(Update: On Tuesday, June 16, GOP candidates Curtis Erwin and Dr. Jean Hausheer advanced to an Aug. 25 runoff election.)
Sen. Dusty Deevers, vice chairman of the insurgent Freedom Caucus, faces a Republican primary challenge Tuesday from a fellow Baptist pastor and a doctor he defeated in a 2023 special election that propelled him to the forefront of the Oklahoma State Senate’s leadership rift.
Senate District 32 encompasses the northwestern half of Comanche County and Lawton. The seat opened after Republican Sen. John Michael Montgomery resigned to become president of the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce. Deevers won a four-way special GOP primary in 2023 with only 37 percent of the vote because state law at the time did not prescribe a runoff for special elections, something the Legislature subsequently changed.
With Deevers challenged in this year’s Republican primary by Dr. Jean Hausheer — who received 30.8 percent support in 2023 — and the Rev. Curtis Erwin, Tuesday’s results could play a key role in determining whether current Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) retains his narrowly won leadership post.
The Freedom Caucus, which Deevers helped found, and Paxton came to loggerheads this May, with Deevers and his allies expressing frustration at Paxton’s quick-trigger adjournment during a legislative deadline week and his alleged “bully” tactics to hold Freedom Caucus priorities at bay.
Paxton and Freedom Caucus Chairman Shane Jett repeatedly traded barbs during this year’s session, with Paxton panning Jett’s “immature” proposal to eliminate state property taxes and referring to Jett as the “Karen of the Senate.” In recent days, Jett has knocked doors with Deevers and other Senate candidates, underscoring the grassroots push to retain Deevers in SD 32 and flip other seats around the state.
If none of the three candidates receive more than 50 percent of the vote Tuesday, an Aug. 25 runoff will await. The Republican victor will face Democrat Booker Newton and independent Valentin Peña in the November general election.
The following SD 32 GOP primary cheat sheet is based on information derived from public sources, such as campaign websites and social media accounts. Candidates are presented in alphabetical order.
Dusty Deevers (incumbent)
Age: 48
Background/profession: A collegiate baseball player, Dusty Deevers graduated from Oklahoma City University with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2001 and earned a masters of divinity with languages from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2008. A landlord, he is the CEO of Deevers Properties (currently listed as inactive on the Oklahoma Secretary of State website). He is also a pastor at Grace Reformed Baptist Church of Elgin and has served in the Oklahoma Senate since winning a special election in 2023.
Platform: A founding member and vice chairman of the Oklahoma Legislature’s Freedom Caucus, Deevers has championed hardline conservative proposals often underpinned by his religious beliefs. As a freshman senator in 2024, Deevers authored Senate Bill 1729, which would charge any woman who received an abortion outside of life-saving circumstances with murder, including victims of rape or incest. In 2025, Deevers’ SB 829 sought to end no-fault divorce in Oklahoma. Deevers has been a regular opponent of same-sex marriage and also sought to outlaw pornography outside of “spouses (…) sending images of a sexual nature to each other.”
In this year’s legislative session, Deevers joined his Freedom Caucus colleagues in seeking extensive property tax reform by filing Senate Joint Resolution 35, which sought the outright repeal of ad valorem taxes in Oklahoma. A member of the Senate Education Committee, Deevers also authored legislation that promotes high-dosage tutoring for Oklahoma students, a proposal he says Paxton’s team intentionally blocked despite its broad popularity and support.
He criticized Paxton’s May 6 procedural move that functionally stalled hundreds of House bills awaiting Senate consideration.
“These agendas change. They can change in a matter of just moments,” Deevers said. “Why do you think that that agenda was made and that so many of us showed up? About 34 senators were here. We had plenty for a quorum. But there was a decision made that there wasn’t a quorum. Why did that happen?”
Deevers’ campaign website describes the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns as “immoral and illegal government mandates.” This campaign cycle, Deevers hosted an event alongside Kyle Rittenhouse and declared his support of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operations in Oklahoma.
On his campaign Facebook page, Deevers has shared images indicating roughly $200,000 has been spent to oppose his candidacy, most of the expenditures tied to Strategic Capitol LLC, an organization listed under a Washington, D.C. address.
“The dark money attacks against me are laughable…and desperate. Of course I would never wish harm on our president. I pray regularly for him, his family, and his administration. Our church prays weekly for them, too,” Deevers tweeted June 8 to accompany a two-minute video about the SD 32 race. “These slanderous attacks are not about truth. They are about fear.”
Deevers’ campaign has been endorsed by the Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association, National Rifle Association and several other conservative political organizations.
Curtis Erwin
Age: 57
Background/profession: Curtis Erwin is the founder and current senior pastor of Elgin’s Crossroads Baptist Church. He earned his bachelor of science degree from Mid-American Christian University and masters of arts from Oklahoma Baptist University, where he now serves on the board of trustees. He previously worked for Lawton’s Goodyear plant for 21 years, according to his campaign Facebook page.
Platform: The top priorities listed on Erwin’s campaign website include protecting pro-life views and “defending religious liberty,” preserving Second Amendment rights, expanding STEM education and work opportunities alongside education at large, opposing new taxes and backing public safety agencies.
In an interview with KSWO, Erwin said he would also look to strengthen defense contracting jobs around Fort Sill. He also directly criticized the Freedom Caucus.
“Well, I think the Freedom Caucus has kind of lost their way. I think they’ve become a disruption. If I’m elected to be the next state senator, my job will be to represent southwest Oklahoma, not a certain caucus up there, not a group of people,” Erwin told the TV station.
Erwin sharply criticized Deevers for not voting on the passage of House Bill 1168, which outlawed the possession or delivery of abortion pills.
“House Bill 1168 would impose felony penalties, including fines up to $100,000 and prison time, on those who knowingly deliver abortion-inducing drugs in violation of Oklahoma law,” Erwin said. “As a pastor and a pro-life conservative, I believe we must defend innocent life with conviction. Oklahoma has led the nation in protecting the unborn, but leadership means standing firm when it counts. When legislation comes forward to stop the trafficking of dangerous abortion drugs into our communities, conservatives should be voting yes and fighting for it, not taking a walk to avoid the vote.”
Erwin has been supported by the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, which has also supported Hausheer. Erwin has released a series of videos and posts featuring endorsements from other faith leaders and community members.
Dr. Jean Hausheer
Age: 68
Background/profession: Dr. Jean Hausheer entered the University of Missouri-Kansas City school of medicine at 17 years old, according to her campaign website. A practicing eye surgeon, Hausheer worked at the Dean McGee Eye Institute for more than 40 years. She later opened the Hearts That Care clinic, which provides free medical and dental services to uninsured Oklahomans. According to her LinkedIn, Hausheer currently serves as the medical director for the Pregnancy Resource Center of Southwest Oklahoma.
In 2019, Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Hausheer to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority Board. Just more than two years later, Stitt removed Hausheer and Dr. Laura Shamblin from the board, the only two physicians and two of three women serving on the body at the time. Hausheer told KSWO she felt the decision was political.
Hausheer is also a previous president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, speaking on several panels and in forums about her opposition to Oklahoma’s 2018 medical marijuana state question.
Platform: Hausheer previously ran against Deevers in 2023. She told KSWO she is opposing him this cycle “because nothing the incumbent has done has improved anything for working families here, and zero of his authored bills in three years time have passed in to law, which is highly unusual.”
Hausheer’s campaign website describes her as a constitutional conservative, “an unapologetically pro-life leader who has dedicated her life to healing others.” Her site also declares that SD 32 deserves “better than failed leadership and fringe agendas.”
Among the top issues listed on Hausheer’s campaign website are a plan to end the state income tax, reform medical insurance, expand rural health care and increase pay and benefits for Oklahoma teachers.
“I’m going to fight to expand psychiatric services and telehealth access for our military personnel, our veterans and their families,” Hausheer told KSWO.
A post on her campaign Facebook page indicates Hausheer has pledged to vote against “any and all efforts to increase” state taxation.
Hausheer has been endorsed by the Oklahoma Medical PAC and has received support from the Oklahoma Restaurant Association and the Oklahoma Medical Association, according to her Facebook page.
