State Rep. Toni Hasenbeck was a big winner in Cotton County on election night, getting re-elected to a second two-year term in House District 65. Hasenbeck, R-Elgin, was favored in 9,846 ballots cast in the 23 precincts in her three-county (Cotton, Comanche and Stephens) legislative district. Her challenger, Jennifer Kerstetter, D-Marlow, garnered only 20% of the votes with 2,598. The margin was even greater in Cotton County, where Hasenbeck collected 83% of the vote.
Prior to her election to the Legislature, Hasenbeck was a seventh-grade teacher with Elgin Public Schools and a small-business owner with her husband, Hank. Kerstetter had a tough climb in her race. The Registered Nurse was an unknown and wanted to make health care the focus of her campaign. Her tagline was, “A nurse running for local office because health care is a basic human right.” Kerstetter advanced to the general election when the Democratic primary election was canceled.
Cotton County voters also went for President Donald Trump by a wide margin; he earned 2,117 votes to Joe Biden’s 393. Republican Senator Jim Inhofe and 4th District U.S. Representative Tom Cole also earned sizable wins in Cotton County.