As national Democrats struggle with historically low favorability, Oklahoma Democrats are focused on campaigning in an expensive primary for Tulsa’s House District 71 after former Rep. Amanda Swope (D-Tulsa) resigned to be the director of tribal partnerships and policy in Mayor Monroe Nichols’ administration.
Dennis Baker, Amanda Clinton, Hudson Harder and Ben Riggs are all actively campaigning for the seat. Between the candidates, $304,915 have been raised and $179,827 spent. Harder — whose $13,318 puts him at the bottom of the Democratic fundraising — appears to have raised twice as much as the leading Republican candidate. Baker, who’s raised an eye-catching $179,655, appears to owe his war chest to campaign texting across the nation. Clinton raised $76,172, while Riggs raised $35,770.
During a March 14 forum hosted by Rep. John Waldron (D-Tulsa), Clinton, Riggs and Harder were each asked what they believed is the top priority in HD 71.
Clinton answered first and focused on access to housing in the district.
“Our homelessness issue has got to be taken care of,” Clinton said. “There is a housing stabilization fund that is, I think, some $200 million. But it’s [distributed] 75 percent to rural and 25 percent to urban areas. That’s not how our population is split up. So we really need to bring that more parity to that fund so that we can get more dollars to the urban areas. I grew up in Mayes County. I’m from a rural area, but we don’t have people sleeping on the corner in Mayes County.”
Riggs agreed that housing is a major issue in HD 71, but he reiterated that better education is key to addressing the root cause of issues like homelessness.
“I think a lot of it goes back to education and the fact that we have an underperforming people group that just need the tools to succeed on all these fronts,” Riggs said. “And looking at just the root causes of a lot of the issues we face — regardless of whether it’s women’s health, it’s homelessness, substance abuse — I think that education makes people empathetic, and it makes people empathetic to the situations of other people, and I hope to make long-term change.”
Harder, the only candidate who does not own a home in the district, said affordable housing and “affordable living” are the district’s top priorities.
“I would also like to talk about just affordable living,” Harder said. “People are working. They are doing the right thing. They are doing 40 hour weeks — two jobs, three jobs — trying to support their families, and it’s not enough. It’s not enough. Why? Because our wages in Oklahoma are so low.”
While Baker, a Muscogee Nation citizen of Euchee descent, did not attend the March 14 candidate forum, he has been knocking doors in the district and texting Democrats across the nation. His fundraising text messages criticize “MAGA extremists,” say he “helped track down Osama Bin Laden” while working for the FBI and argue in favor of public education.
“I know what a difference education can make for working class families like mine. My dad was sent to Chilocco Indian Boarding School as a kid, where the odds were stacked against him from the start,” Baker’s campaign wrote in one fundraising text. “I got the chance he never did — because of public schools. That’s how I made it to law school, then the FBI, where I helped bring international terrorists to justice.”
If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote on 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, along with campaign advertisements. Candidates are presented alphabetically.
Dennis Baker
Age: 70
Profession/background: Dennis Baker grew up in Sapulpa and Okmulgee before graduating from the University of Tulsa, according to his website. He worked at the Liberty Glass Plant in Sapulpa during college and joined the Tulsa Police Department after graduation. While working for TPD, he attended the University of Tulsa College of Law’s night classes. After earning his law degree, he worked for the FBI.
Since retiring from the FBI, Baker has run for public office three times. In 2022, he campaigned in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, placing third and missing a runoff. In 2024, he was the Democratic nominee against Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK1). While he lost the general election by a wide margin, he carried HD 71.
Platform: For voters in HD 71 familiar with Baker’s prior runs, little has changed about his platform, and his website still hosts remnants of prior campaigns.
Campaign fundraising texts from Baker focus on criticizing “MAGA extremists,” protecting public education and pushing back against cuts to public programs from the Trump administration. He supports raising the minimum wage in Oklahoma and increasing infrastructure investment, and he also supports union membership. As the only candidate from a law enforcement background, Baker also highlights his FBI tenure as valuable experience for crafting legislation to reduce crime in the district.
“Oklahoma is at a crossroads. In one direction is chaos and divisiveness. In the other direction is democracy and progress,” Baker wrote on his website. “Our campaign is a fight against the political extremism dividing our country. Oklahoma can only move forward when a responsible majority puts an end to extremism by voting for representatives who place Oklahoma’s best interests above politics.”
Campaign finance:Â Baker fundraised $179,655 and spent about $118,606. Baker has received a multitude of donations, largely from donors reported as not employed or retired, from across the entire United States. Possibly explaining the exceptional amount of donations, his campaign spent about $59,800 on texting services. He has also paid more than $41,000 to Oklahoma City’s Bison Strategies for mail and digital services. Former state superintendent candidate Jena Nelson has endorsed Baker’s campaign.
Links: Website | Campaign Facebook | Twitter
Amanda Clinton
Age: 46
Profession/background: Amanda Clinton grew up the daughter of a teacher and a construction worker in Mayes County, a background she discussed at the March 14 forum. She holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Oklahoma State University and works in communications. For most of her career, she has worked extensively for the Cherokee Nation or Cherokee Nation Businesses.
Clinton also owns a communications firm and a real estate business. Most recently, she worked as the communications director for Nichols’ mayoral campaign and received his endorsement in the competitive HD 71 primary. She has also worked as an adjunct professor at OSU and has served on the board of Planned Parenthood Great Plains.
Platform: At the forum, Clinton said two things differentiate her from the other Democratic primary candidates: Her experience working in tribal government and her life experience as a woman. While both Clinton and Baker are tribal citizens, Clinton has spent most of her career working for the Cherokee Nation, which she argues is a better functioning government than Oklahoma.
“I look forward to representing this district as a female, because less than 20 percent of the State House is female right now,” Clinton said at the forum. “We cannot afford to lose female voices at our State Capitol whenever we are losing our reproductive rights (and) we are losing our reproductive freedom. Women are being marginalized, so I think it is vitally important that we elect more females.”
HD 71 has been represented by women — both Democratic and Republican — since former the retirement of Rep. Dan Sullivan (R-Tulsa) retirement in 2011. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will face one of three Republican women also seeking to represent the historically conservative district.
Campaign finance:Â Fundraising reports show Clinton raised $76,172 since launching her campaign and has expended about $44,196 (including a $1,000 loan to her campaign she has paid back). Both the Cherokee Nation and Osage Nation donated to her campaign, as well as several prominent Cherokee citizens, such as Ross Swimmer, Kim Teehee and David Cornsilk. Other prominent large donors include Nichols, former Mayor Kathy Taylor, the Oklahoma Association of General Contractors PAC and Emily Kaiser. Clinton’s largest expense totaled about $18,663 to Campaign X Collective Co. for campaign mailers.
Links:Â Website | Campaign Facebook | Personal Twitter
Hudson Harder
Age: 24
Profession/background: Hudson Harder, the son of an Oral Roberts University mathematics professor, grew up in Jenks and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2021. He was hired as an apprentice teacher at Webster High School in September, received an emergency certification to teach in November and also volunteers as an English teacher for refugees.
He volunteered for Monroe Nichols’ mayoral campaign, according to his campaign website. If elected, state law preventing dual officeholding would require him to resign from Tulsa Public Schools.
Platform:Â Harder’s campaign has focused on winning over working class Democratic voters with frequent references to a perceived war on working people in the country. On the issue of affordable housing, Harder emphasized he is the only candidate who does not own a home in the district and argued that renters should feel like they are represented at the State Capitol.
He also made clear he would need to find a second job if elected and that he believes working while being a legislator will help him understand people in HD 71 who have to work multiple jobs.
“Ladies and gentlemen, there is a war being waged now against public education,” Harder said at the March 14 forum. “There is a war being waged against working people and we see that in how expensive things are getting, we see that with tenants not being able to stay in their apartments. We’re seeing that all across this city and this state.”
Campaign finance:Â Harder fundraised $13,318 and expended about $6,114. His largest donation, $2,800, came from the 2022 campaign committee of former Sen. J.J. Dossett (D-Owasso). Harder paid $1,500 to a company called Next Mountain, but it is unclear exactly what for. His report simply says “TBD” for the description of services.
Links:Â Website | Campaign Facebook
Ben Riggs
Age: 36
Profession/background: Ben Riggs was born and raised in Sand Springs, according to his website. He credits his grandfather, prominent Tulsa attorney and former Sen. David Riggs (D-Sand Springs), with teaching him “many of his most important life lessons.” After graduating from Charles Page High School in 2007, he attended the University of Oklahoma.
After leaving OU, Riggs briefly worked in the private sector before becoming a teacher for Sand Springs Public Schools where he is currently the high school social studies department chairperson. If elected, state law preventing dual officeholding would require him to resign.
Platform:Â Riggs’ platform focuses heavily on defending and expanding support for public education in Oklahoma, including reducing class sizes, increasing funding and expanding early childhood education programs. At candidate forums, he frequently answered questions about economic and social issues by referencing Oklahoma’s low education rankings. Riggs also promised voters that, if elected, the Legislature would be his “sole job,” and when out of session he would spend all of his time in the district working for constituents.
“I think people want to succeed on their own, but if we don’t enable them to do so, why do we expect them to do anything different?” Riggs said at the March 14 forum. “We look at substance abuse rates in our state: They are really high. Incarceration rates: They are very high. But if we equipped people, like I said, to engage with our society and understand the complexities that we are dealing with, they will naturally, again, achieve what we need them to achieve.”
Asked why he decided to run, Riggs cited Swope — who has endorsed his campaign — as convincing him to file for the office. While formal endorsements from Tulsa attorneys appear to be less forthcoming, his fundraisers and events list several as “co-hosts,” including former Attorney Generals Drew Edmondson, Mike Turpen and Robert Henry, former Sen. Cal Hobson (D-Lexington), former Sen. Kay Floyd (D-OKC) and former Sen. Rodger Randle (D-Tulsa), as well as prominent attorneys like Donald Smolen and Jim Rea.
Campaign finance:Â Riggs submitted his campaign finance report the morning after the deadline. He fundraised $35,770 and spent $10,911, with his most notable donations coming from Edmondson and Turpen. His largest campaign expense was $6,000 for campaign services to Little Giant, a Tulsa-based campaign management firm.
Links:Â Website | Campaign Facebook
(Update: This article was updated at 10:35 a.m. Thursday, March 27, to clarify information about campaign expenditures. Additional information was added at 7:15 p.m.)
