Oklahoma New Members 2019

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.-01)

DATE OF BIRTH: Dec. 4, 1961
RESIDENCE: Tulsa, Okla.
OCCUPATION: Businessman
EDUCATION: B.S., Arkansas Tech University; M.B.A., University of Arkansas at Little Rock  
FAMILY: Wife, Tammy; three children

Political newcomer Rep. Kevin Hern will represent Oklahoma’s 1st District after winning his first race for elected office.

Hern defeated Democratic lawyer Tim Gilpin to fill the open seat left vacant after former Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R) left the House to become Trump’s NASA administrator. Hern cruised to victory in a district that hasn’t elected a Democrat since 1984. 

Hern was born on an Air Force base and later joined the military himself. After completing his higher education, he worked various jobs, including in the aerospace industry and as a hog farmer, before saving enough to buy two McDonald’s restaurants in 1999. He eventually built up a successful business, KTAK Corp., which owns 10 McDonald’s and employs more than 400 people. He’s held leadership positions within the McDonald’s network, including as chairman of the Systems Economic Team.

From 2011 to 2015, Hern was chairman of the Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

Rep.-elect Kendra Horn (D-Okla.-05)

DATE OF BIRTH: June 9, 1976
RESIDENCE: Oklahoma City
OCCUPATION: Lawyer, nonprofit executive
EDUCATION: B.A., University of Tulsa; J.D., Southern Methodist University
FAMILY: Single

Kendra Horn, a 42-year-old attorney, scored a stunning win over two-term Republican Rep. Steve Russell in Oklahoma’s 5th District, becoming the first Democrat to be elected from the Oklahoma City-area district since the mid-1970s.

The fifth-generation Oklahoman faced long odds, but the attorney and former campaign manager for 2014 Oklahoma Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joe Dorman consistently outraised Russell.

Horn made improving education and access to health care two of her signature issues through the campaign.

The Democrat, who also worked for former Rep. Brad Carson (D-Okla.), got a late boost from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PAC.

Horn will become the only woman in Oklahoma’s congressional delegation and only the third woman to represent the state in Washington, D.C.

She was a co-founder of Women Lead Oklahoma, a nonprofit which encourages women to get involved in politics and civic life.