Anthony DeVore, an already-controversial figure at the State Capitol for his advocacy efforts to decriminalize cockfighting, is defending his record publicly and in bankruptcy court as he runs for House District 19 across southeast Oklahoma.
DeVore announced his candidacy for the open seat Dec. 4 on the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission’s Facebook page, saying he would resign as the political action committee’s president and run to replace Rep. Justin Humphrey (R-Lane), who is campaigning for lieutenant governor. The announcement came two months after the Oklahoma Ethics Commission ordered the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission PAC to dissolve owing to “extensive violations of Oklahoma’s campaign finance laws.”
“This is not a step away from the OGC — it is simply a continuation of the fight on a larger battlefield.” DeVore wrote.
Appearing alongside DeVore on the June 16 House District 19 Republican primary ballot are Michael Brittingham of Moyers and Derek Porter of Hugo. HD 19 covers parts of Atoka, Bryan, Choctaw, Pushmataha counties.
Since his announcement to run, DeVore has framed his campaign around his professional backgrounds working in law enforcement and in education, along with his fight for the protection of rural property and water rights.
“I have a bachelor’s from Southeastern Oklahoma State (University) in criminal justice and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Sam Houston State, which is one of the No. 1 schools in the nation,” DeVore said April 1 at the Capitol. “I worked 10 years in law enforcement, corrections, prison, probation (and) parole. I worked 10 years in private schools.”
DeVore said he is a lot more than just “a chicken farmer,” as he has publicly become known owing to advocacy efforts for the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission.
“I think a lot of people miss that because they’re so focused on, ‘Well, he’s a chicken farmer.’ But there’s so much more to me than that,” DeVore said. “In all my life, everything I’ve accomplished, I’ve always been a farmer. I mean, that’s kind of my rock. And there’s so much more to me than just [that]. I’m educated, well-versed, I did my doctorate work in education and went on to become campus president for vocational campuses.”
According to his LinkedIn, DeVore’s doctorate of education was earned from Nova Southeastern University. His website says he previously oversaw five career tech centers.
DeVore on 2025 cockfighting spectator charge: ‘It was never a felony’
Just days before officially filing his candidacy for House District 19, DeVore traveled to Eufaula and pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of being a spectator at a cockfight.
DeVore had been charged Sept. 7 in McIntosh County District Court with a misdemeanor count of being a spectator at a cockfight after an animal rights organization recorded video of him at the event May 31. His then-vice president of the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, Blake Pearce, was also charged. Pearce’s case remains active after being granted a continuation for an absence April 10.
Asked about his candidacy after filing for office April 1, DeVore disputed how the case has been portrayed in the media.
“But, you know, what I don’t like about you guys is y’all put it out as a felony, or made it look like it was a felony,” he said. “It was never a felony.”
On March 31, court records show DeVore stipulated to the charge and was sentenced to a six-month deferred sentence along with a $100 fine and other court costs. He will also have to complete 20 hours of community service.
In a statement on Facebook, DeVore said he made the plea because it would have “wasted a ridiculous amount of government tax dollars to fight it.”
“I’d rather get attacked by animal rights activists over and over and over again than waste tax dollars defending myself,” DeVore said.
To that end, funding the state’s criminal justice system is another of DeVore’s campaign priorities. He also supports a return to what he called “progressive sentencing,” using drug crimes and theft as examples of crimes where he believes stronger sentences for subsequent offenses would deter repeat activity.
“I like progressive sanctions. I’ve always been a huge fan of progressive sanctions, basically on misdemeanors, you know, like the fentanyl and the drugs that are actually killing people and harming people,” DeVore said. “We should have progressive sanctions in the state.”
DeVore explained the concept as every time someone commits the same criminal offense, there is a harsher punishment, up to a felony level.
DeVore said Oklahoma has been “creating a cloud in the system and a revolving door for police departments and courts.
“Can’t get into a county courtroom anymore. It’s clogged up with those repeat offenders,” DeVore said. “Like, for theft, I can make a living, because, according to the State Question (780), you go out there, you steal $950, you get arrested, you go pay a $400 fine. Hey, you’re $500 in the positive. (…) So yeah, we need to fix things like that in our criminal justice system and make sure the systems are funded.”
On April 6, DeVore posted on Facebook that he plans on “recusing myself in any and all bills regarding chicken fighting.”
“I am not going to the Capitol to serve my own self interests,” DeVore wrote. “I am going to the Capitol to fight for tougher punishment on violent crimes. I’m going to fight for our Second Amendment rights and the lives of unborn children. I’m going to the Capitol to protect our rural way of life. I’m going to the Capitol to fight for our children’s futures. I’m going to the Capitol to protect our water and our natural resources.”
DeVore on solar business collapse: ‘I hated it worse than anybody’
DeVore, who filed for bankruptcy last July, said a high-profile bank failure in California led to the collapse of his solar panel business. The bank, his company and DeVore were subsequently named in several lawsuits across the state.
Court records show DeVore and/or his business, Texoma Solar Solutions, were named as defendants in suits in Carter County, Grady County, Logan County, Oklahoma County, McClain County and Bryan County. DeVore filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma on July 20. Court records show DeVore’s bankruptcy case remains open after a U.S. trustee sought to deny its discharge, claiming DeVore failed to disclose his assets accurately.
Asked about his pending bankruptcy case, he said his business lost $1.8 million in “one phone call” following the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
“That’s where our residential financing partners did their business,” DeVore said. “And so, when that bank crashed, our residential financing partners, one of them filed bankruptcy and the other one just went completely out of business, and we lost a ton of money.”
DeVore’s bankruptcy petition estimates that he owes between 200 and 999 creditors between $1 million and $10 million. He told the court that he has assets between $100,000 and $500,000. The filing lists 408 unsecured creditors with claims described as business debt of unknown amounts.
One listed creditor is Rep. Cody Maynard, who did not know he was listed in DeVore’s bankruptcy filing until he was asked about it by NonDoc.
“My only connection to Texoma Solar Solutions was a completed purchase of solar panels years ago, after a local business professional recommended them,” Maynard (R-Durant) said in a statement. “The company has never had a debt to me, I have no outstanding obligations to them, and I am unaware why I am listed in the bankruptcy proceedings.”
DeVore said many of the listed creditors, like Maynard, are not actually owed money.
“If you notice on the listing, 99 percent of them, there’s no debt to those customers, because we just had to list everybody because of the finance company,” DeVore said, adding he “does not owe [the customers] money.”
DeVore described his company as a small business that was affected by regulation and market forces.
“It wasn’t a multi-million-dollar company,” DeVore said. “We were a small business, we were over-regulated. And, you know, [that is] one of the things I’m going to fight [against] is overregulation in our small businesses. And you know, President (Donald) Trump filed bankruptcy on how many companies? Six, seven? And when stuff like that happens, it’s out of our control. It’s out of our control. I hated it worse than anybody.”
Despite his company being knocked out of business, DeVore said he remains in favor of energy independence.
“I’m in favor of people being energy independent. And there was some issues there when we had to close the business,” DeVore said. “But you know, we have thousands of customers, and as you can see from the filing, there’s all those customers out there that didn’t have an issue.”
