(Update:Â On Tuesday, June 16, Democrats Jason Lowe and Kayla Baker advanced to an Aug. 25 runoff for Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners District 1.)
For the third time in 14 months, Oklahoma County District 1 Democrats are set to vote for their representative on a Board of Commissioners that has faced significant upheaval owing to resignations and lingering battles over building a new jail. Unlike last year’s elections, however, independents will not be able to cast ballots in the June 16 Democratic primary.
Incumbent Commissioner Jason Lowe won a 2025 special election after Commissioner Carrie Blumert resigned to run a nonprofit, and he is running for reelection to a full term. However, the field for the Democratic nomination is unexpectedly crowded, with four on the June 16 primary ballot. With no GOP candidate filing, the winner of the June 16 primary — or perhaps an Aug. 25 runoff — will win the District 1 race.
Lowe, an attorney, is joined in the race by three challengers:
- businesswoman Kayla Baker;
- long-time county government critic and activist Mark Faulk; and
- insurance broker Harry Meister.
Along with whichever Republican or Democrat becomes District 3’s next commissioner, whoever wins will be faced with a litany of long-lingering issues when they take (or return to) office. The county lacks the funds needed to build a new jail already promised to voters, and Lowe has advocated for a sales tax to bridge the gap.
District 1 covers a central part of Oklahoma County, including the core of Oklahoma City. The district is bound by Jones, The Village, Del City and a portion of southwest OKC. If no candidate earns more than 50 percent of the vote June 16, the top two finishers will proceed to a runoff Aug. 25.
The following cheat sheet provides an overview of the Oklahoma County District 1 Democratic candidates and is derived from publicly available information, such as campaign websites, news reports and social media accounts. Candidates are listed alphabetically.
Kayla Baker
Age: 43
Profession/background: Kayla Baker is the president of Northline 950, a construction and manufacturing firm. She also holds a pilot’s license, and her Instagram lists her as a private pilot. According to her campaign website, she also has a real estate license.
Platform: According to her campaign website, Baker’s priorities if elected include expanding affordable housing, creating a cleaner county, putting working families first and supporting public safety to foster safer communities. Baker’s website does not include a position on the ongoing county jail issue, but regarding public safety, her website says she believes in “safe communities built on both accountability and care.”
“County government should work for everyday people — not just those with power or connections,” she said on the site.
Her campaign also focuses on “standing up for working women and families.” As a working woman herself, her website states, Baker “understands the pressure women face — balancing work, caregiving, and rising costs.”
Online: Website
Mark Faulk
Age: 70
Profession/background: Mark Faulk is a criminal justice activist and documentary filmmaker. His campaign website also mentions he was a business owner for over 40 years.
Platform: Faulk, who helped found the People’s Council for Justice Reform, has been a longtime critic of the Oklahoma County Jail trust and the operations of the jail. He is a frequent speaker at county commissioner and jail trust meetings, calling for bail reform, preventative justice reforms, the dissolution of the jail trust and for the jail’s operation to be returned to the sheriff’s office, as well as the removal of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers from the facility.
Faulk also opposes the creation of a county sales tax to bridge a $400 million funding gap facing a proposed new county jail because he believes it will result in a larger jail and more incarceration. He wants the county to redirect resources from the justice system to other community needs.
“What I want to know is this: 60 deaths later, how many lives would have been saved had we admitted this is a failed experiment?” Faulk said at a Board of Commissioners meeting earlier this year. “And here we are, six years later, the only reason I believe we are doing it is because they want a tax pushed through. And they are grasping at anything to talk us into giving them more money. This is about money over lives, and it’s been that way for six years. We are tired of it.”
Jason Lowe (incumbent)
Age: 52
Profession/background: Jason Lowe is Oklahoma County’s incumbent District 1 commissioner, and he is a former legislator who represented House District 97 from 2016 to 2025. He is also an attorney focused on criminal defense, family law and personal injury cases.
Platform: If elected to a full four-year term, Lowe’s stated priorities include improving county road infrastructure, increasing access to mental health resources and empowering economic opportunities for marginalized communities in the district. Lowe has also been vocal about the conditions at the county jail, which he cited in the 2025 special election cycle as his primary reason for seeking a seat on the board of commissioners.
Lowe has called for the dissolution of the jail trust and has championed its operations returning to the sheriff’s office. Earlier this year, Lowe proposed a county sales tax to pay for a new jail and its operations, but the effort ultimately failed after neither District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan nor former District 3 Commissioner Myles Davidson supported the motion. Lowe has also called for a state audit of the jail trust.
“We don’t have the resources at this time to build a new jail,” Lowe said during a January board meeting. “We’re still $500 million short. I don’t think anyone here would move forward with the construction of a home if you don’t have the money to pay for it. It just doesn’t make any economic sense.”
Harry Meister
Age: 62
Profession/background: Harry Meister is a broker at Banker’s Insurance Group and the former owner of the MidCity Advocate newspaper, according to his campaign website. His wife, Dana, represents District 4 on the OKCPS Board of Education. Meister is a U.S. Air Force veteran who worked for former State Auditor and Inspector Clifton Scott. During his time with the SAI Office, Meister states that he conducted audits of county governments.
Platform: Meister advocates “common sense” solutions to problems with the Oklahoma County Jail. He believes current problems are symptoms of broader mental health and substance abuse struggles in the community and that reducing incarceration will help alleviate some of the jail’s problems.
If elected, Meister’s other priorities include supporting Tinker Air Force Base and improving county infrastructure, ensuring road projects finish on time and providing transparency on how money is spent.
“I feel like my past experience is unique to being county commissioner for District 1 in particular, since it includes my auditing experience and includes Tinker Air Force Base,” he told The Oklahoman. “My county experience (with the state auditor’s office) was for central and western Oklahoma, and I audited and did purchasing and inventory for all offices, sheriffs/jails, treasurer, etc.”
Online: Website
(Update: This article was updated at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, May 24, to remove reference to a website.)
