OKLAHOMA CITY – A current and a former state legislator will meet in a runoff election Aug. 23 to decide the GOP nominee to replace Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy, who is terming out of office.
State Senator Kim David received 41.07% of the 330,259 votes cast in that race during the statewide primary Tuesday, while former state Representative Todd Thomsen got 25.99% of those votes.
Justin Hornback, a political novice, ran a surprising third in the race, receiving 20.35% of the vote. And Harold Spradling, who campaigned for the Corporation Commission twice before, placed fourth at 12.59% of the vote.
Sen. David, 61, of Porter, is finishing her third and final four-year term in the Legislature, during which time she has served on the Senate’s Energy and the Natural Resources and Regulatory Services committees.
Rep. Thomsen, 54, of Ada, was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2006 and served for 12 years; during his tenure in the House he was appointed chairman of the Utilities Committee and served on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Hornback, 38, an Omaha, Nebraska, native who lives in Broken Arrow, is a welder who has worked in the energy industry for approximately 15 years.
Spradling, 87, of Oklahoma City, lost to incumbent Todd Hiett in the Republican primary for Corporation Commissioner in 2020, and mounted an unsuccessful campaign against veteran Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony in 2018.
The Republican nominee will face Democrat Margaret Warigia Bowman, 53, of Tulsa, and Independent candidate Don Underwood, 71, of Inola, in the Nov. 8 general election.