In the first of three elections to fill a vacant legislative post west of Tulsa, Dillon Travis and Mike Waters advanced Tuesday night to a Republican primary runoff for House District 35, a seat vacated by former Rep. Ty Burns after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic assault.
Now, Republican voters will return to the polls Jan. 13 to choose between the cattle rancher and longtime sheriff for the party’s nomination. The winner will face Democratic nominee Luke Kruse for the chance to succeed Burns, who represented the district from November 2018 through the 2025 legislative session.
Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Oklahoma Legislature, which convenes for its 2026 regular session Monday Feb. 2.
Travis, 33, is a cattle rancher and small business owner endorsed by the American Farmers and Ranchers PAC.
Waters, 54, spent a decade as the Democratic sheriff of Pawnee County from 2010 to 2020 when he lost reelection to the Republican nominee. Perhaps facing an uphill battle with GOP voters owing to his party switch, Waters made the runoff with only 11 more votes than James Winn, a self-described “constitutionalist” farmer.
Travis seemed to hint at Waters’ party switch in an Election Day post on Facebook.
“As your next state rep, I will fight every day for rural Oklahoma. I will fix our rural roads, protect our rural schools, tackle the drug crisis, and stand up for agriculture,” Travis said. “I’m a lifelong Republican, and I will fight for our conservative values.”
Waters was endorsed by four of the five county sheriffs whose jurisdictions overlap HD 35: Payne County Sheriff Joe Harper, Noble County Sheriff Matt McGuire, Pawnee County Sheriff Shawn Price and Osage County Sheriff Bart Perrier.
On Election Day, Waters posted a graphic on Facebook showing himself with President Donald Trump and listing policy topics in all-caps.
“PUBLIC SAFETY, AGRICULTURE AND RURAL OKLAHOMA, VETERAN AFFAIRS, EDUCATION, SENIORS/ELDERS, and PROTECTING OUR CONSERVATIVE VALUES,” Waters said. “Together we can protect these values we all cherish.”
Travis and Waters led the polls Tuesday night with 753 votes (30.4 percent) and 520 votes (21 percent), respectively. Winn, who was making his third campaign for the Legislature, received 509 votes (20.6 percent), while Kevin Wright, the mayor of Jennings, closely trailed with 504 votes (20.4 percent). Amber Roberts, the wife of former Rep. Sean Roberts, finished last with 190 votes (7.7 percent).
Tuesday’s results are unofficial until certified by the Oklahoma State Election Board.
The winner of the January runoff will compete with Kruse in the Feb. 10 general election, which will fill the post for nine months. Candidates will again file for HD 35’s next full two-year term in April.
Kruse has worked as a public school teacher and at the college level, and he used to operate Kruse’s Caribbean Ice, a snowcone stand in Stillwater frequented by college students in the late 2000s.
House District 35 is centered on Pawnee County, but it also includes parts of Osage, Creek, Payne  and Noble counties. HD 35 represents communities like Cleveland, Hominy, Prue, Oilton, Lawrence Creek, Drumright, Glencoe, Morrison and Red Rock, as well as a square mile around Lakeside Golf Course on the north edge of Stillwater.
In addition to spanning five counties, HD 35 also covers parts of three federally recognized tribal nations: the Osage Nation, the Pawnee Nation and the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians.
