Shaw, Jenkins and Ranson win reelection in area House races

All three incumbents in the state House races covering Payne County won reelection Tuesday, according to results from the Oklahoma State Election Board. Each race has all precincts reporting.

Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater, won a fifth term in House District 34. She defeated Republican Aaron Means 67.1% to 32.9%, or 5,029 votes to 2,470.

In House District 33, Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle, defeated Democrat Dr. Max E. Burchett Jr. of Guthrie 62.8% to 37.2%, or 7,622 votes to 4,510.

Rep. Jim Shaw, R-Chandler, won House District 32 with 74% of the vote. He received 8,541 votes to 2,999 for independent Andy Brown of Prague.

The results are pending certification by the Oklahoma State Election Board, which is scheduled to certify results for state offices after 5 p.m. Nov. 10.

House District 34: Ranson’s widest margin

Tuesday’s race was the third between Ranson and Means. Her 34-point margin was the widest of her five House races. Ranson defeated Means by 14.8 points in 2018 and by 5 points in 2020. She beat Michael Baughman by 23.2 points in 2022 and Andrew Muchmore by 17 points in 2024. Against Means on Tuesday, she led in every voting method: 3,356 to 1,927 on Election Day, 1,469 to 487 in early voting and 204 to 56 in absentee and mail ballots. House District 34 covers the core of Stillwater.

Ranson’s campaign emphasized public schools, health care and named wildfire risk in southwest Stillwater as a top issue in her district. Means, a retired dentist, centered his campaign on school library books and restroom policy. In a campaign video, he said school districts are “allowing pornography in public school libraries” and that “local control is failing our parents and our students.” He said he “stood up when elements within our city refused to remove boys from the girls’ bathrooms,” and he called for writing a definition of obscenity into state law.

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House District 33: Jenkins carries both counties

Jenkins carried both counties in House District 33. She won 62.5% of the vote in Payne County’s 14 precincts, 6,634 votes to 3,984, and 65.3% in Logan County’s four precincts, 988 to 526. Early voting was her closest category, where she led 1,479 to 1,409. Burchett led absentee and mail ballots 198 to 157. Jenkins’ 5,986 to 2,903 advantage on Election Day decided the race.

Burchett won three of the district’s 18 precincts. Two of them include parts of Stillwater: Precinct 600009, which he won 636 to 557, and Precinct 600411, which he won 165 to 161. He also carried Logan County Precinct 420202, 173 to 52.

In her general election questionnaire responses to The Stillwegian, Jenkins said she supports State Question 847 as “a modest step toward greater property-tax restraint,” though not a substitute for her goal of eliminating homestead property taxes. She also said data centers should cover their own construction, electricity, water and infrastructure costs without shifting them to taxpayers or utility customers.

Burchett, a pharmacist and health care executive, campaigned on health care access. In his questionnaire responses, he said families “should not have to leave their communities or travel excessive distances to obtain routine medical care.” He also called a strong public education system “one of the most important investments Oklahoma can make in its future.”

Jenkins won the seat in 2024 by unseating Rep. John Talley in the Republican primary. This year she reached the general election by defeating Cushing Mayor B.J. Roberson in the June 16 primary with 56.3% of the vote.

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House District 32: Shaw dominates in Lincoln County

Most of House District 32 lies in Lincoln County, where Shaw took 74.6% across 19 precincts. The district also includes one Payne County precinct, which covers Perkins, and one precinct in Logan County. Shaw won the Perkins precinct 907 to 393 and the Logan County precinct 126 to 52.

In his questionnaire responses to The Stillwegian, Shaw named industrial green energy projects and the land application of biosolids, which he calls “humanure,” as two of the most talked-about issues in the district. Brown, a retired farmer who ran as a “commonsense moderate,” named representation and the economy as his top two issues. “The one thing I hear most is that people want someone who is there to represent them,” he wrote. He said he would focus on “expanding access to higher-paying jobs through education, apprenticeships, and trade schools.”

Shaw won the seat in an August 2024 Republican runoff against Kevin Wallace, then chair of House Appropriations. He defeated Jack Vaughan in this year’s June 16 primary.