(Update:Â On Tuesday, June 16, Sheila Dills won the GOP nomination for House District 69.)
With Rep. Mark Tedford seeking an open congressional seat after three terms holding Oklahoma House District 69 in south Tulsa County, four Republicans are seeking their party’s nomination in the June primary.
The Republican field features familiar faces for some. Former Rep. Sheila Dills, who represented HD 69 from 2018 to 2022, is seeking a return to the seat. Dills opted not to run for reelection in 2022, which left Tedford (R-Jenks) unopposed for his first term. Dills initially won the seat by defeating former Rep. Chuck Strohm in the 2018 primary. Strohm’s wife, Angela Strohm, unsuccessfully challenged Dills in 2020, and she is also seeking the seat again this year.
Joining Dills and Strohm in the GOP primary for HD 69 are comparative newcomers, Carrie DeWeese and Cody Nichols. If none of the Republican candidates receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two will compete in a runoff Aug. 25.
The eventual Republican Party nominee will advance to face Democrat Tyler Price, a nurse, in November.
HD 69 sits within Tulsa County and includes parts of Tulsa, Bixby and Jenks. The district’s boundaries constricted in the redistricting cycle following the 2020 census. The western boundary is primarily Elm Street, but it juts west to Elwood Avenue from West 111th Street to Main Street. The eastern-most boundary is State Highway 64, or Memorial Drive. West of the Arkansas River, the southern boundary is East 131st Street, but east of the river, it becomes East 121st Street. The northern boundary is mainly East 81st Street, but it juts north to East 71st Street to include Oral Roberts University and the surrounding neighborhood.
The following cheat sheet offers an overview of the HD 69 Republican candidates based on information from publicly available sources, such as websites, social media pages and other online resources. Candidates are presented in alphabetical order.
Carrie DeWeese
Age: 52
Profession/Occupation: Carrie DeWeese is a real estate agent. She was the chairperson of the National Association of Homebuilders’ Professional Women in Building Council. From 2003 to 2008, she served as the state director of Oklahoma’s 211 hotline at the Department of Human Services, according to her LinkedIn.
Platform: On her campaign website, DeWeese lists seven platform planks. DeWeese’s platform includes “protecting the American Dream,” which she cites as homeownership, and protecting senior citizens. Her platform also includes supporting small businesses, strengthening faith and family, safer neighborhoods, responsible government and building stronger schools.
“I have seen how rising costs and out-of-touch policies make it harder for families to buy homes and for small businesses to thrive. I believe your home is your sanctuary and I want to protect those rights for District 69. We need leaders who understand the real world — not career politicians,” DeWeese said on her website.
Sheila Dills
Age: 58
Profession/Occupation: Sheila Dills is a real estate agent and nonprofit founder who represented HD 69 from 2018 through 2022. During her two-term tenure, she authored a bill to create the Oklahoma Golf Trail Commission, a body she later served on. After choosing not to seek reelection in 2022, Dills opened a French-American bakery in Jenks called Patisserie by Sheila Anne.
Platform: Dills’ campaign website has three “legislative priorities” listed. She hopes to improve education through support for early literacy and strengthening the educator workforce. During her previous HD 69 tenure, she was at the front of charter school reform efforts based on concerns about Epic Charter Schools. Her campaign website also lists strengthening the economy and supporting “conservative values” as priorities.
“I have spent my life championing the conservative values that make Oklahoma strong — as a conservative lawmaker and in our community,” Dills said on her website. “I helped protect women’s sports, stood against government overreach and never backed down from the traditional values we hold dear.”
According to her campaign website, she is endorsed by Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93. According to her campaign Facebook, she is also endorsed by Jenks Mayor Cory Box and State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd, who is running for state treasurer.
Cody Nichols
Age: 38
Profession/Occupation: Cody Nichols is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, according to his website. He is also the owner of Second Hope Estate Sales, according to his LinkedIn.
Platform: Nichols’ campaign website has three “key issues” listed: protecting faith, empowering families and defending freedom. Nichols hopes to advocate for religious liberties, the sanctity of life and “the unwavering protection of the unborn at every stage.” According to his website, his wife is a physician and he plans to “defend the rights of conscience of medical practitioners.”
Nichols also advocates for increasing the Parental Choice Tax Credit, eliminating “wasteful” education spending, increasing teacher compensation and providing academic screeners and interventions for children. In his website section about “defending freedom,” Nichols cites “inerrant rights” like the Second Amendment and limiting government overreach.
“It is time to ensure leaders are accountable to their constituents instead of serving their own interests,” Nichols said on his website.
Angela Strohm
Age: 54
Profession/Occupation: Angela Strohm is a former teacher who ran for the HD 69 seat against Dills in 2020. She is the wife of former Rep. Chuck Strohm, whom Dills defeated in 2018. On her website, she claims her husband’s State Capitol experiences — along with other experiences in public life — “convinced her that principled conservatives must be willing to stand firm when pressure comes from insiders.”
Platform: Strohm’s website features a link to and a section on the “Save Oklahoma Plan,” an agenda backed by groups such as the City Elders, OCPAC and PikeOffOTA that includes fighting the “green agenda,” prohibiting bio-solid application on agricultural land and criminalizing “hostile foreign ownership of land.”
Her website also features more personal priorities, although some overlap with the aforementioned “Save Oklahoma Plan.” Her personal priorities include a pledge to refuse lobbyist and “special-interest” money. She promotes defending property rights and stopping “forced data center expansion,” while also supporting medical freedom and free turnpikes as priorities for HD 69. Strohm is pro-life and “fully supports the right to keep and bear arms.”
“I am committed to keeping this seat in the hands of the people, not lobbyists, consultants, or special interest money,” Strohm said on her website.
