SAND SPRINGS – A Sand Springs Candidate Meet and Greet was held on June 2 at Hillspring Church to connect candidates and residents in a casual setting.
Amanda Wion, president of the Sand Springs Chamber of Commerce described the event as successful, as the intended goal for the event was to ensure that community members were informed about as many candidates as possible that are on the upcoming June 16 ballot as well as November.
“We know that informed voters – those and citizens – are better for it that they can hopefully be educated and informed about the candidates, and what they believe in or what their goals are when taking office,” Wion said. “So, we feel like the chamber is set up in a way that we can provide that for our community and so that’s why we hosted the event.”
Over 40 candidates were present, according to Wion, running for various positions, and over 80 general community members, those who signed in, were in attendance as well. Overall, Wion said the candidates gave great feedback on the event.
“I think it was a great, you know, easy way for the candidates to meet our community, and our community to meet the candidates that could possibly be elected,” Wion said.
The importance of these events, Wion said, goes back to the commerce understanding of how important informed voters play in the legislative process. She said in unique positions such as theirs, they hope to provide the opportunities to lay out the issues, questions or candidates themselves and invite the community to attend.
Mark Tedford (R), candidate for U.S. congress’ goal is to go into the district and meet everyone to learn more about what issues they’re concerned about. He believes a congressman is the federal representative that should be closest to the people to instruct all that occurs and educate people about what’s happening at the capitol.
“I think just that I’ve been here a long time, I’ve been, you know, involved in property development projects throughout the city, and just a person that’s already bought in and then reinvesting back in the community,” Tedford said.
Brian Hill (R), candidate for lieutenant governor's intention for the event was to connect with more citizens, share why the lieutenant governor role matters to family, but especially children and grandchildren. Oklahoma is, he believes, the land of opportunity and they just have to invest in themselves to get there.
“And if people will give me the opportunity, I’ll give everything I got to make sure that our kids and our grandkids don’t feel the need to move to Dallas and Denver and Bentonville to find their future,” Hill said. “Let’s build their future here, and we can do it together,” Todd Russ (R), candidate for re-election state treasurer’s goal was to see as many people in the Sand Springs and Tulsa County area as possible to let them know who he is and talk to them about the accomplishments he’s had as State Treasurer. He said he loves to engage with people and answer any questions they may have as well as try to inform and help them from a treasurer’s perspective on what they (treasurer) can and cannot do.
“My past experience is paying off big time, I mean, we’re breaking record after record for the state of Oklahoma, and I just got to communicate that to people so they’ll know who to put in there for the state treasury,” Russ said.
Kyle Hilbert, candidate for reelection house district 29 has learned in his time in office that the most effective legislators are the ones who are present in their district and hear from their constituents. He said getting to know people allows him the opportunity to to hear what is on the mind of voters.
“Just ensuring that we have a budget that has secure savings, so that we’re prepared for any potential rainy day that might come for the state of Oklahoma, and really just making sure that Oklahoma is in a better position whenever I leave office than it was whenever I came into office,” Hilbert said.
Jon Echols (R), candidate for attorney general, has been crisscrossing the state, speaking to citizens about what they want from their next attorney general. Echols stated that if you’re going to represent people, he believes that you need to be out amongst the people, listening to them and what they care about.
“The best thing about me is I’m married to my high school sweetheart, Kristen Echols, I’m a fifth generation Oklahoman, and I’m a lawyer, a small business owner, and I’m the law enforcement-backed candidate in the race, and I’d love their vote June 16,” Echols said.
Marty Quinn (R), candidate for insurance commissioner wanted to get their vote and message out to those in another part of the state that they’ve yet to be in front of. He said it was important to know what the people are feeling and if things are going to be fixed in the insurance industry, it’s going to start with the consumers.
“We’ve been a consumer longer than anybody else in the race, so more experience in the industry, more experience on the legislative side and more experience as a consumer – that’s a good recipe for having a successful commissioner in Oklahoma next year, so I tell everybody, ‘remember their friend, Marty Quinn,”’ Cindy Byrd (R), candidate for state treasurer wanted to get her message out as she feels it is important to let people know why she is the best candidate as every vote matters in an election. She wants to meet the concerned citizens, and the best way to do that is meet with them face-to-face.
“I think voters need to know that my name is the one they can trust,” Byrd said. “They can go back and look at my resume, the last 7 and a half years, how I’ve delivered results, and I’ve exposed so much in broad waste and abuse. No other candidate can talk about those things, because I’m the only one that has delivered those results, and that’s what we’re going to have to do going forward to make sure Oklahoma is prosperous.”
Colleen McCarty (R), candidate for district attorney, believes citizens should give her their vote as she is a fresh face for the district attorney’s office. She believes in transparency, ethical leadership and rebuilding the culture of the district attorney’s office.
“I come from a family business here, one of the most renowned business families in Oklahoma, the Bama Companies, is our family company,” McCarty said. “And I was raised in the company, I’m a private business person, I am not a politician. I’m somebody that just has seen our justice system up close and wants to see a change, so I hope they’ll vote for me.”
John Crosiant (D), candidate for U.S. congress, wanted the opportunity to meet with people in Sand Springs and have a chance at conversation, while hoping to educate voters on their options for November. As a teacher for 16 years, he believes in getting away from only putting out TV ads and social media posts to have actual conversations with people to put a stop to the diverseness occurring.
“I want to work for them [citizens], not for myself, it’s not about enriching myself and so, for me, it’s just that I’m gonna go work for Oklahoman’s, because I believe in service above self,” Crosiant said.
Kim David (R), candidate for U.S. congress’ goal for the event was to inform any citizens in attendance about who she is and why she’s running, so that she may be able to secure their vote before June 16. She passed education benefits for national governments, while in the senate office, and believes the job is too important for someone to show up on day one and not understand how the job works.
“So, being able to make sure that we have the equipment that we need, so that our bases are viable here in Oklahoma, they [citizens] may not know that about me, so I’m more than just energy,” David said. “But like I said, I’m the only candidate in this race that has a proven record of getting conservative results done.”
Oklahoma will hold the Statewide Primary Election on June 16, 2026. Early voting will be June 11-13.