As a fractured Senate Republican Caucus watches anxiously, GOP voters in eastern Oklahoma will head to the polls Tuesday to choose between a pastor from Paden and a veteran from Morris to represent State Senate District 8.
Neither Bryan Logan nor David Nelson returned multiple phone calls and text messages seeking comment about their special election campaigns. The winner of Tuesday’s Republican runoff will face Democrat Nathan Brewer and independent Steve Sanford in a May 13 general election, and if the GOP candidate ends up winning the seat, the outcome could have larger implications for the ideological makeup of the Legislature’s upper chamber moving forward.
Senate Republicans voted in November to select Sen. Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) to be the chamber’s president pro tempore, or leader. Paxton beat Sen. David Bullard (R-Durant) — a member of the chamber’s more hardline conservative faction — by a reported 20-19 vote.
The SD 8 seat is open seat because former Senate Appropriations and Budget Chairman Roger Thompson (R-Okemah) resigned last year after he was ousted as chairman of the powerful committee, a reflection of the tensions simmering among conservatives in the Legislature’s upper chamber for years.
With such a tight margin between the caucus’ hardline and more moderate Republican factions, Tuesday’s SD 8 Republican runoff winner could have the power to swing the Senate’s ideological stance in a different direction. Neither candidate has publicly said if he plans to align with Paxton or Bullard, but many Capitol observers consider Nelson the candidate more likely to fall in line with Paxton, while Logan could be more willing to back a challenge from Bullard and farther-right senators.
Nelson has hinted at the issue on the campaign trail, saying he hopes to unify Republicans in the Senate.
“When you look at the Republican Party, they’re separated quite a ways from one side to the other, so it’s still very difficult to get anything done and get everybody to agree on something,” Nelson told Kjell Jansson of The Henreyttan. “What I would love to take is professionalism, leadership, unity, and as a peer leader, you can do that from your freshman year. No matter who’s up top making the decisions up there, the guys in the ranks — you can do a great job influencing others, getting people to come together for a common solution.”
Asked if he or the Senate Republican Caucus’ leadership PACs are supporting a candidate in the SD 8 Republican runoff, Paxton said declined to make an endorsement Thursday.
“Myself and Sen. (Chuck) Hall took a trip out to that part of the state last month and visited with all of the candidates prior to the original primary, so we’ve met both of them,” Paxton said. “So Mr. Nelson and Mr. Logan are in the runoff, and I am not supporting either one. I am supporting both of them. I am encouraging both of them to keep doing what they are doing — knocking doors and meeting people — and I am not involved in it, and none of our leadership PACs are involved in it. This is a primary for them to work on. We’ll get involved after Tuesday.”
SD 8 lies south of the Tulsa metro area and encompasses all of Okfuskee, Okmulgee and McIntosh counties, as well as parts of Creek and Muskogee counties. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Candidates discuss rural challenges
David Nelson and Bryan Logan advanced to the SD 8 Republican runoff from a field of six on Feb. 11. Logan received 40.71 percent of the 3,736 votes cast, while Nelson received 31.61 percent.
Nelson, 48, is the operator of Morris Tag Agency and is a former U.S. Army Ranger and Black Hawk pilot, according to his website. He has also worked in the oil and gas industry.
If elected, Nelson wrote on his website that he hopes to focus on “education and workforce development,” “community development and engagement” and “public safety and emergency preparedness.”
Logan, 41, is the pastor of Paden Pentecostal Holiness Church. Additionally, he is a general contractor and runs a cow-calf operation. He wrote on his website that he plans to “stand firmly with biblical convictions, championing the Christian, conservative principles on which our country was founded” if elected.
Both candidates have touted their support for the Second Amendment on the campaign trail. Ahead of the Feb. 11 election, Logan posted a video to Twitter page in which two kids talk about their dad’s guns as “freedom sticks.”
Nelson recently posted his support for gun owners on Facebook in a picture of Nelson in fatigues standing next to Toby Keith in front of a Black Hawk helicopter.
“I’ve stood on the front lines defending the Second Amendment,” Nelson wrote. “So to suggest I might not support it? That’s not just wrong — it’s ridiculous.”
In the comments, it appears Nelson is in the middle of a dispute with the Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association, which has endorsed Logan. The organization said Nelson “refused” to submit a candidate survey, and its Facebook page left a comment insinuating Nelson was not a “true conservative.”
“I started on the survey and stopped immediately when got to a question that had nothing to do with the Second Amendment. I felt I was being deceived by a group representing one thing but having a hidden political agenda for something more,” Nelson replied. “I feel now you only want my survey so you can endorse me in case I win, so you can say you endorsed the winner. I politely declined your survey and wasn’t going to address why.”
Both men also discussed their campaigns with Kjell Jansson of The Henryettan in video interviews, which are embedded at the end of this article. In Logan’s interview, the pastor said agriculture, education and health care are the biggest issues for SD 8.
“With everything coming into our district as far as green energy, I would say that protecting our farmers, protecting the farmlands right now is probably the No. 1 interest,” Logan said. “We’ve always kind of been in what I’d call a health care desert in District 8, so that’s absolutely something that we need to focus on.”
Logan also said the rural schools in his district face different challenges than schools in metropolitan areas, saying many schools in SD 8 have aging buildings that need to be updated.
For other policy priorities, Nelson has also discussed energy issues with voters. He told Okmulgee County Republicans during a Feb. 1 forum that he does not support wind energy and thinks the state might need to start exploring nuclear power options.
“I think in the future we still have to find out — for our kids, for our grandkids — where is our energy going to come from eventually one day,” Nelson said. “I think that may be somewhere in the nuclear realm.”
That forum — which Logan also participated in — had been on the Okmulgee County Republicans Facebook page but appears to have been removed.
Logan wrote on his website that he wants to “promote pro-growth, pro-business policies that build a strong economy with good jobs by holding the line against new taxes and regulation.”
According to their campaign filings with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, Logan has raised $48,008, including a $5,850 personal loan. Nelson has raised $40,350.19, including a $8,900 personal loan.
Watch Bryan Logan’s interview with The Henryettan
Watch David Nelson’s interview with The Henryettan
