
Senate District 36, Tulsa and Wagoner counties
Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee Vice Chairman John Haste (R-Broken Arrow) will face Philip Weiland, 42, in the Republican primary. Haste, 71, is seeking a third and final term in the Senate.
Weiland was featured in a 2020 News on 6 story about how he was charged in Wagoner County with a misdemeanor for firing a pistol into the ground while chasing down the man who stole and damaged his truck. The charge was ultimately dismissed.
Rick Larsen, 58, filed as a Democrat.
Senate District 38, Beckham, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa, Tillman and Washita counties
Three Republicans are vying for the seat being vacated by Sen. Brent Howard, who announced last year that he would not seek a third and final term in the Senate.
The three GOP candidates are:
- Joe Buchanan, 63, a former chief of the Altus Fire Department;
- Rick Vernon, 50, an Altus attorney; and
- Barry Dwaine Christian, 54, a drilling consultant from Sayre.
No other candidate filed for the southwest Oklahoma seat.
Senate District 40, Oklahoma County
Incumbent Sen. Carri Hicks (D-OKC) did not draw an opponent and was reelected by default. Hicks, 43, will be term-limited in 2030.
Senate District 42, Oklahoma County
Incumbent Sen. Brenda Stanley (R-Midwest City) drew two challengers: one Republican and one Democrat.
An assistant majority whip, Stanley, 74, is a former educator who is seeking a third and final term in the Senate.
Malana Bracht, 31, is challenging Stanley in the June GOP primary. She is the author of Midwest City (Images of America) and Momma, Don’t Worry, “a faith-filled book for expectant mothers promoting pro-life values celebrating the overturning of Roe v Wade” (not to be confused with Lil Wayne’s track from his Carter VI album). Bracht’s website features a tab titled, “Slow fade: Brenda Stanley’s liberal votes.”
Chris Jones, 52, filed to run for the seat as a Democrat. Jones is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, a Chickasaw Nation citizen and a former correctional officer.
Senate District 44, Oklahoma and Canadian counties
Incumbent Sen. Michael Brooks (D-OKC) did not draw a challenger for the primary or general elections. That means Brooks, a 55-year-old attorney, was reelected by default.
Senate District 46, Oklahoma County
Sen. Mark Mann (D-OKC) did not draw a challenger in the primary or general election. Mann, a 54-year-old insurance agent and former OKCPS Board of Education member, was reelected by default.
Senate District 48, Oklahoma County
Incumbent Sen. Nikki Nice (D-OKC) was first elected in 2024 to serve the remainder of former Sen. George Young’s term. Nice, a 45-year-old broadcaster, did not draw a primary or general election opponent and was reelected by default.
(Clarification: This article was updated at 8 p.m. Sunday, April 5, to adjust reference to SB 743.)
