Democrat pulls off special election victory for Senate seat in west Tulsa County

By Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World 13 hrs ago

A year ago, Democrats threw $200,000 and a first-tier candidate at Senate District 37, trying to unseat incumbent Republican Dan Newberry. ... They lost the conservative west Tulsa County district by 15 percentage points.

This year, with Newberry leaving the Senate, Democrats entered a lightly funded, little-known 26-year-old lesbian. ... She won by 31 votes.

Allison Ikley-Freeman’s victory Tuesday over Republican Brian O’Hara continued a string of Democratic special election upsets over the past two years. It gives Democrats three special election victories in predominantly Republican districts in the Tulsa area in the past two years, including two this year.

Complete but unofficial results showed Ikley-Freeman with 2,234 votes to 2,203 for O’Hara. As is usual with special elections, low voter turnout was an important fact — only 4,437 people voted in this election, compared to almost 32,000 in last year’s regular general election.
....

Staff Writer Randy Krehbiel

Randy has been with the Tulsa World since 1979. He is a native of Hinton, Okla., and graduate of Oklahoma State University. Krehbiel primarily covers government and politics. Phone: 918-581-8365