McALESTER — House District 18 voters will decide Aug. 25 between their incumbent who says his record shows he has delivered for constituents and a retired educator who argues southeast Oklahoma needs a more aggressive advocate at the State Capitol.
Rep. David Smith is seeking a fifth term in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, while retired educator Pamela Gordon is attempting to unseat him in the Republican runoff.
Both Smith (R-Arpelar) and Gordon advanced from the three-candidate June 16 primary, with Smith receiving 47.4 percent support (1,760 votes), while Smith received 30.5 percent (1,133 votes). Shelton Foster, who finished third, received 22.1 percent of the vote (821 votes). The winner will take the seat, as no candidates from other parties filed.
Smith, a U.S. Army veteran, was first elected to the seat in 2018 after narrowly ousting a Democratic incumbent with a limited campaign that primarily featured three yard signs that simply proclaimed: “Smith NRA.”
Having said God initially called him to run for state office, Smith said his motivation for seeking another term is straightforward: “the people.”
“I’ve shown what I can do and what I will do, and how we’re building up the district,” Smith said. “Like I said, if you look around, there’s other districts that the representatives are in trouble, or they’ve had rumors started about them. And our district, all we’re known for is basically good things. We get calls from all over the place, from all over the state, asking for help on different issues because I’m one of the easiest representatives to get a hold of, and I do call people back. That’s the reason I give my cell phone number out.”
Gordon, on the other hand, said she entered the race because she believes HD 18 has not received enough advocacy from Smith.
“I’m a constituent. I’m who you are, and I felt like we needed more advocacy for our district,” Gordon said. “There were some things that I was concerned about personally. Debated on those things, visited about those things with our current representative, and I just felt like we weren’t getting the advocacy that we needed.”
Both candidates agreed to interviews ahead of the election. Crossing the boundary between the Muscogee Nation and Choctaw Nation reservations, HD 18 represents all of Hughes County and portions of Pittsburg, Coal, and Okfuskee counties in southeast Oklahoma. The district represents the communities of Calvin, McAlester, Holdenville, Okemah, Wetumka, Weleetka, Boley and Paden.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25. Early voting is set to take place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Aug. 20 and 21, as well as from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22.
Smith: ‘It just seems like Oklahoma City can offer them better incentives’
Both candidates said bringing industry to HD 18 and southeast Oklahoma is a major issue for the district, and they offered their views on how to recruit high-paying companies.
Smith said he has worked with companies considering locating in HD 18, but the district has struggled to compete with incentives available in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and other areas of the state. However, he said his efforts have helped bring in some smaller businesses, including a trucking company and an air conditioning company. Still, recruiting larger employers has proven more difficult.
“Every time we get a company interested, and we’ve talked to them and tried to get business agreements between the Department of Commerce and them, it just seems like Oklahoma City can offer them better incentives,” Smith said.
Gordon said communities in the district, such as McAlester along U.S. Highways 69 and 75 corridors and Okemah on Interstate 40, should be attracting more industry and better-paying jobs.
“We should be much more than what we are now,” Gordon said. “We should have more industry than what we’re bringing in. We should have better jobs than what we have.”
Gordon said state-level representation should work more closely with local governments to recruit employers that provide wages capable of supporting families.
“We need some good-paying jobs because it’s ridiculous for our kids to not be able to come home to work,” Gordon said.
Gordon also emphasized the challenges facing small farms and ranches. She said Oklahoma provides incentives to attract large businesses while small agricultural operations struggle with land prices, financing and profitability.
Smith similarly emphasized agriculture, saying he has worked with agricultural organizations on legislation and pointed to his endorsement from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau. He specifically cited legislation aligning Oklahoma’s hemp regulations with federal standards and previous efforts to attract a hemp textile manufacturing operation to the area.
Smith: ‘Public education in rural Oklahoma is totally different’
Gordon, a retired superintendent and educator who has worked in three different states, was formerly the head of the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s grant writing program under former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters. However, she resigned after feeling like the department was losing money owing to Walters’ detachment from day-to-day functions.
She said education was the primary issue that pushed her into the HD 18 race and that rural public schools face challenges different from those in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Gordon questioned whether state funding and accountability policies adequately reflect those differences.
“We have made a big push for vouchers, which is fine as far as school choice, but we have to educate the masses in public education,” Gordon said. “Public education in rural Oklahoma is totally different from public education in the urban areas. One size doesn’t fit all.”
Smith said he and other lawmakers have focused on listening to local superintendents about what their schools need instead of assuming lawmakers know best.
“We work with our superintendents, and we’ve done everything that they’ve asked,” Smith said.
He pointed to lawmakers setting aside money for books and approving reading coaches for third-grade students through the Strong Readers Act.
“They know better in the classroom than we do up at the Capitol,” Smith said.
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Data center concerns unite candidates
Both Smith and Gordon shared their concerns about data center development following increased attention to a potential data center near Kiowa. Current plans stretch the development between HD 18 and neighboring HD 17 along U.S. Highway 69.
Smith acknowledged he is not an expert on data centers, but he said he is concerned about their potential demands on water and electricity. He also criticized the use of nondisclosure agreements surrounding development proposals.
“I don’t like it whenever they come in and they start doing NDAs and not letting the people know what’s going on,” Smith said.
Smith said he supports his constituents who oppose such projects and believes additional safeguards may be necessary to protect local resources.
“I don’t want to run out of water to try to do a data center,” Smith said. “I’d rather keep our resources for companies that’s going to put a lot of people to work.”
Gordon said she has attended several meetings over the data centers and has sought information because she was unfamiliar with the industry before the issue arose locally.
She said she opposes a project if it is foreign-owned and would oppose the 75 percent property tax abatement the developer is seeking for the site near Kiowa.
Gordon also called for state officials to establish more guardrails before projects are developed, comparing the situation to Oklahoma’s rollout of medical marijuana.
“We are notorious for being reactive instead of proactive,” Gordon said. “The bottom line is, before you even start to pass something, you better look at the pros and cons, and we better figure out what those accountability measures are.”
Smith: ‘I’ve run every bill that my constituents asked’
Gordon said her challenge of Smith ultimately centers on her belief that he has not been aggressive enough in representing the district.
“That’s why I’m running,” Gordon said. “There’s not enough advocacy.”
She said she spoke with Smith before deciding to challenge him and described him as a friend and “nice guy,” but she said her concerns outweighed their relationship.
“This is bigger than friendship,” Gordon said. “We can’t wait two more years.”
Smith rejected the criticism. He said he had four measures pass during the most recent legislative session and has attempted to run legislation requested by constituents.
“I’ve run every bill that my constituents asked me to run, except for one that I couldn’t get through,” Smith said. “I don’t see how listening to my constituents — the people that put me up there — is not doing enough.”
Smith also pointed to his accessibility, saying people from across Oklahoma contact him for assistance and that he makes his cellphone number available.
“I’ve shown what I can do and what I will do and how we’re building up the district,” Smith said.
Gordon said voters should choose her because she would bring a more active approach to the office, emphasizing research, planning and communication with constituents.
“If I’m elected, they will know what I’m doing,” Gordon said. “You won’t have to research it. I will let you know, and that’s what we’ve lacked.”
