Travis runs on a short but concrete record. Wright says experience is what matters.

Rep. Dillon Travis is seeking his first full term after winning the District 35 seat in February's special election. He faces Kevin Wright, whom he defeated in the December special Republican primary, for the second time in six months.

Travis, 33, of Maramec, and Wright, 58, of Jennings, will face off Tuesday in the House District 35 Republican primary. No Democrat or independent filed, making the primary winner the next representative. District 35 covers portions of Creek, Noble, Osage, Pawnee, and Payne counties.

Travis's early record

Travis came into office Feb. 18 in the middle of the legislative session and has made his short but concrete record the centerpiece of his campaign.

His signature accomplishment: securing more than $1.2 million in water infrastructure grants for the towns of Pawnee and Ralston. He said at both the Payne County Republican Party candidate forum on Thursday and the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon on Friday that the grant came directly from listening to constituents while door-knocking.

"Pawnee and Ralston said, I don't care what you do, just fix our water," he said at the Chamber luncheon. "And so I listened."

Because he was sworn in after the filing deadline, Travis did not author legislation this session. He carried two bills that became law: SB 1944, which modernizes agricultural workers' compensation laws, and SB 2159, which designates wheat as the official state crop. He also supported a retirement benefit for volunteer firefighters (SB 1147), a classroom cell phone ban (HB 1276), the Teacher Retire Rehire bill (HB 2288), and the Parents Protection Act of 2026 (HB 3586), which addresses adoption eligibility, child abuse and neglect statutes, and provisions related to biological sex in the Oklahoma Children's Code.

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Travis is also developing legislation inspired by a constituent — a second-grade teacher in Cleveland whose son died of an undetected heart defect. The bill would allow third-graders to get free, voluntary heart screenings at school.

"It is not mandatory whatsoever," Travis said at the GOP forum. "Heart defects have grown almost 30 percent." He said he has been working with medical professionals who are passionate about the issue.

Travis also said he supports the right-to-repair concept for agricultural equipment. House Bill 3617, the Oklahoma Agriculture Right to Repair Act, was introduced in the 2026 session by Rep. Mark Lawson and Sen. Casey Murdock but failed to advance.

At the Chamber luncheon, Travis described building his agricultural supply business, Southern Plains Ag Co., from scratch — starting in part of his farm shop after seeing that producers in his area were struggling to access certain products. The company now operates out of a warehouse in Cleveland and serves Oklahoma, Kansas, southern Nebraska, and Texas.

"I did not ask for this job," he said at the Chamber. "A group of people in my community came together and asked me to run."

Wright's challenge

Wright is making his second run at Travis after being eliminated in the December special primary. He said at the GOP forum the biggest difference between the two candidates comes down to experience — pointing specifically to his 12 years as mayor of Jennings.

"I started the company from scratch 28 years ago," Wright said at the GOP forum, referring to his promotional products business in Oilton. On his mayoral tenure, he said: "You turn it around — in bankruptcy after almost going bankrupt. Life teaches you a lot of experiences that you can't learn any other way."

Wright founded the Promise, Literacy, and Education Foundation, a ministry started by his late father. His first stated legislative priority is eliminating property taxes for senior citizens. "They are being taxed to death right now with inflation and wages," he said at the GOP forum. "They have earned it and worked hard for it."

Wright did not attend the Chamber luncheon.

Income tax: the sharpest divide

The two candidates split most clearly on income tax elimination. Wright committed at the GOP forum to eliminating the state income tax, describing a trigger-based approach tied to economic growth. "We just can't overnight stop because we have obligations," he said. "We need to get government efficiency and stop the fraud."

Travis declined to match that commitment. "Anytime we can lower taxes for hard-working Americans, I'm always going to be for that," he said at the GOP forum. But he said safeguards are needed to protect public schools, sheriff's offices, county commissioners, roads, and water infrastructure. "We want good water infrastructure. We want a safe environment where we can call the sheriff and it's not going to take two hours to get there."

Oklahoma's individual income tax is the single largest source of revenue for state government, contributing roughly one-third of the General Revenue Fund.

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Greatest long-term threat: substance abuse vs. cultural values

Asked at the GOP forum what they believe is the greatest long-term threat to Payne County, the two candidates gave starkly different answers.

Travis named substance abuse.

"One thing that's really big that I feel like is hurting all of them is substance abuse — and people that are making illegal drugs and affecting not only rural Oklahoma, but all of it," he said. "I'm sure everybody in this room knows somebody that's been affected by drugs."

Wright named cultural values.

"We've got to protect our conservative values," he said. "We're getting stuff forced down our kids' throats right now." He said he knows what a man and woman is "because my Bible tells me what it is" and pledged to stand against what he described as threats to conservative values in education.

Foreign land ownership

Both candidates expressed concern about foreign ownership of Oklahoma land. Travis said at the GOP forum that land prices have been driven up by foreign nationals "repurposing cash" and called for legislation to end foreign land purchases. Wright said he would support legislation banning foreign land ownership in Oklahoma.

Voting information

The June 16 primary is Tuesday. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Voters can find their polling place at the Oklahoma State Election Board's voter portal at okvoterportal.okelections.gov.

Sources: Payne County Republican Party candidate forum, Thursday, June 11, 2026, Stillwater Community Center; Stillwater Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon, Friday, June 12, 2026; Stillwegian candidate questionnaire responses.