The race for Oklahoma Corporation Commission in the November election is set after Republican Rep. Brad Boles won this week’s primary election in a race against Justin Hornback for the right to run for one of the most powerful seats in state offices.
Boles, the GOP legislator from Marlow, received 55.27% of the votes or 199,933 while Hornback received 44.73% or 161,776 votes. The results of the election are considered unofficial until they are certified by the State Election Board.
Boles will face Rhonda Eastman, the lone Democrat to file for the seat, in the general election. The winner will replace longtime Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett who is term limited.
Boles gained publicity in the recently concluded legislative session for his bill that created the Data Center Consumer Ratepayer Protection Act of 2026 and was signed into law last month by Gov. Kevin Stitt. When he filed the bill in January, Rep. Boles explained why.
“With more than a dozen potential new data centers planning to locate in Oklahoma that we are aware of at this point, we have to make sure everyday Oklahomans are not stuck paying the price of the electricity use due to these new data centers being built,” Boles said. “This bill is about protecting ratepayers and making sure massive energy users cover the infrastructure needed to support their operations instead of shifting that burden onto families and small businesses.”
Eastman, the Democrat, says the Corporation Commission has been controlled for decades by one party. In her website, she said the Commission has the responsibility to balance the needs of the people, with the interests of industry.
She received 116,786 votes or 70.00% while challenger Harold D. Spradling received 33,522 vots or 20.09%.
“We have had decades of Republicans, hand-picked by the very industries they are supposed to regulate. Their Campaigns funded through PACs linked to those same industries. And what has Oklahoma gotten in return? Rising utility costs in no small part due to Numerous Data Centers moving into our state,” wrote Eastman explaining why she is a candidate.
She also wrote of data centers, calling them a “major hot button topic” and stating, “the majority of citizens do not want them.” Eastman said Democratic lawmakers drafted a bill requesting the Corporation Commission do a study on Data Centers, their consumption, utility upgrade costs and if the costs are being passed on to customers.
HB 3392 was not brought to a vote in the legislature.
“During a recent debate I had with My Republican Counterparts, both were in favor of Data Centers and the need for Oklahoma to keep up with technology. They were in favor of bringing Nuclear Power to Oklahoma and put reactors near Data Centers to supply them with the energy they need. I have huge concerns regarding nuclear power given our extreme weather,” she declared in her campaign website.
Eastman also complained of the 20,000 documented abandoned oil and gas wells in the states and how the list grows year. Another target of her criticism was injection wells.
“Numerous are leaking and purging all across the state, contaminating the land, and the water table. People getting sick, livestock dying due to purging injection wells. They like to call it “saltwater, or brine” but it contains hydrocarbons, radioactive material, barium, and other toxic materials.”
