Marlow mayor gets GOP nod for House seat

Brad Boles will represent the Republican Party in a special legislative election on March 6.

Boles won Tuesday's special primary election against fellow Republican Dustin Payne by a vote of 942-206.

The seat became vacant when former state Rep. Scott Biggs, R-Chickasha, left office to take a federal appointment. Biggs had been a powerful figure in shaping Oklahoma's criminal justice laws since becoming chairman of the House committee overseeing that policy. In 2017, he successfully blocked several reform measures endorsed by Gov. Mary Fallin and criminal justice reform groups.

Boles, 34, is the mayor of Marlow and works full time as president of Wilco Machine and Fab Inc. He was elected mayor in 2014 to lead the town of 4,500, which is about 70 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.

He told The Oklahoman last week that voters are tired of finger-pointing at the Oklahoma Capitol.

"I think the Republican voters are tired of the bickering back and forth in the Legislature and they just want solutions," Boles said.

Boles said he wants to focus on health care issues, noting the struggle that rural hospitals and nursing homes in Oklahoma face with declining state appropriations.

Payne, 35, is a restaurant owner.

Boles will face Democrat Charles Murdock in the March 6 general election. Murdock ran against and lost to Biggs in 2016.

Aside from the race in House District 51, there isat least one remaining seat in the Legislature to fill, barring any further vacancies. Voters in northwestern Oklahoma will head to the polls Feb. 13 to choose a candidate to replace state Sen. Bryce Marlatt, R-Woodward, who resigned in September.

Six Republicans and a Democrat filed for the seat.