Ten candidates have filed for a Dec. 12 special primary election for House District 39, and the special general election is scheduled for Feb. 13, which falls in the second week of the 2024 regular legislative session.
The field includes seven Republicans — Cris Price, Ross Vanhooser, Kristen Ferate, Erick Harris, Ronda Lee Peterson, William A. Gaige Jr. and Tim Hale — and two Democrats, Regan Raff and Paul Timmons. Richard Prawdzienski, a Libertarian, also filed.
Former state Rep. Ryan Martinez resigned from his House District 39 post on Sept. 1, and a special election was called to replace him.
The House District 39 boundary stretches as far north as Waterloo Road and runs south to 15th Street in Edmond. The district has Bryant Avenue on the eastern boundary and Western Avenue on the western boundary.
Seven of the candidates were recently interviewed by the Edmond Voices Editorial Board. Republican candidates Ronda Lee Peterson and Kristen Ferate, and Democrat Paul Timmons, were either unresponsive to attempted contacts for information or unavailable for interview.
The candidates that were interviewed received the same questions, and the chance to respond. For those who did not interview information has been gathered from their websites or social media accounts for the election.
Cris Price serves as President at Price Mortgage Group, LLC.
What will you do during your first legislative session in support of Edmond's issues and needs?
“Well, first I'll identify the issues on the legislative slate that involve Edmond and Edmond's citizens and look at. First is identification and making sure we look at all the things that will be affecting Edmond and where we're going to weigh in on those different issues.”
What motivated you to run for this House seat at this time?
“Back in 2002, I was the Legislative Chair and President of the Mortgage Brokers Association, and at that time, there was a need for licensing and continued education for mortgage professionals. A lot of people were getting into the industry at that time. We offered legislation and got it passed through the Senate and through the House, and throughout that process of going to the Capitol, that was my first taste of going to the Capitol and seeing how legislation actually works. Anytime someone had this seat, it was something I had my eye on.”
What committee or committees do you want to be appointed to, and how do you believe that they would most benefit Edmond?
“Having been a business owner in District 39, and I started a business from scratch, and understanding how to meet the rigors of a budget and having to meet payroll, sometimes not meet payroll, and deal with running a business, I think I can add some of that practical experience on a Budget committee or on a Finance committee. That would be two that they are setting on some of those meetings that they've looked at, so those are two that just kind of jump off the page at me.”
Erick Harris is a former Assistant Attorney General who had a record of fighting waste and fraud, and currently serves on the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Board.
What will you do during your first legislative session in support of Edmond issues and needs?
“In support of Edmond issues and needs, one of those areas is transportation. A lot of people are constantly moving to Edmond, and that's a great thing that we have new families that are coming in and new businesses that are relocating to Edmond as well. Of course, that means that there's a lot of wear and tear that can go on our infrastructure in Edmond. That's the main one thing that I really want to grab the bull by the horns on, making sure that Edmond gets all the resources and support that it needs in the area of transportation.
There's also the issue of education and public safety. That is certainly a concern as well that I'd like to focus on. Making sure that we hold our schools accountable and make sure that they also receive the resources that they need to increase their educational outcomes. I'm a former prosecutor so public safety is a focal point of mind that I know Edmond would benefit from additional emphasis on. “
What motivated you to run for this House seat at this time?
“I did not run for this seat of my own accord. I first had to pray over it and seek the Lord's guidance. I'm a Christian. I believe in doing everything according to God's timing and through His divine grace.
In addition to my faith motivating me to run for this position, there are a couple other things. My wife and I have a four-month-old little girl named Olivia. She's our first child. We're extremely blessed. I care about the Oklahoma that she grows up in. I want to make sure that I can do everything possible in my power to help make Oklahoma the best it can possibly be for her, for every person in the state of Oklahoma.
I also think that Oklahoma won't advance and won't be able to grow unless we have individuals that are willing to make the sacrifice, and they're willing to say, "Hey, put me in. I'm willing to serve. I'm willing to step up." Those are the three motivating factors as to why I put my name on the ballot that I'm willing to serve.”
What committee or committees, House Committees, would you want to be appointed to and how do you believe those committees would best benefit Edmond?
“I would like to be appointed to the Transportation Committee. When I say transportation, I mean roads and bridges and highways, making sure that we get those up to standard. I would want to get appointed to either the Education Committee in general or I would want to get appointed to the Appropriations Subcommittee on education.
I'm a former prosecutor, so I would be interested in serving in the Judiciary Committee as well. I just want to go to wherever I can make the best, biggest impact for the citizens of Edmond.”
William A. Gaige Jr.
What will you do during your first legislative session, if elected, in support of Edmond issues and needs?
“I believe the city of Edmond will benefit first by helping our schools, but I also want to expand the reduced fee school meals program to cover more families and reduce sales tax of groceries. This will help all Edmond citizens. We need to make healthy food a more affordable option than unhealthy food. I will also work to get infrastructure funding so we have safe roads, reliable electric and water, etc.”
What motivated you to run for this House seat at this time?
“Honestly, my children. I have two children in Edmond public schools. We need more people that are representative of the people in our district. I think what sets me apart from many candidates is that I am not a career politician, a retired millionaire. I am just a working-class citizen that has to put their work shoes on at 4:45 a.m. and go to work in a manufacturing plant like many of our citizens. I can relate to the majority of the citizens because I walk in their shoes every day.”
What committee, or committees, do you want to be appointed to, and how do you believe they would most benefit it?
“I don’t know of all the committees are available. We will look at what’s available when I get there.”
(Ret.) Col. Tim Hale is a veteran and a former college instructor who wants to strengthen the teaching profession by increasing pay and improving the teacher pipeline.
“The biggest thing is I'm there to listen and learn. The first session for any legislator is always a tough one because no matter how prepared we think we are coming in, there's always new things at the beginning of a session.
When I go into the Legislature, I am going to be part of the team process that finds out what are the really key points of the issues that are coming out that we really need to drive into, and delve into?
That's my background in the military, as we never wanted to just ready, fire, plan. We want to plan first before we fire anything. That's what I bring to the people of Edmond, is I'm going to listen, and I'm going to think, and I'm going to analyze every issue.”
What motivated you to run for this House seat at this time?
“My wife has asked me for a number of years if I was willing to run for any seat. I contemplated a number of times, but had some health issues a number of years ago that caused us to not do that.
We moved here to Edmond because we've been coming here because my daughters have gone to school here for the past 10 years or so, so we've been coming to Edmond festivals. We fell in love with Edmond.
It's not often that a seat opens up because somebody resigns, and I felt like I've been well prepared to do a political office, to run for a seat, and I saw this as this an opportunity that, for me, it's a God-given option. I never expected it.
I've got three grandkids that live here in Edmond, my son-in-law and my daughter are active in the Edmond community, have been for years, and I want to be able to move things forward, to make things better for them in the long run.
I guess the bottom line is I've still got some fight left in me, and I want to end this phase of my life by being active and doing something good for people.”
“I have a lot of experience with both Aviation, Aerospace. There is so much that is going to happen in aerospace because aerospace fleets are getting older, they have to be replaced. There is so many new technologies coming with unmanned aviation, etc., that we have a great opportunity in Oklahoma because of our location, because of the excellence of our university systems, the excellence of the schools that are now prepared, and they're doing STEM programs down to kindergarten through 12th grade to feed that industry, that we can win even more into Oklahoma to help it grow.
I retired from the Air Force in 2008, we all, I believe, heard of all the statistics about suicide in our veteran ranks, and on active duty. I've been actively engaged in working on those issues ever since I retired.
I'm actively engaged in trying to help individual people, individual veterans, individual veteran families overcome the challenges that they're brought home from serving our nation.
I really want to be able to continue to do that work at the state level because the integration of what the state does, with what the federal VA does, we can continue to always make things better for our veterans, for the veteran's families, for veteran-owned businesses. That is my ministry.”
Ross Vanhooser MD is a lifelong Republican. His focus is on educational excellence in the classroom and a positive business climate to ensure a growing and robust economy.
What will you do during your first legislative session, if elected, in support of Edmond issues and needs?
“The primary needs of Edmond that are state-related are going to be transportation and education.
I'm a strong advocate of accurately and appropriately funding education, because I believe it is such a tie in to business.
So, as a Representative, I'll do what they ask me to do. I will be responsive to all the constituents. And that really is what a representative means at its core.”
What motivated you to run for this House seat at this time?
“I've been in the world of medicine for 30 years, and I'm a radiologist. I'm a conventional radiologist, which means that I'm in the business of trying to help people figure out what they need to do next.
It's a very interesting opportunity. With full transparency, I've run before and did not win. That taught me a lot about the work that goes into doing this. This is not to be lightly taken.”
What committee, or committees, do you want to be appointed to, and how do you believe they would most benefit it?
“I would love to be on (the) Education Committee. Education is important in so many ways that are not particularly sexy. There are things that just have to be done. I'm willing to put in that time.
I'd also like to be on something healthcare related. Not because I am a doctor who is a representative, I think it's the other way around. I would love to be a representative who just happens to be a doctor. Now that 30 years of experience brings a unique perspective to some of the issues that will come up.”
Regan Raff is a small business owner, accounting professional, wife, mother, and community advocate. As a lifelong Oklahoman and graduate of Edmond Public Schools, Regan is running for state representative to give back to the community that raised her. She now runs her own bookkeeping business, working with home builders and other small businesses.
What will you do during your first legislative session in support of Edmond issues and needs?
“I am eager to get started. With this special election, this is going to be the continuation of the prior Representative, Ryan Martinez, his session. So, there won't be as much time as I would like. But my goal for serving the remainder of this session is to get out and meet my community. I want to learn the issues. I don't want to make any assumptions. I would really like to talk to constituents, neighbors, friends, and really hear what's ailing them, what their main concerns are, and do my best to help with those legislative issues.”
What motivated you to run for this House seat at this time?
“I am a lifelong Oklahoman. I am a parent and I have always been interested in politics. However, I never before saw myself as running as a politician or becoming involved in this way. But I feel like many of us, when we turn on the news, it's heavy and there's not a whole lot of good things happening or those are not the hot issues we hear about. I feel like if we want to be part of the conversation and we want to make change, then we have to become involved.
When this opportunity presented itself, I followed it. I followed the news that Martinez had resigned, but I also was approached by several people to run for this. Discussions beyond that convinced me that this might be the right time for me to become more involved.”
What committee or committees do you want to be appointed to and how do you believe they most benefit Edmond?
“I'm very passionate about education. I'm very passionate about public education. My husband and I are both products of Edmond Public Schools. We have three children in Edmond Public Schools. I think the current climate of education and the role that our leaders are playing at the state level is discouraging to many. I think there are ways that we can improve areas, whether it be testing scores, whether it be teacher retention, whether it be community involvement. I think there are a lot of ways and areas that can be improved upon.
So, an Education Committee I would welcome an invite. I would work hard on that committee. I'm also an accountant by profession. So, any kind of a finance or accounting budgeting committee, I think I would bring a lot of wealth of knowledge to those areas. Beyond that, I'm passionate about healthcare.
I will not share my personal story, but I have family members that require specialized care. And I think there are areas in Oklahoma that are lacking in those areas. I think everyone deserves access to affordable healthcare, specialized care. There are certain pockets of that that are not covered well in Oklahoma. Family members of mine travel to Texas, for example, on an annual basis because the care that they need and require is not found in Oklahoma. So, those are just some areas that I'm passionate about personally that I think I could also bring some knowledge to and maybe open some doors there in those areas.”
Richard Prawdzienski, a Marine veteran, has run for public office several times.
What will you do during your first legislative session in support of Edmond issues and needs?
“One of the things I want to do with the (City) administration is to get the city to be more responsible for itself. (I want) to get at least one legislator to join me to follow the concept of fixing root problem (stop
band-aid fixes and stop kicking the problem down the road) and consider Newton’s third law of motion; and hope 99 others to remind me of my first priority.”
What motivated you to run for this House seat at this time?
“I just retired, and I ran for office numerous times. I'm so tired of the Republicans and Democrats arguing with each other. I want the Republicans and Democrats talking to each other.”
What committee or committees do you want to be appointed to and how do you believe they would most benefit out of it?
“I'd like to do Education, because education is a serious problem here in Oklahoma. We keep on throwing more money at it. We need to do something radical or something different. I want the parents to be more responsible, I want the students to be responsible. My focus (would be) to have students and parents take more responsibility to bring test scores up.”
Kristen Ferate, announced her running for office via her website www.FerateForFreedom.com
Ferate states she is an authentic conservative, patriotic advocate, loving mom, and dedicated wife.
She has earned two master’s degrees, working as a professional counselor and art therapist.
“While political opportunists ask what Oklahoma can do for them, it’s time a conservative voice who will do right by our families. I’m Kristen Ferate. I’m like you: committed to family, our values, and our community,” she said on her webpage.”
Ronda Lee Peterson- posted her candidate announcement on her webpage https://petersonok39.com/
Peterson is a Republican pro-life Christian, wife, mother, grandmother, and 21-year resident of House District 39. As an employee of Edmond Public Schools, Peterson states she is not only a leader but also a strong advocate for the district. She said she will fight for the issues that matter most to the people of House District 39, working collaboratively with fellow legislators to bring about positive change and drive progress for the community.
Paul Timmons is a law enforcement retiree and candidate for House District 39.
He states on his Facebook campaign page he has been a resident of the district for nearly six years, and has lived in the Edmond area the majority of his adult life, and is very familiar with the city's growth, successes and challenges.
“I began my career in law enforcement with the Edmond Police Department before being accepted to the 43rd Oklahoma Highway Patrol Academy, graduating from the academy in 1988, starting a career with OHP that spanned 34 years, retiring at the rank of Captain,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “During my OHP tenure, I served in many areas of the Patrol, including overseeing security at our State Capitol. I am currently employed at the Oklahoma County Detention Center as the Investigations Division Chief.
He is a graduate of OSU-OKC, the 268th session of the FBI National Academy in 2017 and currently pursuing an advanced degree in Organizational Management from Langston University.
“Throughout my professional career I have been an advocate for positive community and law enforcement relationships,” he wrote. “I was honored to receive the Paul Matthews Community Service Award, the OHP Chief's Community Service Award, and the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Award for Community Service. I have sat on numerous panels dealing with police/citizen relationships.”
Timmons wrote if elected, community engagement will be a crucial focus for him.
“I believe it is important to know and carry out the expectations of the constituents whom I will be representing, and I look forward to having your input,” he said. “My top priorities include education, public safety, mental health, and health care. Please reach out to me at ptimmonsforhd39@gmail.com and let me know your concerns.”
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. on both election dates.