What are the HD 33 candidates actually saying to voters?

The Republican primary for House District 33 pits a first-term incumbent against a challenger from the district's largest city, with voters choosing Tuesday between two candidates who agree on several of the session's biggest issues — and diverge sharply on others.

Rep. Molly Jenkins of Coyle and Cushing Mayor B.J. Roberson will face off in the June 16 Republican primary. The winner faces Democrat Dr. Max E. Burchett Jr. of Guthrie in the November general election. House District 33 covers portions of Logan and Payne counties.

Where they agree

Both candidates oppose State Question 832, the initiative petition that would gradually raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029, with subsequent increases tied to a federal inflation index. Jenkins, at a June 4 candidate forum hosted by the Stillwater Frontier Rotary Club, called it "very dangerous" and said the cost-of-living index tied to the measure reflects West Coast and East Coast inflation rates, not Oklahoma's. She predicted small businesses would lay off workers, college students would lose jobs, and that "every single person in this room will feel this." Roberson said he would vote no, arguing the increase would "hurt small businesses" and "those at the bottom that are struggling the most."

Both said the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust — created by Oklahoma voters in 2000 and protected by the state constitution — should remain intact. Jenkins said at the Rotary forum, "Lockbox means lockbox," and that she would have voted against any bill to divert TSET funds. Roberson said the trust has been "great for our state" and that he would not alter or dismantle it.

Both also took issue with the Senate's decision near the end of session to stop meeting, effectively blocking several state questions from reaching the August primary ballot. Jenkins called it troubling at the Rotary forum. Roberson said state questions generally belong on November ballots, where turnout is highest, giving citizens the broadest possible voice on constitutional changes.

Where they split

The candidates divided over one of the more charged questions of the recent session: whether House Speaker Kyle Hilbert was right to disinvite Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskins Jr. after Hoskins used a guest appearance on the House floor to advocate for Medicaid expansion.

Roberson disagreed with the Speaker's decision. "We need to nurture those partnerships and engage with the tribes in every way," he said at the Rotary forum. "He's entitled to his opinion on the Medicaid expansion issue, but that should not be a reason not to invite him back."

Jenkins sided with the Speaker. She was on the floor when Hoskins spoke and said at the Rotary forum she agreed the advocacy "was kind of uncalled for." She said she hopes Hoskins will be re-invited but added that "there are limitations to what needs to be said on the floor when you are a guest speaker."

ADVERTISEMENT

Buying or refinancing in Stillwater? Brittney, Misty and Angelica at OCCU bring local expertise and competitive rates to every home loan. And unlike many lenders, your loan stays right here — never sold, always local.

Apply Today

Jenkins: 'I made a mistake'

Jenkins made a notable public admission at the June 4 Rotary forum, saying she regrets her vote for Senate Bill 1778, the third-grade reading retention bill signed by the governor this session.

"I was very excited about the Mississippi Miracle bill," Jenkins said, referring to a Mississippi reading intervention program credited with improving test scores. "But you know what we failed to do? We failed to talk to the teachers." She said she has spoken with 40 to 50 teachers in the district since the vote, and that most told her third grade is "too late" for retention to be effective — that intervention should begin in first or second grade. "When you make a mistake, you strive to correct that mistake," she said, adding she is not yet certain how she will proceed on the legislation.

Roberson took a more supportive view of the bill's framework, saying intervention should be the first priority, but that if a child reaches fourth grade still unable to read proficiently, "maybe it's in their best interest to hold them back."

Attendance and transparency

Jenkins has made her attendance record a centerpiece of her campaign, noting at both the Rotary forum and a June 9 interview on the ABCs of Politics and Culture Facebook program that she and Rep. Jim Shaw of House District 32 were the only two House members to miss none of the 947 floor votes this session.

She also criticized a committee she said was created to give legislative leadership cover to approve a $7,400 pay raise for lawmakers without a full floor vote. She said she voted against the committee and will donate her raise each year to a different organization. This year, she said the donation will go to Crossroads Pregnancy Clinic in Guthrie, where she previously volunteered.

Roberson, at the Rotary forum, said transparency was a top priority and that having served nine years under open meetings requirements in Cushing, he would advocate for the same standards at the state Capitol. "If it's good for our municipalities and our school boards and other organizations, I think it would be good for the state legislature," he said.

Green energy and data centers

Jenkins named green energy — specifically wind turbines, battery storage, and data center development on agricultural land — as among the greatest long-term threats to her district, a position she repeated at the Rotary forum, the Payne County GOP forum June 11, and the ABCs podcast interview. She said she supports data centers "with guardrails," including a requirement that they operate on closed-loop water systems to limit consumption, and said they "do not need to be in our farm or ranch land."

"I never support corporate welfare," she said at the GOP forum. "Those data centers can be run on a closed system. It costs a lot more money, but we need to be pushing on that."

Roberson named economic opportunity and prosperity as the greatest long-term threat to Payne County at the GOP forum, framing it as a challenge best addressed through investment in education, health care, public safety, and responsible tax management.

ADVERTISEMENT

ATTN Employers: If you're recruiting top talent, getting candidates here is half the battle. The Community Marketing Grant helps Stillwater employers offset travel costs for prospective hires flying in through Stillwater Regional Airport.

Bring them to town, show them what Stillwater has to offer, and let the community close the deal. 🤠

Applications Due June 17

Campaigns and spending

Jenkins has made "I don't take lobbyist money" the opening line of her stump speech across every public appearance. At the Rotary forum, she directed voters to guardian.ok.gov to look up campaign contributions and said they would find no lobbyist money on her page.

Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce publicly challenged that claim earlier this cycle, noting that Make Liberty Win — the political action committee arm of Young Americans for Liberty — spent money on mailers, text messages, and door-knockers on Jenkins' behalf, with contributions coming almost entirely from out-of-state donors. Jenkins addressed the question in her Stillwegian questionnaire response.

"My pledge is about my campaign, not other groups that are beyond my control," she wrote. She said she rejects lobbyist contributions, lobbyist gifts, and contributions from PACs that employ lobbyists, and described turning down "tens of thousands of dollars in lobbyist-directed PAC contributions." She acknowledged that two other unlimited PACs have spent money trying to defeat her — one tied to wind energy interests, one mailing from a Denver postal permit — and that canvassers tied to Young Americans for Liberty knocked doors encouraging voters to re-elect her.

Asked specifically about Make Liberty Win by name, Jenkins said: "I appreciate their endorsement, as I do other grassroots-oriented groups who have endorsed, but I am not soliciting for any monetary support on my behalf."

Roberson did not directly address the Make Liberty Win issue in any public forum on record. At the Rotary forum closing, he said he has tried to maintain a positive campaign: "If you look at the mailers that have come out, there's an angry tone on one, and there's not on the other."

Jenkins did not attend the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon on June 12, where Roberson spoke.

About the candidates

Jenkins, 61, of Coyle, is a former middle school English teacher who also taught at the University of Central Oklahoma, Rose State College, and Tinker Air Force Base before owning and operating a real estate brokerage. She defeated then-incumbent John Talley with 60 percent of the vote in the June 2024 Republican primary. At the Capitol, she serves on the Common Education Committee and the Elections and Ethics Committee.

Roberson, 46, of Cushing, built Roberson Properties over the past 12 years — a small business that buys distressed homes, renovates them, and rents or occasionally sells them in Cushing, Drumright, Stillwater, and Oklahoma City. He said he previously worked in road construction with his father and later in the entertainment industry in Oklahoma City as a booking agent and talent buyer. He has served on the Cushing City Commission for nine years, four of them as chairman.

The primary winner faces Dr. Max E. Burchett Jr., a Guthrie pharmacist and health care executive, in the November general election.

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: Stillwater Frontier Rotary Club candidate forum, June 4; ABCs of Politics and Culture Facebook interview, June 9; Payne County Republican Party primary forum, June 11; Stillwater Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon, June 12, 2026; Stillwegian candidate questionnaire responses.