Three Republican women are campaigning to flip House District 71, a traditionally conservative district that has increasingly favored Democrats over the past decade. With HD 71 open following the resignation of Rep. Amanda Swope (D-Tulsa), Beverly Atteberry, Heidemarie Fuentes and Tania Garza are all attempting to flip the district red as Democrats’ national favorability sits at a historic low.
Atteberry is a familiar face in House District 71 after she campaigned for the seat in 2018 and 2020. The Tulsa-based attorney argues the Legislature needs more lawyers to help lower the number of state laws overturned by the courts.
“The perception is our Legislature is full of lawyers, and that’s not true,” Atteberry told the Tulsa World. “I think that that is probably part of the reason why we have so many of our laws get overturned by the courts. Even conservative courts are overturning stuff passed by our Legislature.”
Fuentes, a retiree who moved to Tulsa from California, is making her first run for office and wants to ensure her new home does not become like her old home.
“My goal is to ensure Oklahoma doesn’t go the way of California,” Fuentes wrote on her campaign website. “The problems need to be fixed on the state level. Just like (in) California.”
Garza, a Texan-turned-Oklahoman who has spent 13 years in Tulsa, is also a political newcomer and appears to be running the most moderate campaign, with her website’s main page omitting her party affiliation.
“With the parties being as divided and fractioned as they are, it’s going to take a person that’s willing to have conversations to move things forward (for) the future of Tulsa,” Garza told the Tulsa World. “When you look at my background, I’ve already been doing this.”
If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote April 1 in either the Democratic or Republican primary, runoff elections will be held May 13. The general election between the eventual Democratic and Republican nominees is scheduled for June 10. If candidates receive more than 50 percent of the vote in both parties’ April primaries, then the general election will instead be May 13.
The following cheat sheet was compiled from publicly available sources, including candidate forums, social media, news stories, campaign finance reports and candidate websites. Candidates are presented alphabetically.
Beverly Atteberry
Age:Â 57
Profession/background: Beverly Atteberry operates a private legal practice focused on criminal law and estate planning. After growing up on a farm in Blackwell, she moved to Tulsa in 1989 and graduated from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1992. After nearly six years working as a public defender, she started her own practice in 1998 and has participated in expungement expos in Tulsa to help citizens seal or expunge their criminal records. She told the Tulsa World in 2019 most of her clients were in their 50s or 60s and had committed crimes decades earlier.
Atteberry previously campaigned for the seat in 2018 and 2020, advancing to the Republican runoffs. But she failed to win the party’s nomination in either cycle.
Platform:Â Familiarity with Oklahoma law will help Atteberry “hit the ground running,” she told Oklahoma Voice in an interview where she argued in favor of increased funding for infrastructure and education. While Atteberry’s campaign appears to lack an official website, she did rebrand her prior campaigns’ Facebook page for her 2025 run. Since filing, she has posted only three times: once to remind voters of the election date, another time to commemorate her 78th blood donation and a final time reminding voters absentee ballots had been mailed.
In her interview with the Tulsa World, Atteberry emphasized staying in touch with constituents as a priority, which is in line with a post she made during her last campaign.
“I believe candidates and elected officials should be in direct contact with their neighbors — send me an email, give me a call; it’s me who will pick up every time,” she wrote in 2020.
Campaign finance:Â Atteberry has not registered a campaign committee prior to the primary election. State ethics rules require filing a campaign committee within 10 days of receiving or expending $1,000.
Links:Â Law firm website | LinkedIn | Facebook
Heidemarie Fuentes
Age: 73
Profession/background: Heidemarie Fuentes is a retired real estate broker and insurance agent, according to Oklahoma Voice. She appears to have had little online presence prior to launching her campaign. She told the Tulsa World she spent most of her adult life in California, and she criticized the Democratic Party’s dominance in the state.
Platform:Â Fuentes’ campaign website focuses on lowering crime rates in the district and lowering taxes. While she told Oklahoma Voice she identifies as a “moderate conservative,” her campaign Twitter account has expressed support for a few causes a bit further to the right. She has posted to her Twitter in support of Kash Patel to lead the FBI and expressed agreement with Elon Musk that former President Joe Biden was to blame for egg prices, and she wrote a quote repost in favor of eliminating the federal income tax and instead funding government through tariffs, sales taxes and luxury taxes.
“I’ll be working for the people in general. I love humanity. I love people, and I fully believe we need to learn to work together,” she told the Tulsa World. “I will be doing everything within my power to get along with people of both sides of the aisle.”
Campaign finance:Â Fuentes has fundraised about $6,595 and has spent approximately $4,530, although she loaned her campaign $3,095.32 of that total. The rest of her campaign funding came from two donations from out of state, including from New York attorney John Back, who donated $3,300.
Links:Â Website | Facebook | Twitter
Tania Garza
Age: 35
Profession/background: According to her website, Tania Garza is from Eagle Pass, Texas, but she moved to Tulsa in 2013. She worked as a financial adviser before founding Frontera Talent, a consulting firm. Since at least 2020, she has been active with TYPROS, Tulsa’s young professionals association, and Tulsa Remote. In 2020, she was TYPROS’ diversity crew leader, and in 2021 she was a member of Leadership Tulsa.
Platform:Â Garza’s platform focuses on supporting local businesses, “common-sense policies that expand career skills” and increased investment in infrastructure. She told Oklahoma Voice her experience with leadership and policy classes, as well as helping others run for office, helped prepare her to campaign. She also advocated for increasing Oklahoma’s energy generation.
“As your representative, I’ll work to ensure our state budget is efficient and effective — holding agencies accountable using a scalpel, not an axe,” Garza wrote on her website.
Campaign finance:Â Garza fundraised $50 and spent nothing during the pre-primary filing period.
Links: Website | LinkedIn Â
