Five Republicans are running for the open Oklahoma House District 20 seat, which includes Cleveland and McClain counties amid the June 18 primary. Incumbent Rep. Sherrie Conley (R-Newcastle) has served HD 20 she was first elected in 2018, but she did not file for re-election to pursue a fourth term.
Republican candidates are pentecostal pastor Lonnie J. Burns, civil engineer Mike Fullerton, real estate investor and rancher Alivia Snow, fire investigator Jonathan Wilk, and retired coach and athletics administrator Mike Whaley.
If no Republican receives more than 50 percent of the June 18 primary vote, the top two finishers will face each other in a GOP runoff election Aug. 27. The winner of the Republican nomination will then advance to the general election to face Democrat Mitchell Jacob — a law student at the University of Oklahoma — on Nov. 5.
House District 20 spans McClain County and a southern portion of Cleveland County, representing the communities of Newcastle, Goldsby, Washington, Noble, Slaughterville and part of Blanchard. The following cheat sheet provides an overview of the House District 20 GOP candidates and is derived from publicly available information, such as campaign websites and social media accounts.
For more insight into those campaigning for the Republican nomination in House District 20, a primary election forum was hosted May 29 by the Noble Public Schools Foundation and the Noble Public Library.
Lonnie J. Burns
Age:Â 67
Professional Background:Â The Rev. Lonnie Burns is an ordained minister with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church who holds a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies and a master’s degree in church revitalization from Southwestern Christian University, as well as a master’s degree in community counseling from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He currently serves as an associate pastor at Grace Chapel in Lexington.
According to his website, Burns is a “fully licensed behavior counselor, specializing with military service members and their families,” and he has worked in the mental health field for 20 years.
Burns has also served in public positions during his career, including:
- Mayor of Blanchard from 1988 to 1990;
- Secretary and treasurer for the Western Oklahoma Conference of Churches (now the Oklahoma Faith Network) from 1995 to 1997;
- Hammon town treasurer from 1997 to 1998;
- Coffeyville, Kansas, Planning Commission member in 2000; and
- The Oklahoma Child Death Review Board from 2011 to 2012.
Platform: On his campaign website, Burns touches on multiple issues he would tackle if elected to HD 20. He speaks on ensuring accessible health care and mental health services, protecting the sanctity of the family unit, advocating for family rights, advocating for improved veteran health care services, reducing homelessness, and securing Oklahoma’s borders.
In a May 30 post from his campaign Facebook page, Burns emphasized one of his platform points: “Experience matters.”
In 2020, Burns published a 128-page book titled The Breakdown of Truth!!: A Suicidal Society in Breakdown.
“The breakdown of truth in our society and world is causing the rise of evil men to rise up and help in ushering in the Antichrist in these last days,” the book’s description states. “Discover the areas of breakdown and the collapse of truth and the problems with lukewarm believers and recognize the effects of neglect in the average walk of the believers.”
Mike Fullerton
Age:Â 59
Professional Background:Â According to Fullerton’s personal Facebook account, he studied industrial systems technology at Cameron University, architecture at East Central University, and industrial design technology at the University of Central Oklahoma. He has spent 38 years working in civil engineering.
Also listed on his Facebook, Fullerton has served as a senior roadway designer at Triad Design Group and as a self-defense instructor at Oklahoma SDA Conceal Carry Class. He is the current Ward 3 member and vice mayor on the Newcastle City Council.
Platform: According to his website, Fullerton said he is running because, “I want to get things done for our community.”
“I work hard, live my life with honesty and integrity, and will fight to bring our conservative values of limited government, fiscal responsibility and lower taxes to the state House,” Fullerton wrote.
Fullerton refers to himself as a “proven conservative” and focuses on issues regarding defending children, improving infrastructure and fighting for fiscal responsibility.
He lists his major platform values as: “keep boys out of girls sports, defend the rights of parents, lead with integrity, fight for the unborn, defend the second amendment, stand with law enforcement, battle Joe Biden’s inflation, improve our infrastructure, defeat federal government overreach and demand fiscal responsibility.”
Alivia Snow
Age:Â 46
Professional Background: Snow is the owner of a commercial real estate company — Snow Enterprises, LLC — and has spent years as a real estate investor. According to her website, she also assists other small businesses in her area as a business developer “to help get their businesses up and running and ensure their success.”
Before her professional career in real estate, Snow worked in agriculture, driving trucks and trailers carrying pigs between Oklahoma, Iowa and South Dakota. She also worked as a substitute teacher.
Platform: Although Snow was not in attendance at the HD 20 primary forum, she lists her priorities and values on her website. As a “new conservative leader,” she supports pro-life policies, values the Second Amendment and opposes “radical LGBTQ agenda.” She also believes in property tax cuts, teacher pay increases and increased penalties for voter fraud.
Snow’s website states she will also work to prevent “liberal cities from defunding their police” and eliminate “state taxpayer paid benefits to illegal immigrants.”
In a recent post on her campaign Facebook page, Snow said she wants to keep conservative Christian values in HD 20. Snow is endorsed by the group Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights, which opposes vaccine mandates.
Jonathan Wilk
Age:Â 43
Professional Background:Â For 23 years, Wilk has served as a firefighter and first responder. According to his website he also has “more than a decade in the oil and gas industry, experience as a commissioned police officer, and over a decade as a cattle rancher and small business owner.”
Listed on his LinkedIn, Wilk has also spent the last two years working as a fire investigator, first for TrueNorth Solutions, LLC and then Sift Fire Investigators.
Platform: Listed on his website, Wilk plans to focus on issues such as lower taxes, reduced spending, border security, parental rights and energy independence. He supports the Second Amendment, is pro-life, and pledges to protect Oklahoma’s constitutional rights.
During the May 29 forum, Wilk was asked what he believes are the responsibilities of the House of Representatives. He said that one of the biggest issues currently involves limiting government overreach.
“In my perspective, the responsibility of the House of Representatives is more so in line with the budget and representing the people in that decision making process of the budget,” Wilk said. “And that’s how we limit government’s role in our lives. That’s how we limit government’s role in our businesses, in our schools (…) is through the budget.”
Mike Whaley
Age:Â 67
Professional Background:Â Whaley is a U.S. Navy veteran. According to his website, his naval career “included serving on a destroyer escort at the end of the war in Vietnam helping refugees escape southeast Asia during the communist takeover.”
After serving, Whaley returned to Oklahoma and worked as a teacher and football coach, eventually joining the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, from which he retired as associate executive director in 2023.
Platform: Whaley’s platform focuses on “preserving our country for the next generation,” while his mission details putting God at the forefront — such as with a cross in the letter “A” in his name on his campaign website — supporting small businesses, investing in the next generation and respecting the rule of law.
In a series of posts made on his campaign Facebook account captioned “Front Door Chats,” he speaks on his personal beliefs and experiences with faith, taxes, the medical marijuana industry, community growth and border control.
On his website, Whaley states his reason for running as: “to do my part to ‘turn the ship around’ and preserve Oklahoma’s way of life.”
