Nurse Wins OK Senate Runoff, Vows to Impeach Trump

Political newcomer N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas defeated Jim Priest in Oklahoma's Democratic Senate.

N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, a nurse who has never run for office before, bested Jim Priest, a lawyer and nonprofit executive, in the Democratic Senate nomination runoff in Oklahoma. Fox News reports that Thomas scored the highest percentage of votes in the June primary contest featuring five candidates. According to Fox News, she earned roughly 45% of the vote during her first primary run before defeating Priest in the runoff. The win sets up a general election contest in a state where voters have not sent a Democrat to the Senate in more than three decades, as Fox News notes.

According to Fox News, Thomas told NPR affiliate KOSU last month that, if elected, she would work to 'impeach, remove and convict' President Donald Trump within her first 100 days in office. Fox News quotes her saying, 'They will have to pry that pen out of my cold, dead hands before I go any further with allowing this administration to continue doing what they're doing.' She was asked how she would approach a working relationship with the president given the Republican nominee's fierce backing of Trump. AOL reports the same interview remarks, citing the original Fox News article.

Fox News reports that Thomas lists policy proposals on her campaign website including beefing up teacher pay, restoring Roe v. Wade, and expanding Obamacare, among other Democratic priorities. Her campaign has raised just shy of $60,000, according to Fox News, a fraction of the resources available to her likely general election opponent.

Fox News reports that Republican nominee Rep. Kevin Hern has amassed a campaign war chest that at one point peaked at nearly $10 million this cycle. Hern boasts the endorsement of Trump and has touted his desire to pass the president's SAVE America Act. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Hern said Oklahomans 'love President Trump and the America First Agenda,' and called Thomas 'wildly out of touch with the values of Oklahomans.' AOL reports the same Hern statement, attributing it to the original Fox News article.

Thomas faces a steep climb in November. Fox News notes that Trump won Oklahoma by nearly 35 points in 2024, and the state has not elected a Democratic senator in over three decades. While Thomas has pulled off two underdog performances, Fox News describes defeating Hern as 'a different matter.' NBC News also reports that Democratic socialists notched another win in the Oklahoma Senate primary runoff, reflecting intraparty dynamics.