The newly elected and reelected members of the Oklahoma House are sworn into office Wednesday at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY — Members of the Oklahoma House were sworn into office Wednesday in the House chambers at the Capitol. 

Both newly elected and reelected members took time to recognize their family, friends and constituents who elected them to serve. 

The Oklahoma House Republican caucus elected Rep. Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, Tuesday as Speaker-Elect of the House for the 60th Legislature. 

“Together, we must rise to the occasion of the urgent challenges facing Oklahomans, including the ongoing pinch of inflation, a widening workforce skills gap and much-needed investment in our public infrastructure system including transportation, water, wastewater and broadband connectivity,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “Our caucus is ready to make the tough decisions needed to move Oklahoma forward.”

The House will formally vote for the next Speaker of the House on its organizational day in January. If elected, Hilbert, 30, will be the youngest House speaker in Oklahoma history. 

Rep. Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, was in attendance with her mother, Anastasia Pittman, who previously served in the Oklahoma House and Senate. 

“I stand before you today as the new chair of the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus,” she said. “And I’m just so humbled to the constituents of House District 99 and the voters for allowing me to come back here for my fourth term and continue the legacy of leadership.”

Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, thanked his constituents and colleagues as he offered advice to the freshman lawmakers. 

I would like to thank the constituents in House District 16 for electing the unelectable for the past eight years,” he said. “Going into my ninth year … I’m looking forward to serving with everybody in this room. If you’re a freshman the one thing that I would like to impart to you is that if I yell at you while we’re on the floor, it’s not personal.”

Oklahoma House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, welcomed new members of the House in a statement Wednesday. 

“I am excited to work with these incredible individuals and look forward to serving the State of Oklahoma alongside my House Democratic colleagues returning to the state Capitol,” Munson said in a statement. “House Democrats will remain focused on lowering costs for working Oklahoma families, keeping public dollars in public schools, pushing back against harmful rhetoric and actions from our state superintendent, and ensuring Oklahomans have access to the health care they need.”

The 101 members of the House will convene for an organizational day Jan. 7 ahead of the upcoming legislative session on Feb. 3. 

The Oklahoma Senate was sworn in Nov. 13.

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Over the last decade, the Republican super majority in the House of Representatives has provided record levels of funding to teacher salaries, schools and mental health resources.

On Nov. 5, voters in Oklahoma, and across the country, spoke with their vote and elected conservative Republican candidates at the national and state levels. Here in Oklahoma, every one of our 77 counties went for President-elect Donald Trump, a testament to the faith that our residents have placed in conservative values and policies.

A recent opinion piece published in this column expressed the sentiment that in spite of what voters think they want, they are wrong, and Republicans are failing Oklahoma. Specifically, the guest columnist said that Republicans in our state aren’t doing enough to address teachers’ salaries, school funding and mental health resources. It is time for those who agree with her to confront an inconvenient truth: Republicans are leading the charge to address these issues, and all others important to Oklahomans.

More: Opinion: Oklahoma is conservative but must prioritize solutions to poor national rankings

Over the last decade, the Republican super majority in the House of Representatives has provided record levels of funding to teacher salaries, schools and mental health resources.

We have increased teacher salaries by 34%, from an average of $45,646 (including benefits) in 2017, to an average of $62,640. A large portion of that increase came during the 2023 legislative session, when an additional $250 million was added specifically for teacher salaries. In addition, the Legislature enacted a free tuition program for anyone seeking a teaching career if they teach for five years or more.

Overall, there has been a total increase of 62% in K-12 public school spending by the state in the last eight years. We invested a record $1.5 billion in new, recurring funding between FY19-FY25, including $839.5 million in FY24 and FY25. This commitment from the state reflects more money invested by the Legislature than the previous 27 years combined. Additionally, we have provided parents and children with opportunities to access increased educational pathways through the Parental Choice Tax Credit Act.

Finally, through the ARPA process, the Legislature appropriated nearly $300 million in new funds to address mental health issues across our state. These dollars could have gone elsewhere, but the Republican-led Legislature, seeing the challenges our neighbors, friends and loved ones are facing, addressed it with a resounding commitment.

Most importantly, what the columnist failed to mention is the economic benefit of Republican leadership over the last decade. We have cut taxes for families and businesses in the state, while building $5 billion in savings to protect education and other core services against economic downturn. This has led to our state’s economy doubling its economic output as measured by state revenue receipts.

The success of our conservative policies is evident in the continuous support we receive at the ballot box. Oklahoma is thriving under Republican leadership, and we’re just getting started. Our state is more than OK ― we’re setting the standard for what effective, conservative governance can achieve.

As we move forward, we invite all Oklahomans to join us in building an even stronger, more prosperous state. Together, we will continue to make Oklahoma a beacon of conservative values and economic opportunity for generations to come.

Charles McCall, R-Atoka, is outgoing speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Just over half of Oklahomans voted in the presidential election trailing only Hawaii for the lowest voter turnout nationwide. Oklahoma United wants to amend the state constitution opening state primaries to everyone. 

Many independent voters behind this petition said they feel they don’t have a say in their community until it’s too late.

They want their government to represent everyone, and they said Oklahoma has to change its tune. 

“We are all here today to support improving our democracy,” A.J. Griffin, chief executive officer of the Potts Family Foundation. 

Oklahoma United filed a petition on behalf of several independent voters. U.S. Coast Guard veteran Anthony Stobbe said he feels left out in primary elections. 

“Over half of military service members don’t affiliate with a political party,” Stobbe said. “The current system we have in place says to me that your political opinions don’t matter.” 

Oklahoma Republicans only allow registered GOP voters to vote in their primaries. News 9 Political Analyst Scott Mitchell said closed primaries silence diverse voices. 

“The numbers are down,” said Mitchell, referring to Oklahoma’s chronically low voter turnout. “If you’ve got a small minority deciding all of the issues, that’s not a healthy democracy.” 

The spokesperson for the Vote Yes 835 campaign Alex Weintz said politicians don’t have to work for people’s vote. 

“We’ve made these November races all but meaningless,” Weintz said. “A Democrat in a heavily Democratic area or a Republican in a heavily Republican area is just cruising to victory.” 

Gov. Kevin Stitt posted to X saying, “Open primaries are a hard no in Oklahoma.” 

Lt Gov. Matt Pinnell said in a statement:

“At best, the push to mandate open primaries is a solution in search of a problem, and at worst, it is a thinly veiled attempt to weaken Republican voters in choosing the nominees to represent our Party. As a former Republican state party chairman and State Party Director at the RNC, I would hope the current primary structure would incentivize independents and conservative Democrats to register as Republicans and help choose our party’s nominees.” 

Mitchell said most state Republicans will oppose the idea of open primaries because the current rules overwhelmingly benefit GOP candidates. 

“They’re doing just fine with the results,” said Mitchell, regarding the legislature’s GOP supermajority. 

However, Stobbe believes democracy is at stake, and he said it’s time for Oklahomans to face the music. 

“It’s time to fix this,” Stobbe said. “It shifts the decision about who will represent the people closer to all of the people.” 

Oklahoma United submitted the initial petition to the secretary of state.

Once approved they have 90 days to gather nearly 173,000 signatures and get them certified to get the question on the ballot.

Advocates for this measure hope to get the question on the table for the November general election in 2026.