Two Republicans advance from special election to fill Oklahoma Senate seat
OKLAHOMA CITY – Two Republicans will meet in an April 1 primary runoff for Senate District 8 following Tuesday's special election.
Bryan Logan of Paden received 40.71% of the vote in a field of six. David Nelson of Morris received 31.61%.
The Republican nominee will face Democrat Nathan Brewer and independent Steve Sandford in a May 13 special general election to represent Okmulgee, Okfuskee and McIntosh counties and portions of Creek and Muskogee counties. Both are from Henryetta.
The post became vacant when former Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, resigned effective Nov. 1.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Los Angeles Times
22 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Orlando officials denounce removal of rainbow crosswalk near Pulse nightclub mass shooting site
ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando officials on Thursday denounced the overnight removal by Florida transportation workers of a rainbow-colored crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub where 49 people were gunned down, saying it was part of an attack on LGBTQ lives by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer called the painting over of the crosswalk with rainbow colors often associated with LGBTQ+ pride a 'callous' and 'cruel political act.' The massacre at the LGBTQ-friendly nightclub in 2016 was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history at the time. 'This crosswalk not only enhanced safety and visibility for the large number of pedestrians visiting the memorial, it also served as a visual reminder of Orlando's commitment to honor the 49 lives taken,' Dyer said. State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat from Orlando, called the overnight removal work a cowardly act. 'They did this in the middle of the night because they were scared of the resistance because they know what they did was wrong,' said Smith, who is openly gay. The Florida Department of Transportation did not respond to an emailed inquiry seeking comment. The rainbow crosswalk originally was installed in 2017 by the state, Dyer said. The state transportation agency had been notifying cities around Florida in recent months that they must remove rainbow-colored crosswalks and intersections or they could face the withholding of transportation funds. Among the cities notified were Delray Beach and Key West. Will Watts, an assistant secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation, issued a memo in June prohibiting 'surface art' on crosswalks, sidewalks, intersections, travel lanes or shoulders. The memo prohibited 'surface art' associated with 'social, political or ideological messages or images and does not serve the purpose of traffic control.' The Pulse nightclub shooting during a Latin night celebration on June 12, 2016, killed 49 people and wounded 53 others. The attacker, Omar Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, was killed after a three-hour standoff with police. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. But that number was surpassed the next year when 58 people were killed and more than 850 were injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival in Las Vegas. Smith, the lawmaker, promised that if the state gets its way, the LGBTQ community won't be erased at the site where a permanent memorial is planned. 'There will be a rainbow mural nearby that is even bigger, queerer and more colorful than they ever imagined,' Smith said. Schneider writes for the Associated Press.


Axios
22 minutes ago
- Axios
Trump threatens "harsh measures" against Colorado if Tina Peters is not freed from prison
President Trump is once again demanding that Colorado officials " free" former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters from prison, this time adding a threat to "take harsh measures" if she is not let go. Why it matters: The remark, made Thursday on his Truth Social platform, is the latest attempt by Trump to intervene on behalf of Peters, one of the nation's most prominent 2020 election deniers. What he's saying: Trump called Peters "a brave and innocent Patriot who has been tortured by Crooked Colorado politicians" and criticized the state's mail-in ballot elections. He added that Peters, 69, "is an old woman, and very sick." Reality check: Federal authorities cannot overturn a state court conviction, raising questions about the premise of Trump's threat. Yes, but: The administration could target Colorado by withholding federal funds or pursuing legal action regarding the state's immigration laws. Catch up quick: Last October, a Colorado judge sentenced Peters to 8 ½ years and six months in jail after a jury found her guilty on seven of 10 counts related to her role in tampering with county voting equipment after the 2020 election. She faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The Department of Justice announced in March it would review Peters' case, in particular her sentence, and whether it was " oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice." The latest: In July, Peters asked a federal court to free her on bond while she appeals her conviction, arguing that the state is trying to silence her in violation of her First Amendment rights. U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak rejected the motion, saying there's no legal precedent for granting her request. The other side: Mesa County District Attorney Daniel P. Rubinstein, a Republican who prosecuted Peters, said earlier this year that politics did not play into her case.


Boston Globe
22 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump to join Washington patrol while feds deploy checkpoints around city
Trump's presence during his controversial crackdown, which has lasted for two weeks, would be the latest show of force from the White House. Hundreds of federal agents and National Guard soldiers have surged into Washington this month, leaving some residents on edge and creating tense confrontations in the streets. Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday visited some of the troops at Union Station, showing their support while protestors chanted 'free D.C.' Advertisement Although the city has historically struggled with crime, statistics show the problem was declining before Trump declared there was a crisis that required his intervention. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Immigration enforcement has been a core part of the crackdown, rattling people in some of the city's neighborhoods. A daycare was partially closed on Thursday when staff became afraid to go to work because they heard about federal agents nearby. An administrator asked parents to keep their children at home if possible. Other day cares have stopped taking kids on daily walks because of fears about encountering law enforcement. Since Aug. 7, when Trump began surging federal agents into the city, there have been 630 arrests, including 251 people who are in the country illegally, according to the White House. Trump has been ratcheting up the pressure since then, seizing control of the D.C. police department on Aug. 11 and deploying more National Guard troops, mostly from Republican-led states. Advertisement Soldiers have been largely stationed in downtown areas, such as monuments on the National Mall and transit stations. However, federal agents are operating more widely through the city. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser acknowledged the proliferation of traffic checkpoints on Thursday. 'The surge of federal officers is allowing for different types of deployments, more frequent types of deployments, like checkpoints,' Bowser said. Not a normal traffic stop On Thursday morning, as Martin Romero rode through Washington's Rock Creek Park on his way to a construction job in Virginia, he saw police on the road up ahead. He figured it was a normal traffic stop, but it wasn't. Romero, 41, said that U.S. Park Police were telling pickup trucks with company logos to pull over, reminding them that commercial vehicles weren't allowed on park roads. They checked for licenses and insurance information, and then U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came over. Romero said there were two agents on one side of his truck and three on the other. He started to get nervous as the agents asked where they were from and whether they were in the country illegally. 'We just came here to work,' Romero said afterwards. 'We aren't doing anything bad.' Two people in his truck were detained and the agents didn't give a reason, he said. He also saw three other people taken from other vehicles. 'I feel really worried because they took two of our guys,' he said. 'They wouldn't say where they're taking them or if they'll be able to come back.' Advertisement Romero said he called his boss, who told him to just head home. They wouldn't be working today. Enrique Martinez, a supervisor at the construction company, came to the scene afterwards. He pondered whether to call families of the detained men. 'This has never happened to our company before,' Martinez said. 'I'm not really sure what to do.' Checkpoints are legal, to a point The Supreme Court has upheld the use of law enforcement and government checkpoints for specific purposes, such as for policing the border and for identifying suspected drunk drivers. But there are restrictions on that authority, especially when it comes to general crime control. Jeffrey Bellin, a former prosecutor in Washington and professor at Vanderbilt Law School who specializes in criminal law and procedures, said the Constitution doesn't allow 'the government to be constantly checking us and stopping to see if we're up to any criminal activity.' He said checkpoints for a legally justifiable purpose — like checking for drivers' licenses and registrations — cannot be used as 'subterfuge' or a pretext for stops that would otherwise not be allowed. And though the court has affirmed the use of checkpoints at the border, and even some distance away from it, to ask drivers about immigration status, Bellin said it was unlikely the authority would extend to Washington. Anthony Michael Kreis, a professor at Georgia State College of Law, said the seemingly 'arbitrary' and intrusive nature of the checkpoints in the capital could leave residents feeling aggrieved. 'Some of the things could be entirely constitutional and fine, but at the same time, the way that things are unfolding, people are suspicious — and I think for good reason,' he said. Advertisement From Los Angeles to D.C. There are few places in the country that have been unaffected by Trump's deportation drive, but his push into D.C. is shaping into something more sustained, similar to what has unfolded in the Los Angeles area since early June. In Los Angeles, immigration officers — working with the Border Patrol and other federal agencies — have been a near-daily presence at Home Depots, car washes and other highly visible locations. In a demonstration of how enforcement has affected routines, the bishop of San Bernardino, California, formally excused parishioners of their weekly obligation to attend Mass after immigration agents detained people on two parish properties. Immigration officials have been an unusually public presence, sending horse patrols to the city's famed MacArthur Park and appearing outside California Gov. Gavin Newsom's news conference last week on congressional redistricting. Authorities said an agent fired at a moving vehicle last week after the driver refused to roll down his window during an immigration stop. The National Guard and Marines were previously in the city for weeks on an assignment to maintain order amid protests. A federal judge blocked the administration from conducting indiscriminate immigration stops in Southern California but authorities have vowed to keep the pressure on. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Ashraf Khalil in Washington and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed reporting.