Rural interests are front and center in the race to succeed former Rep. Ty Burns in representing House District 35, which is set to conclude with a Feb. 10 general election between Republican Dillon Travis and Democrat Luke Kruse.
Both men avoided commenting on national politics during interviews about their candidacies, while also agreeing that rural education and infrastructure are their constituents’ main focus.
“The people of this district should have safe roads to drive on, they should have safe drinking water, and they should have good sewage,” Travis said. “Being in the last three (states for education rankings), there is no excuse for that. I think our biggest thing is we need to focus on education.”
Kruse emphasized the need to increase public investment in rural Oklahoma by arguing that funding levels in education have lagged for nearly two decades despite increases since 2018.
“We have not invested to the level that we were invested prior to the 2008 recession in terms of per-pupil spending,” Kruse said. “That’s the real reason I wanted to jump into the race: to bring a common-sense educator’s background to House District 35. Here in rural Oklahoma, the public school is the lifeblood of the community.”
Both candidates said they oppose calls to eliminate property taxes and voiced concerns that doing so would cause a rural school funding crisis. However, they did express support for property tax exemptions for groups like senior citizens.
“If we just pull the rug out from under us, in terms of getting rid of property tax like the proposed state question, that is far and away the biggest thing that rural public schools are worried about,” Kruse said. “What is a Frontier or a Morrison or a Pawnee going to do without that tax going to rural schools? That’s going to mean closing rural schools and you’re consolidating. That’s a loss of community, that’s a loss of economy, that’s a loss of everything.”
Travis generally agreed.
“We need to be very careful on how we [cut property taxes],” Travis said. “Eliminating property taxes, I think, would be very hard for rural Oklahoma. I think it would hit rural schools the hardest.”
A teacher from Stillwater, a rancher from Maramec
Kruse grew up in Stillwater, where he graduated high school in 2004. He went on to attend Northern Oklahoma College and graduate from Oklahoma State University before spending his career working as an educator. He currently works at NOC teaching government and history.
Citing his experience in public schools, Kruse expressed support for any measure increasing funding for education and for four-day school weeks, arguing the three-day weekends can help rural districts compete with urban districts for teachers.
“I will absolutely vote in favor of anything that is going to increase funding into public education,” Kruse said. “They have teachers that drive right past Owasso and Sand Springs and other places because they appreciate the work-life balance that a four-day calendar offers them.”
Travis grew up in Maramec and graduated from Cleveland High School before attending Connors State College. His father had a heart attack while he was in college, and he returned home to help run the family farm. Afterward, he started a chemical, seed and fertilizer supply company called Southern Plains AG-CO.
“Agriculture is very important to me because I am an ag producer and my business revolves around agriculture,” Travis said. “I feel like we definitely need to [do something about] foreign landownership.”
‘Lifelong Democrat,’ ‘lifetime Republican’ vie for rural votes
With the last Democrat to represent HD 35 leaving office more than 40 years ago, Kruse heads into the Feb. 10 special election as the underdog. Asked why Republican voters in the district should break their decades-long Republican streak by electing a Democrat, Kruse emphasized that he is an “Oklahoma Democrat” with more in common with his neighbors than Democrats from other states.
“One of things I keep going back to is I am an Oklahoma Democrat, which is a heck of a lot different from what you may hear on cable news. I’ve been a lifelong Oklahoman and a lifelong Democrat. If I cared about some of those more national policies to that extent, then I would have moved and gone to a more liberal state,” Kruse said. “I haven’t because I love Oklahoma. I love that our state constitution has a balanced budget amendment because we aren’t going into debt like other states or our federal government. I love some of the common sense approaches we have in this state. The reason I’m a Democrat is because I feel that we need to invest more, especially in our kids and our kids’ futures.”
Asked why voters should select him over Kruse, Travis cited his conservative Republican values, arguing the choice for voters is clear.
“I’m a lifetime Republican, and I’m a lifetime conservative,” Travis said. “I feel like it’s kind of black and white, so I encourage voters to vote like that because I’ve been a conservative Republican my whole life, and that’s what my core beliefs are. I believe that, with hard work and determination, you can solve your problems, and that’s what I’ve kind of done my whole life.”
House District 35Â 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. HD 35 also covers parts of three federally recognized tribal nations: the Osage Nation, the Pawnee Nation and the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians.
Early voting is set for Thursday, Feb. 5, and Friday, Feb. 6, at county election boards. The winner of the HD 35 special election will be seated for the remainder of the 2026 regular session but will be required to refile in April for a full two-year term.
