Six candidates will appear on the March 4 Republican primary ballot for the open Oklahoma State Senate District 8 race, but only five are actively campaigning.
The eastern Oklahoma seat is open because former Senate Appropriations and Budget Chairman Roger Thompson (R-Okemah) resigned last year after he was ousted as chairman of the powerful committee.
SD 8 lies south of the Tulsa metro area and encompasses all of Okfuskee, Okmulgee and McIntosh counties, as well as parts of Creek and Muskogee counties.
If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the March 4 Republican primary, the top two Republican candidates will advance to an April 1 runoff. The ultimate GOP nominee will face Democrat Nathan Brewer and independent Steve Sanford in the May 13 general election.
On Feb. 1, all active GOP candidates except Jeff Ramsey participated in a forum hosted by the Okmulgee County Republican Party, which was livestreamed on Facebook.
— Steven Baldridge
• Age: 62
• Profession/Background: Steven Baldridge is the Ward 2 city councilman for Okmulgee. According to his LinkedIn profile, he also served as mayor from 2012 to 2019. He also says on LinkedIn that he is a “systems administrator” at the College of the Muscogee Nation. In the Okmulgee County Republican Party forum, Baldridge said he is a computer engineer. He is a veteran of the Army National Guard.
• Platform: Baldridge has been posting campaign-related content on his Facebook profile since August, but he has posted little about his platform. In a video on his website, Baldridge says his priorities are “improving education, creating economic opportunities, investing in water resources and promoting tourism across our beautiful district.”
On Feb. 5, Baldridge went on a podcast conducted by The Henryettan that was livestreamed on Facebook.
At the Okmulgee County GOP forum, Baldridge said he wants to serve on the Senate Education Committee, Technology and Telecommunications Committee and Economic Development Committee, if elected. He also said education is one of the biggest issues in SD 8.
“If we don’t develop our students – our most valuable resource – and get them ready for our workforce, that is a problem,” he said. “When we bring industry to Okmulgee, Oklahoma, or District 8, the first thing that they ask is, ‘How about your workforce?’ And that is a problem because we don’t have a great workforce.”
— Hoss Durrett
• Age: 45
• Profession/Background: Hoss Durrett lives in Checotah and owns Hosstyle Equipment, which sells lawnmowers, tractors and other equipment at two locations. He also owns Hosstyle Properties LLC. In a video posted on Facebook by The Henryettan, Durrett argued his experience separates him from his opponents.
“I think that being a conservative business owner gives me an edge against the competition, in my opinion, because of the things I’ve had to go through and seen and done in the last 25 years of having employees, having to make big decisions, having to balance a budget, things like that,” Durrett said.
• Platform: On his website, Durrett says he supports “President Trump’s America First agenda” and is “pro-life, progun, pro-hunting and dedicated to protecting rural ways of life.” Durrett said he got involved in politics in 2016 when he attended President Donald Trump’s first inauguration. In another video posted on Facebook by The Henryettan, Durrett offered few plans for SD 8 if he is elected but said he supports Trump.
“I’ve just been running a business, helping with my local community, and now I feel like I’m in a position to where I can expand on that and help a lot of the other communities and stuff,” Durrett said. “It is very important to me to help push Trump’s agenda.”
If elected, Durrett said at the Okmulgee County Republican Party forum that he hopes to serve on the Senate Economic Development, Workforce and Tourism Committee.
Durrett also said at the forum he is a “huge supporter” of cutting income taxes, although he wants to “stair-step” reductions over time. Durrett identified education as an issue for SD 8 and said school boards should be harder on superintendents and teachers who do not perform well. He also said schools should be more strict with students.
— Ed Jolly
Ed Jolley filed to run in the 2025 special GOP primary for Oklahoma State Senate District 8, but he has since announced that he is no longer campaigning. (Facebook)
• Age: 59
• Profession/Background: There is little information about Ed Jolly’s background online. He is an instructor at Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, according to his LinkedIn. He is from Okfuskee County.
• Platform: Jolly says he has withdrawn from the race and is supporting Bryan Logan. On his website, he wrote that Logan will drain the swamp but will not be a part of it.
“I have met the other candidate’s (sic) and feel there were only two real, honest consertivities (sic) that will represent Oklahoma and the people without any personal gain,” Jolly wrote. “United we can vote in Bryan Logan and protect the Oklahoma way of life and keep the self centered, greedy candidates out of this office.”
Although Jolly is not campaigning, his name will still appear on the March 4 primary ballot.
— Bryan Logan
• Age: 41
• Profession/Background: Bryan Logan is a pastor and general contractor from Paden.
• Platform: Logan called himself a “Christian conservative” at the Okmulgee County Republican Party forum and said his primary goal is to “stand with those values.” Logan also said he will fight for more health care access in SD 8. On his website, Logan said he will support “traditional values,” “jobs and economy,” “public safety” and “agriculture and infrastructure” if elected to the State Senate.
Logan also said at the forum he would like to serve on the Senate’s Local and County Government Committee, Agriculture and Wildlife Committee, Energy Committee and Economic Development, Workforce and Tourism Committee, if elected. Logan is a staunch gun rights supporter on his Twitter account. He recently posted a video of two small children standing in front of a gun safe talking about “freedom sticks.” — David Nelson
• Age: 48
• Profession/Background: David Nelson is a former U.S. Army Ranger and Black Hawk pilot.
• Platform: On his website, Nelson lists “education and workforce development,” “community development and engagement” and “public safety and emergency preparedness” as issues he hopes to address.
At the Okmulgee County Republican Party forum, Nelson also said he felt the GOP leadership of the State Senate is not getting enough done given Oklahoma’s Republican supermajority.
“Outside looking in at Oklahoma – it just looks like it would be such a great (state). It’s a red state, so it looks like it’s all Republican so we can get so much done,” Nelson said. “But then, once I found out more about it, the difference between one side of the Republican Party in the state and the other side of the Republican Party in the state is as far as the east is from the west. It’s almost like we have three different parties within one.”
Additionally, Nelson attempted to wade into a fight over wind energy that is blowing through the Oklahoma Legislature this session, saying he attended an anti- wind-turbine rally at the Capitol with his fellow candidates last month.
“We all have the same views on – when it comes to the green energy and where our money goes to subsidize certain things that we don’t believe in, but I think in the future we still have to find out – for our kids, for our grandkids – where is our energy going to come from eventually one day,” Nelson said. “I think that may be somewhere in the nuclear realm.”
— Jeff R. Ramsey
• Age: 69
• Profession/Background: Jeff Ramsey is a former Marine and Oklahoma City Police Department officer. He has lived in Paden since 2016, according to one of the few posts on his campaign Facebook page. Ramsey was also an Oklahoma City Marshal and campus resource officer with the Okemah Police Department.
• Platform: Ramsey said on his Facebook page that his “primary motivation for running is addressing inadequate school security.” He does not appear to have a campaign website. In a 20-minute interview posted online, Ramsey said he wants to make sure each school in SD 8 has equal security.
“I think that by hardening security, you put in bulletproof glass, doors, monitored cameras, alarms, and even in some cases armed teachers – if they’re willing to carry a firearm – that’s just part of what I want to make safer schools,” Ramsey said.
