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Four Republican Incumbents Lose Seats in Oklahoma

June 19, 2024


Four Republican incumbents have lost primary battles for seats in the Oklahoma state legislature.

Voters in all 77 counties in the southern state went to the polls on Tuesday to vote in a series of primary votes for state legislature positions and four incumbent GOP figures were defeated by challengers within their party.

Newsweek contacted the Oklahoma GOP by website form outside of normal business hours for comment on this story.

Oklahoma Senate floor leader Greg McCortney, who had been tapped as the next president pro tempore, lost the Republican primary to Jonathan Wingard in the Senate District 13 race. Wingard received 52 percent of the vote and McCortney received 48 percent.

Oklahoma voting
A Oklahoma Voter Registration Application form. Oklahoma held a series of primary votes on Tuesday for state Senate and House seats.

Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

Only Republican candidates entered this race so Wingard will be sworn in as the district’s new representative in November.

Jessica Garvin lost her seat in the Oklahoma State Senate to McClain County assessor Kendal Sacchieri, who received 53 percent of the vote to her 47 percent. Sacchieri will run against Democratic candidate Sam Graefe in November.

“I keep telling people, don’t be sad for me,” Garvin told local press after the result. “I get to go home and tuck in my kids. I get to be a wife again, and I get to do all of the things. I have no regrets. I am happy that I get to be home and go grow my business and just be present.

“I’m not sad at all, and I really hope other people are not sad for me either. I’ve done a lot of really, really good things in the last four years, and I am walking out of that building with my head held high,” she continued. “God did not call me to win. God called me to run, and I am just hanging my hat on that. So whatever His plans are next for my life, I can’t wait to figure that out, but I don’t want people to be sad for me.”

Cody Rogers also lost his Senate District 37 seat in Tulsa after he was defeated by Aaron Reinhardt, a commercial insurance agent in the Republican primary with 51 percent of the vote to Roger’s 49 percent or just 84 votes. He will now face independent candidate Andrew Nutter in the November general election.

Meanwhile, in the Oklahoma House, John Talley lost his seat to Molly Jenkins, who received 60 percent of the vote to Talley’s 40 percent. Jenkins will be seated in November as she has no general election opponent.