(Update: On Tuesday, June 16, Sen. Dana Prieto and Aaron Forst advanced to an Aug. 25 GOP runoff election.)
Incumbent Sen. Dana Prieto has drawn a trio of GOP challengers in a Republican primary that will help determine the leadership of the Oklahoma Senate in next year’s legislative session.
Covering the communities of Owasso and Sperry in addition to east Tulsa, Senate District 34 encompasses most of northeast Tulsa County. In 2022, Prieto defeated Sen. J.J. Dossett (D-Owasso), who had won the seat in a special election seven years prior.
Four years later, Prieto (R-Tulsa) is the incumbent playing defense. With Prieto challenged in the Republican primary by businessman Brent Driskill, childcare business owner Aaron Forst and and retired Helmerich & Payne employee Kent Taylor, the SD 34 outcome could play a key role in determining whether current Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) retains his narrowly won leadership post.
The insurgent Freedom Caucus, of which Prieto is a member, and Paxton came to loggerheads this May, with Freedom Caucus leadership expressing frustration at Paxton’s quick-trigger adjournment during a legislative deadline week and his alleged “bully” tactics to hold hardline conservative 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, the outgoing Sen. Jett has knocked doors with Prieto and other Senate candidates, underscoring the grassroots push to retain Prieto in SD 34 and flip other seats around the state.
If none of the four SD 34 candidates receives more than 50 percent of the vote Tuesday, an Aug. 25 runoff will await. The Republican victor will face Democrat Amy Hossein in the November general election.
The following SD 34 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.
Brent Driskill
Age: 38
Background/profession: According to his campaign website, Brent Driskill was born and raised in Nowata, and he has more than two decades of experience in the petroleum industry, working in positions “from field hand to production manager at Endeavor Energy Resources.” Now, Driskill “owns and operates a local business focused on real estate and energy investments.”
Driskill’s alleged business dealings in the medical marijuana industry have drawn questions in recent weeks. In a Facebook post from Aaron Forst’s campaign with screenshots of the alleged document included in later comments, Driskill’s name appears as owner of the business entity MGJT, LLC, which an Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs letter alleges violated the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.
The document, a denial letter for an application for registration with OBN, alleges that in September 2024, OBN agents attempted to inspect a Tulsa location “upon probable cause of the unlawful manufacturing and cultivation of marijuana.”
The inspection was launched in response to a pending application from 6th Investments LLC, an entity that listed Brittney Driskill, Brent’s wife, as full owner at the time. The agents were not permitted access to the building, the letter alleges.
“Following the attempted inspection, a U-Haul truck arrived at the site and was observed by neighbors and surveillance cameras to be loaded up with marijuana from the facility,” the letter alleges. “When agents arrived for the search warrant (conducted two days after the attempted inspection), the marijuana had been removed from the facility with small amounts remaining in a burn pile that was still smoldering.”
Later, in May 2025, 6th Investments’ name was changed to MGJT, LLC. A new application to OBN was submitted, with Brent Driskill listed as full owner of the newly named LLC. The OBN denial letter alleges MGJT, LLC reported “1,000 plus marijuana plants in inventory carried over from when it was still 6th Investments, LLC.”
“Neither 6th Investments LLC nor MGJT LLC have ever had a registration from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and any marijuana produced, bought, or sold is in violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act,” the letter states.
Driskill does not appear to have addressed the allegation publicly.
Platform: Driskill bills himself as the candidate for “common-sense conservative leadership,” touting his financial and budgetary experience as a businessman. According to his website, Driskill supports lowering state income and property taxes, implementing a constitutional spending cap and opposing “any attempt to increase taxes or expand bureaucracy.”
A pro-life and pro-Second Amendment candidate, Driskill’s website also includes a pledge to “ensure people of faith can live, worship, and serve without fear of government interference.” Driskill also promises to “ensure law enforcement has the resources and support they need” and support tough-on-crime policies, according to his campaign website.
His education priorities as outlined online include “parental rights and curriculum transparency,” trade programs “that align with Oklahoma’s job market” and “strong support for teachers and classrooms.”
On his campaign Facebook page, Driskill has touted endorsements from the State Chamber of Oklahoma PAC, REALTORS PAC of Oklahoma and the National Landowners Federation, alongside support from the Tulsa and Owasso chapters of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Aaron Forst
Age: 43
Background/profession: A lifelong Oklahoman and one of the first 55 graduates from Verdigris High School, according to his campaign website, Aaron Forst and his family have lived in Owasso for the past decade. Forst’s campaign website indicates he “pursued degrees in emergency medical services, biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, and business administration” while studying at Tulsa Community College, Rogers State University and Purdue University. He first worked as a Tulsa World paper boy at 14 before becoming an emergency medical technician and, later, a biomedical engineer who helped “design and implement” medical equipment during construction of the St. John Owasso and Broken Arrow campuses.
Forst is a Taekwondo black belt, and he won a PT Cruiser on The Price is Right in 2008 after riding his motorcycle to a taping of the show from Oklahoma. In 2022, Forst opened Granny & Dot’s preschool with his wife, Adrienne. Forst spoke before the Oklahoma Department of Human Services in 2025 to oppose rules that would require certain child care providers to become accredited, calling Oklahoma a “child care desert” and saying the rules could lead to closure of already scarce child care centers.
Forst ran for House District 72 in 2018 as a Democrat, losing the primary to current Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols.
Platform: Forst’s campaign website bills him as a Christian, conservative Republican endorsed by the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police and Owasso chapter of the International Association of Firefighters. He has signed the taxpayer protection pledge to oppose “any and all tax increases,” and he is dedicated to eliminating the state income tax and lowering property taxes, according to his campaign website.
Forst has been critical of the proposed aluminum smelter project in Inola, calling the project an example of “massive tax incentive packages (…) directed toward large, often foreign-backed industrial projects” that hurt small businesses. Forst also supports state legislative action on data centers, including “clear standards for energy use” and “responsible development” of such facilities.
According to his campaign website, Forst’s other campaign priorities include addressing immigration reform and enforcement at the state level, ensuring election integrity, limiting scope of government and protecting pro-life and pro-Second Amendment positions.
Dana Prieto (incumbent)
Age: 69
Background/profession: A western New York native and former owner of a floor cleaning business, Dana Prieto moved to Oklahoma in 1991 to attend Broken Arrow’s Rhema Bible College. Prieto then worked for motivational speakers and sales trainers before breaking into digital marketing and website development, with a focus on search engine optimization.
Platform: A member of the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus, Prieto has received endorsements from a slew of powerful GOP politicians, including Jett, the outgoing Oklahoma Freedom Caucus chairman, Sen. David Bullard (R-Durant), and U.S. Reps. Kevin Hern and Josh Brecheen. He also sports endorsements from the Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association, the National Rife Association and Make Oklahoma Healthy Again, according to his campaign website.
On his website, Prieto criticized his opponents for painting themselves as “common sense conservatives,” declaring the term is synonymous with “weak Republican.”
“A principled conservative is guided not by convenience or popularity, but by conviction,” Prieto wrote. “They are not afraid to stand up for the values they were elected to defend — even when it means pushing back against powerful interests or breaking with the status quo.”
Prieto touts his stint in the State Senate as a time in which he “defended parental rights,” “protected religious liberty,” “opposed burdensome regulations” and “fought government overreach.” Prieto also outlined his caution toward data centers after initially being open to the proposals, citing constituents’ concerns about their impact on infrastructure capacity and energy costs.
On his website, Prieto decries workforce development as “a socialist scheme masquerading as progress” and similarly criticizes Oklahoma’s Child Care Subsidy Program as a “socialist-style system” artificially driving up child care costs. He has repeatedly criticized the Oklahoma Department of Human Services for how it handles child welfare cases, saying he receives daily complaints.
Kent Taylor
Age: 62
Background/profession: A graduate of Bartlesville’s Sooner High School, Kent Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Oklahoma, where he also played trumpet in the marching band, according to his campaign website. Taylor then earned a master of business administration degree with a focus in finance from Oklahoma City University.
After graduating from OU, Taylor worked for Bank of Oklahoma managing several locations. He later worked for petroleum business Helmerich & Payne as a financial executive, and he ended his career at the company’s Tulsa headquarters.
After retirement from H&P, Taylor has worked as director of finance for the BOK Center and Arrest Convention Center and has overseen “financial and support functions” for the Tulsa Children’s Museum, according to his campaign website. Taylor is fluent in Spanish, and he and his wife have adopted or fostered several children from Honduras.
Platform: Taylor’s campaign website contains a pledge to “always be guided by his Christian faith” in office. He is opposed to “unreasonable regulation and taxes” that impact businesses, is pro-life and pro-Second Amendment.
Taylor’s education priorities include increasing teacher pay while restoring “strict discipline” to Oklahoma classrooms. If elected, he would also “be an active voice” for the state’s senior citizens while limiting welfare programs and requiring drug tests for recipients.
Taylor’s website includes an endorsement from former Oklahoma House District 74 Rep. David Derby, whose district included Owasso and Tulsa.
“Kent will be an active voice for our senior citizens. They’ve worked hard, paid their dues and deserve to be able to enjoy their golden years,” Taylor’s website proclaims. “Kent will promote a culture of work in Oklahoma by voting to limit welfare and require drug tests for welfare recipients.”
