Election results: Erick Harris elected to Edmond's House District 39 seat

M. Scott Carter, The Oklahoman

Republican Erick Harris overcame two other opponents Tuesday to win the House District 39 contest in Edmond, unofficial election reports show. Harris' win keeps the House of Representatives' Republican Caucus at 81. Democrats currently have 20 seats.

Harris captured 2,507 votes − 50.3% − while Regan Raff, the Democrat, earned 2,246, or 45.13%. Libertarian Richard Prawdzienski came in a distant third at 224 votes, or just 4.5%. Each of the candidates made education issue a central component of their campaign.

Harris told the outlet Nondoc that teachers need a pay increase, but added that he supported cutting government appropriations and tax rates.

“We need to make sure that we pay teachers a good wage,” Harris said. “Now, if our budget can support it, I always want to make sure we look at the numbers when we figure out exactly what that sweet spot will be. But, I, of course, would support number one, never cutting funding for public education, while also making sure that we have a good amount of funding to pay teachers a competitive salary to keep them here. I’m tired of them going to Texas and other states. We need to do whatever we need to do to make sure that we are able to pay teachers a good and fair salary.”

Praddzienski argued that lawmakers should 'do something radical' in education. “Education is the parents’ responsibility,” he said to Nondoc. “Rather than giving teachers more money, I’d rather give the parents more money. Education is being done by TV ads and TV shows. Rather than giving teachers more money, maybe we should spend more money doing PR and teaching the kids how to be better citizens by watching their TV shows and listen to their songs. Let’s do something radical. We’ve been here, everybody’s saying schools are failing, schools are failing, we keep on throwing more money. We need to do something radically change.”

Raff, the Democrat, said teachers suffered from low pay and needed another pay increase.

“I absolutely believe that teachers are not where they should be financially, and I think that their profession should see another growth in salaries,” Raff said. “Obviously our economy is in a different place now than it was last session, or in many years prior to this. So I think constant COLA increases and additional salary increases are very important.”

The trio were fighting to replace Rep. Ryan Martinez, who resigned in September. Martinez left office after he pled guilty to being in physical control of a vehicle while intoxicated, a felony. The winner of the contest will have to run again for a full term in November, should they seek re-election.

Unofficial election results for Oklahoma House District 39 seat

  • Erick Harris, Republican: 2,507 (50.3%)

  • Regan Raff, Democrat: 2,246 (45.13%)

  • Richard Prawdzienski, Libertarian: 224 votes (4.5%)

More: What to know about candidates for Oklahoma House District 39 in Edmond

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma election results 2024: Erick Harris wins House District 39 seat

Advertisement