Voters selected two candidates to face off in a special state Senate election on Dec. 12. (Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished without a Getty subscription.)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Comanche County voters on Tuesday selected their party nominees to face off in a special election to fill a vacant state Senate seat in Lawton.
Republican Dusty Deevers and Democrat Larry Bush won their respective primary elections Tuesday to fill the Senate seat vacated by John Michael Montgomery, a Republican who resigned to serve as Lawton Chamber of Commerce president.
The state does not conduct runoff primaries in special elections. The Senate District 32 general election will occur on Dec. 12, the same day as a special primary election for the House District 39 seat in Edmond.
The district includes a large portion of Lawton, including Fort Sill and Cameron University.
Republicans have an advantage in the district. As of January, the district included 16,414 registered Republicans, 12,997 registered Democrats and 9,150 independents, according to State Election Board data.
Deevers is a pastor and businessman in Elgin who has touted endorsements from the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association, Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights and the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee.
He clinched 37% of the vote in a four-way race.
He opposed business closures and mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic and supports a change in law so women who undergo an abortion can be charged with homicide.
Deevers has railed against “LGBTQ indoctrination,” drag queen story hours, critical race theory and pornography. A self-proclaimed constitutional conservative, he supports eliminating state income taxes and aims to promote traditional family values.
In a Facebook post, Deevers said he was honored to clinch the GOP nomination.
“The voters of Comanche County have spoken emphatically that it’s time to bring morality and accountability back to government,” he wrote. “They have sent a loud messag
e to the swamp that lies and dirty politics have no place in Comanche County. It’s time to return to a Constitutional conservatism grounded in God’s Word.”
Bush, who faced one Democratic opponent in Tuesday’s primary, won with 73% of the vote.
He owns Larry Bush Insurance in Lawton and is a longtime volunteer with Lawton Public Schools. He is a former defensive back for the University of Oklahoma, where he played football in the early 1990s.
His business office was vandalized last month shortly after a candidate debate in an incident he said was likely politically motivated.
Bush has previously mounted unsuccessful bids for the state House.
On social media Tuesday evening, Bush said he was honored to receive the Democratic nomination.
“I remain steadfast in supporting strong public schools, rooting out corruption at the Capitol and fighting for the safety and health care of our community,” he said.
Bush cites education, criminal justice reform, reducing crime and increasing access to health care as some of his top concerns.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
Related News
