Two candidates are vying to become the newest member of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Either Republican Brad Boles or Democrat Rhonda Eastman will win a seat on the commission that oversees Oklahoma’s utility rates and energy industries.
Commissioners serve staggered six-year terms, with one seat on the ballot every two years. This year, voters will choose a commissioner to fill the seat currently occupied by term-limited and scandal-plagued Todd Hiett. The new commissioner will join Kim David and Brian Bingman, who are both in their first term.
Boles has served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives since March 2018, when he won a special election to replace a lawmaker who left office early. He’s chaired the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee since 2021.
Before that, Boles owned a personnel contracting firm and served as mayor of Marlow, president of the Marlow Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Marlow Public School Board.
On his campaign website, Boles says his priorities include defending Oklahoma’s oil, gas and renewable energy industries from “federal overreach and radical environmental policies.”
Boles won the Republican primary in June with about 55% of the vote. In November, he faces Democrat Rhonda Eastman.
Eastman’s social media biography describes her as a protestor-turned-politician, and her campaign website touts her roots in rural eastern Oklahoma.
On her campaign website, Eastman outlines her concerns about orphan wells, data centers and the aluminum smelter planned for Inola.
As of the most recent campaign finance deadline in August, Boles had spent more than $500,000 on his campaign. Eastman had spent around $8,000.