(Update:Â Read a recap and watch the stream of this debate here.)
Oklahoma House District 97 candidates Aletia Timmons and JeKia Harrison have agreed to participate in a debate hosted by NonDoc and News 9 at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, at the Metro Tech District Center auditorium, 1900 Springlake Drive. The event is free to attend and open to the public.
With all questions written and asked by professional journalists, the debate will be streamed on News9.com, the Facebook page of NonDoc and News 9’s YouTube channel. NonDoc editor in chief Tres Savage and News 9 State Capitol reporter Haley Hetrick will moderate the night’s discussion. Because only two candidates filed for HD 97 in April, the special election will be decided in the Democratic primary Tuesday, June 10.
Harrison and Timmons are vying for the vacant HD 97 seat previously held by former Democratic Rep. Jason Lowe, who was reelected to that post in November. Soon thereafter, however, Lowe announced his candidacy for an open Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners District 1, and he was elected to that position in April.
Timmons, 64, is a former Oklahoma County District Court judge who was first elected in 2014 and who resigned from that position in March to pursue HD 97. Before becoming a judge, Timmons led the OKC-based law firm of Timmons and Associates from 2003 to 2014, where she focused on civil rights and employment law, according to her website. She began her career as an attorney for General Motors legal services. Timmons is a graduate of John Marshall High School and earned her law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Harrison, 35, is a community advocate and owner of Pen 2 Paper Consulting, a political campaign consulting and management firm. She graduated from Millwood High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from Fisk University in Nashville, according to her website. She has also served as a child welfare specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. She is currently a legislative assistant in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
Running as far north as the John Kilpatrick Turnpike and as far south as Northeast 10th Street, House District 97 includes a large swath of northeast Oklahoma City, as well as the communities of Spencer, Forest Park and Lake Aluma.
Sponsors of NonDoc’s 2025 debate series include AARP Oklahoma, the Scholars Strategy Network and the Oklahoma district council of the Urban Land Institute.
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