With all precincts reporting Tuesday evening, Bryan Logan and David Nelson advanced to an April 1 runoff for the Republican primary to represent State Senate District 8 in eastern Oklahoma.
The two men advanced from a field of six, although one of those candidates ceased campaigning in January and endorsed Logan.
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. The seat is open 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 pastor and general contractor from Paden, Logan received 40.71 percent of the 3,736 votes cast. Logan has campaigned on being a “Christian conservative” and supporter of “traditional values.” He posted a video to his social media accounts of two small kids talking about “freedom sticks” — a reference to guns. Logan handily carried Okfuskee, Creek and Muskogee counties Tuesday.
Logan also said one of his priorities if elected would be to increase access to health care in his rural district.
In the runoff, Logan will face Nelson, who received 31.61 percent of the vote. A lifelong resident of Morris, he is a former U.S. Army Ranger and Black Hawk pilot. Currently, Nelson operates Morris Tag Agency. Nelson received the highest vote total in Okmulgee County — 732 votes, or about 48 percent of the 1,524 votes cast there.
During his primary campaign, Nelson voiced support for efforts to limit wind turbines in eastern Oklahoma and said he supported exploring nuclear options to meet Oklahoma’s energy needs. He also said education and workforce development would be some of his priorities if elected.
Hoss Durrett finished third with 18.04 percent of Tuesday’s vote. He carried McIntosh County with 35.25 percent of the 990 votes cast. In SD 8 as a whole, finishing behind Durrett were Okmulgee City Council member Steven Baldridge (6.96 percent), Jeff R. Ramsey (2.19 percent) and Ed Jolley (0.48 percent).
Neither Logan nor Nelson had posted statements about their advancement to the runoff prior to publication of this article.
All online results are unofficial until they are certified by the Oklahoma State Election Board.
The winner of the April 1 runoff will face Democrat Nathan Brewer and independent Steve Sanford in the May 13 general election. Both are from Henryetta.
Brewer is a “field operations supervisor at One Call Parking Lot Maintenance,” according to his Facebook profile. He posted that he plans to “work on protecting our kids and making stricter laws,” and “work on the health care system in our state.”
Sanford owns Rustlers BBQ.
“I will work to try and bring jobs to our rural communities! I will work with our educators to get us back on track preparing our youth for a brighter future. I will work to find ways to help our small business men and women succeed. I will work to preserve and maintain our state and city parks for all to enjoy,” Sanford said in a Feb. 26 Facebook post.
