Jenkins discusses plans for House District 33

Jun. 19—Oklahoma State House of Representatives candidate Molly Jenkins won the District 33 seat in the Primary Election against incumbent Rep. John Talley, R-Stillwater, that ended in a landslide after early voting and reporting districts had it relatively close.

Jenkins won with a total of 2,740 votes, or 60.39% of the vote.

"This is a win for the people of House District 33, and I am grateful beyond measure," Jenkins told the News Press Tuesday evening. "... I look forward to serving."

Only the two Republicans filed in the race, so Tuesday's Primary determined the next representative.

In Tuesday's walk-up voting, Jenkins received 2,151 votes. Early voters cast 264 ballots during early voting, and 55 were cast via absentee mail.

"I worked really hard for this, I gave it everything I had," Jenkins said, adding that she was "thankful to God."

The 319 votes Jenkins received prior to Tuesday's polling was just eight votes more than Talley had from early voting and absentee mail.

Talley, who served three terms at the State Capitol, received 1,620 total votes, or 39.61%.

More than 1,300 of those were cast Tuesday. Early voters cast 267 votes, and 44 votes were cast by absentee ballot.

"Serving House District 33 has been one of the greatest honors of my life," Talley told the News Press. "My wife and I will continue to serve the communities of Payne county exactly in the way we have done for the last 50 years."

Talley said he would "cherish most the friendships" in his time as a state representative.

"We have some amazing hardworking people across Payne County and I encourage everyone to stay engaged with your communities," Talley said. "To quote one of my former OSU FCA students, 'Americans need to always remember God has given us the great responsibility to have a voice in our elections, but God doesn't vote, people do.' I will continue to serve as your state representative for District 33. Until Nov. 19, thank you."

District 33 covers much of Payne County, but also includes four precincts within Logan County. In 2021, the district changed as Perkins was pulled out and replaced with more of Stillwater.

Talley won three of the four precincts in Logan County, but Jenkins won the largest, Precinct 204 — which had nearly 400 voters turn out — by almost 100 votes.

In Payne County, the largest disparity between candidates was in Precinct 101, in the southeastern part of the county, which had 571 walk-up votes — 400 of which cast their ballot for Jenkins.

Jenkins told the News Press Wednesday that the margin of win was "unexpected."

"It was a much more uphill battle than it would have been for me a couple of years ago," Jenkins said.

She said the most important thing for her now is working hard to understand every angle of the Legislature, since it's new to her. But she said she's a "researcher," and plans to take her time learning her way and how she would best fit into the scene at the Capitol.

Jenkins spoke about renewable energy and its future use.

"I think we need to stay true to our goal of fossil fuels, because that's what we know works, and it doesn't have to be subsidized," Jenkins said. "The renewable energies are fantastic, but we're just not there yet."

She plans to promote the oil and gas industry, as most of the district is "heavily dependent on oil and gas."

Jenkins said the "green" movement has some good components, but that she thinks there are "unintended consequences" from the push to go green.

Jenkins spoke again about her refusal to accept lobbyists' money. She said she heard that an Oklahoma-based lobbyist group, People for Opportunity, Inc., had been going door to door handing out fliers. She said she wasn't aware that they were promoting her as a candidate.

"It was as much a surprise to me as I'm assuming it was when people knocked on their door," Jenkins said.

She said she didn't speak to the group and didn't accept money from them, but said people were unhappy with Talley's voting record.

"When you serve as a representative, it's the seat that's the closest to the people," Jenkins said. "... I want to listen to everybody."

The Primary Election votes are unofficial, unverified results published by the Oklahoma State Election Board. They are not official until they are certified by the Payne County Election Board Friday.