The candidates largely agree on western Oklahoma’s needs but point to different backgrounds as evidence they can deliver results.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Rick Koch and Jessica Winegeart agree that western Oklahoma needs stronger schools, reliable water, better infrastructure and more opportunities for young people to remain close to home.
The central argument in their Republican runoff for Senate District 26 is less about those priorities than about which candidate has the experience to advance them.
Koch points to nearly five decades building a Weatherford-based fuel business that now employs more than 400 people. Winegeart emphasizes a background spanning agriculture, small business and five years on a rural school board.
Koch led the three-candidate June primary with 37.6% of the vote. Winegeart received 33.6%, while Brady Butler finished third with 28.8%.
The winner will succeed term-limited Sen. Darcy Jech. Because no Democrat or independent filed, the Aug. 25 runoff will elect the district’s next senator.
Senate District 26 includes all or parts of Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Custer and Kingfisher counties.
OK Politics Today submitted the same 10 questions to both candidates. Koch responded during a telephone interview, while Winegeart provided written answers.
Different paths to the runoff
Koch founded the business now known as ASAP Energy in 1979. He said it operates 19 convenience stores, is building a 20th in Cordell and supplies fuel to independently owned stores and other customers across several states. The company also operates restaurants and a hotel.
Koch has sought legislative office before. He was the Republican nominee for House District 57 in 2000 and 2002, losing both times to Democrat James Covey when the district was considerably less Republican than it is today.
He said the timing aligned for another campaign after his children were grown, his business had expanded and Jech’s departure created an open seat.
Koch argues that building and managing a large company has prepared him to enter the Senate with experience in budgeting, negotiation and working with people who do not always agree.
“We need an elected state senator that’s already ready to go,” Koch said.
Winegeart grew up in Calumet and attended rural public schools before earning a degree from the University of Central Oklahoma. She worked in agricultural retail and later built a hay brokerage business serving dairies, feedlots and ranching operations across multiple states.
She also served five years on the Calumet School Board, beginning as schools confronted the disruptions caused by COVID-19. Winegeart said the position required decisions involving budgets, facilities, personnel and student needs.
Her family also has direct ties to the energy industry. Her husband has worked in oil and gas pipeline construction for more than 20 years.
“Agriculture, energy and public education aren’t talking points to me,” Winegeart said. “They have all been part of my life.”
Keeping rural communities alive
Both candidates identified the long-term viability of rural communities as a central concern.
Koch placed economic diversification at the heart of that effort. He said Oklahoma should continue developing aviation, tourism, agriculture and energy while helping communities compete for new employers.
He also wants the state Department of Commerce and legislators to work closely enough that communities in the district have a chance to pursue projects when opportunities arise.
“I want Oklahoma’s Department of Commerce and people like me to have a great relationship,” Koch said. “So, if there’s ever a potential possibility for my district, then I get a chance to take a run at it.”
Koch said the larger goal is giving younger Oklahomans enough career opportunities to remain in the state rather than moving elsewhere.
Winegeart described the same challenge more broadly. She said viable communities require water, schools, roads, healthcare, emergency services and an economic climate in which farms, energy companies and small businesses can succeed.
“If we lose our schools, businesses, farms, energy jobs and young families one piece at a time, eventually we lose the community itself,” Winegeart said. “I want rural Oklahoma to be a place people choose to come home to.”
Water, schools and local control
Winegeart said private-property rights and local control should remain fundamental principles, but the state has a legitimate role when decisions affect shared water resources or neighboring property.
“Western Oklahoma cannot afford to treat water as an unlimited resource,” she said.
Winegeart called for better data, consistent enforcement of existing law and decisions grounded in science. But she said state government should not unnecessarily dictate how farmers, ranchers and communities use their property.
“The state’s role should be to protect statewide resources, provide appropriate support and enforce the law fairly, not micromanage rural Oklahoma,” she said.
Koch also emphasized private-property rights and close scrutiny of water demands associated with new development. He said policymakers should examine the specific water and electricity requirements of proposed data centers rather than assuming all facilities would have the same effect.
Koch pointed to closed-loop cooling systems as one way some facilities could limit continuing water consumption. He also said Oklahoma natural gas could support new power generation and create additional economic value within the state.
On education, Winegeart drew from her school-board experience. She supports competitive teacher compensation, stronger early reading intervention and a funding formula that recognizes the longer bus routes and smaller economies of scale confronting rural districts.
“A policy that looks reasonable on paper in Oklahoma City can look very different when it reaches a small rural district,” she said.
Koch also said Oklahoma must remain competitive on teacher pay and benefits. He expressed interest in strengthening public retirement systems and seeking more input from current and retired educators.
“We’ve got to be competitive with wages, with benefits and with a good retirement system,” Koch said.
Property taxes and legislative priorities
Winegeart said one of her first legislative priorities would be stronger protections against repeated increases in taxable property values, particularly for homeowners who have not sold or substantially changed their property.
She suggested examining limits on valuation increases when local taxing entities hold substantial reserves or when rising values generate revenue beyond demonstrated needs. She said she would consult assessors, commissioners, schools and other affected entities before settling on a mechanism.
“I don’t believe in creating unintended consequences just to produce a good headline,” Winegeart said.
Koch did not name a specific first bill. He instead stressed that building relationships would be essential to advancing legislation.
He used a deliberately humorous suggestion — a law requiring everyone to wear name tags — to illustrate the importance of lawmakers knowing one another and preserving working relationships.
“The better our relationships are with each other, the more we can accomplish,” Koch said. “It can’t be my way or the highway, or nothing’s ever going to happen.”
He said his business career has required compromises with banks, suppliers and employees, and that not getting everything he wanted did not mean an agreement was unsuccessful.
Neither plans to join Freedom Caucus
Neither candidate indicated plans to join the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus.
Koch said he has spoken with lawmakers on both sides of the divide between the caucus and Senate leadership. He spoke favorably of Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton and said voters expect legislators to accomplish something rather than become trapped in internal disputes.
“My initial plan would be to not join the Freedom Caucus,” Koch said. “I want to be on the side that’s working to get things done for Senate District 26.”
Winegeart said neither Senate leadership nor the Freedom Caucus should automatically receive her support.
She credited Freedom Caucus members with raising legitimate concerns when bills with substantial support are denied hearings or votes. But she cited Senate Bill 1017, a proposal dealing with Medicaid coverage of school-based services, as legislation promoted by an individual caucus member that she would not have supported because of its potential effect on children.
“I don’t believe turning every policy disagreement between Republicans into a personal battle is productive,” Winegeart said. “My goal is to pass good conservative policy and represent District 26 effectively, not join a team within a team.”
Winegeart said she sees no reason to align formally with any caucus beyond the Senate Republican Caucus.
Experience becomes the choice
Koch argues that his record of building and managing a large regional company has prepared him to negotiate, make decisions and begin producing results immediately.
“There’s 23 years of experience and accomplishments and track record that I have that she doesn’t have,” Koch said.
Winegeart defines preparation more broadly, pointing to her work in agriculture, ownership of a small business, school-board service and her family’s connection to the energy industry.
She said voters should judge a senator by constituent problems resolved, agencies held accountable, rural priorities advanced and legislation that solves actual problems.
“I want people to be able to say, whether they agreed with me every single time or not, ‘She showed up. She listened. She did her homework. And she worked for us,’” Winegeart said.
The candidates’ policy positions overlap considerably. The choice for Senate District 26 voters rests largely on which background they believe offers the better preparation: Koch’s long record of building and managing a sizable company or Winegeart’s experience across agriculture, small business and rural education.
