OKLAHOMA CITY – Sporting both a huge smile and a fetching red dress, State Sen. Stephanie Bice addressed an ebullient crowd of supporters Tuesday night, after learning she had won the Republican 5th Congressional District runoff against Oklahoma City businesswoman Terry Neese.
“It was with your help, your encouragement, and your votes that got us here tonight,” Bice said amidst cheers from the throng gathered in an event meeting space at the Association of General Contractors in Oklahoma City, where the drinks flowed and appetizers were heartily consumed.
During her nearly four-minute-long celebratory speech, the Oklahoma City-based state senator heaped praise on her amiable adherents, telling them that Tuesday night’s victory – 53 percent, compared to Neese’s 47 percent – was accomplished by “working together.”
“I cannot be more grateful,” she said, adding, “We’ve had over 10,000 individual donors that believed in me and supported me financially that wrote $5 checks and $2,800 checks. And every time those checks were written, I thought to myself, ‘These people believe in a cause. They believe in what I’m doing. They want to support me. And because of that I am standing in front of you tonight.”
The Oklahoma State Election Board reported that Bice did best in urban/ suburban Oklahoma County with 55 percent to Neese’s 45 percent. In other parts of the 5th Congressional District, Neese fared better in rural Pottawatomie and Seminole counties with 57 percent to Bice’s 43 percent and Neese’s 56 percent to Bice 44 percent, respectively. All told, 273 precincts make up the district.
Bice went on to say that as a “proven, conservative leader,” she would work hard – along with the help of her adoring supporters, some chanting “Bice, Bice, Baby!” – that she would be successful in taking on incumbent Democrat Kendra Horn on November 3.
Taking a little dig at Terry Neese, who ran a rough-and-tumble campaign against Bice, the Republican congressional candidate said she was also grateful for Neese’s trial by fire because it helped steel her even further in preparing for the tough battle ahead against 44-year old Horn and the Democrats over the next two months.
Neese would quickly concede, while telling her supporters, via media reports, that she intended to support Bice and her campaign and urged her supporters to do so as well.
Neese, 72, had bested Bice, 46, in the June 30 primary, thanks, in part, to attack ads from the Club For Growth PAC and Neese herself, claiming Bice raised taxes and was not strong enough on pro-life issues and the Second Amendment. But in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s runoff, stories broke in various Oklahoma media outlets highlighting Neese’s alleged unethical business practices and the fact that she had claimed to be part of the Cherokee Nation, when that was not true.
“Tonight we celebrate, but tomorrow we get to work,” Bice said. “It will take all of us to defeat Kendra Horn.” She continued, saying the election was not merely about herself or those in the room. “It is about the future of this party and this is about the future of America.”
Earlier, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, appearing relaxed and affable, shook hands and smiled for pictures with folks in the crowd, all surprised to see the governor in their midst with no forewarning.
“(Bice) has been so instrumental in my administration,” Stitt said. “She was a key factor in carrying the bill on criminal justice reform and as you know we have the largest commutation in U.S. history, last November, because of help from Sen. Stephanie Bice.”
Added Stitt: “She has been a huge leader in the Senate and I know she is going to take her place in Congress and we’re going to be so proud of her. She is so well respected. I couldn’t be more proud of her. Let’s rally around her and take back the 5th.”