Bennett, Mann earn KPG Legislators of the Year nods

KPG scores advocacy wins during the 2025 Oklahoma legislative session.

July 18, 2025

After tallying the votes, Kirkpatrick Policy Group is pleased to announce its 2025 Oklahoma Legislators of the Year: Representative Forrest Bennett (D-Oklahoma City) and Senator Mark Mann (D-Oklahoma City).

For KPG’s second annual legislative scorecard, we tracked a total of fifteen bills in five policy areas: animals, reproductive health, the arts and art education, education, and protecting Oklahoma’s initiative petition process. We scored legislators by comparing their floor votes to our position on each of the tracked bills, which yielded a percentage score for each member. We did not count missed floor votes against members, but we did consider them if necessary to break ties in the rankings.

Bennett earned a perfect 100 percent score, voting with KPG’s position seventeen times and voting against our position zero times. He also missed zero floor votes on KPG-tracked bills. “I’m grateful to learn of the award presented to me by the Kirkpatrick Policy Group. Whether it’s arts and arts education, reproductive healthcare, or the ability for the public to weigh in on the decisions we make at the Capitol, I have always fought for more and greater access,” Bennett said.

A freshman state senator serving in his first session at the Oklahoma State Capitol, Mann scored a 92 percent rating on KPG’s legislative scorecard, voting with our position twenty-four times and against only twice while missing one floor vote. “I am deeply honored to be named Kirkpatrick Policy Group’s Legislator of the Year in the Oklahoma Senate,” Mann said. “KPG’s unwavering advocacy for animals, reproductive health, the arts, and voting rights resonates profoundly with my core values. To be recognized by such a distinguished organization is truly a privilege and an inspiration to continue championing these vital causes.”

Before winning the Senate District 46 seat in 2024, Mann served for seven years as the District 4 representative on the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education. He also currently serves as a board member for the Oklahoma State School Boards Association. Senate District 46 covers a swath of Oklahoma City including the Asian District, Midtown, south Oklahoma City, Del City, and Valley Brook.

Bennett is the minority whip for the House Democratic leadership team during the 60th Legislature, and he served as assistant minority floor leader during the 59th Legislature and assistant minority leader during the 58th Legislature.

Bennett was first elected to the Oklahoma Legislature in 2016 from House District 92, covering parts of central Oklahoma City, including the Fairgrounds, Midtown, downtown, and Valley Brook. He has since won reelection unopposed four times, including his most recent win in 2024. Bennett would be term limited in 2028 if he is reelected for a sixth time in 2026.

Democrats dominate KPG rankings

Once again, Democrats in the Oklahoma Legislature occupy most of the top rankings in KPG’s scorecard. In the House, District 93 Representative Mickey Dollens also scored 100 percent but missed four floor votes on KPG tracked bills, giving the tiebreaker to Bennett. A group of five House Democrats tied for third in the rankings, all scoring 94 percent. Those legislators include the newly elected chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party and District 77 (Tulsa) Representative John Waldron; the Norman-area contingent of District 44 Representative Jared Deck, District 45 Representative Annie Menz, and District 46 Representative Jacob Rosecrants; and District 88 (Oklahoma City) Representative Ellen Pogemiller, a freshman.

Tied for eighth was a group of four Democrats who also scored 94 percent but each missed one floor vote: Democratic leader and 2026 gubernatorial candidate Cyndi Munson, representing District 85 (Oklahoma City, The Village, and Nichols Hills); Democratic leader-elect Melissa Provenzano, representing District 79 (Tulsa); District 89 Representative (Oklahoma City) Arturo Alonso-Sandoval; and District 72 (Tulsa) Representative Michelle McCane, a freshman.

The lowest-ranked Democrats in the scorecard were freshman District 73 (Tulsa) Representative Ron Stewart and District 94 (Del City) Representative Andy Fugate, who still scored 82 percent to tie for eighteenth.

The highest ranked Republican House member was District 10 (Nowata, Osage, and Washington counties) Representative Judd Strom, who scored 87 percent to rank sixteenth. Freshman Representative Mike Kelley, a Republican in District 60 (El Reno, Yukon) scored 76 percent to rank twentieth, and District 62 Representative Daniel Pae (Lawton), who serves as assistant whip on the House Republican leadership team, scored 75 percent to rank twenty-first.

House Speaker Kyle Hilbert tied for fiftieth at 53 percent. The lowest ranked House members were District 33 (Logan and Payne counties) Representative Molly Jenkins, and District 8 (Mayes, Rogers, and Wagoner counties) Representative Tom Gann, who both scored 29 percent to tie for ninety-seventh.

The Democratic Caucus claimed the top eight spots in the Senate’s rankings. District 11 (Tulsa) Senator Regina Goodwin tied for the top spot, scoring 92 percent, but she missed two floor votes on KPG-tracked bills, giving the tiebreaker to Mann. Goodwin previously served District 73 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives after she won a special election in 2015 and then four more terms before running for the Senate in 2024.

Another freshman legislator, District 48 (Oklahoma City) Senator Nikki Nice, earned the third spot in our Senate rankings, scoring 89 percent. Nice is a former Oklahoma City Council member. District 44 (Oklahoma City) Senator Michael Brooks took fourth place with an 86-percent score. District 40 (Oklahoma City) Senator Carri Hicks ranked fifth at 85 percent with no missed votes. A pair of senators—Minority Leader and District 30 (Oklahoma City) Senator Julia Kirt and District 16 (Norman) Senator Mary Boren—tied for sixth at 85 percent, and District 35 Senator Jo Anna Dossett (Tulsa) ranked eighth at 81 percent.

The highest-ranked Republican member was District 33 (Tulsa) Senator Christi Gillespie, a freshman who scored 67 percent. Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton tied for twenty-fifth in the rankings at 50 percent. The lowest-ranked member was District 32 (Comanche County) Senator Dusty Deevers, at 26 percent. Freshman Senator Bryan Logan from District 8 (eastern Oklahoma) was sworn in during the session’s final days and cast only four votes on KPG-tracked bills.

Wins and losses for KPG at state capitol

Collaborating with strategic partners across the state, Kirkpatrick Policy Group shared several policy victories at the Oklahoma State Capitol in 2025.

In the realm of reproductive health, two bills championed by KPG became law. HB 1389 by Representative Melissa Provenzano and Senator Brenda Stanley requires health insurance providers to cover certain additional diagnostic breast cancer screenings. Lawmakers had to override Governor Kevin Stitt’s veto of the bill, which takes effect on November 1. SB 176 by Senator Jo Anna Dossett and Representative Cynthia Roe requires health insurance plans in the state to provide coverage for a three-month initial supply and a six-month resupply of contraceptives to patients who are prescribed such drugs.

HB 1224 by Representative Kevin West and Senator Paul Rosino was successfully defeated. The bill would have allowed health care payors and practitioners to refuse to participate or pay for a medical service that violates their conscience. KPG argued that the bill could lead to religious, racial, and gender-based discrimination in the healthcare industry, as well exacerbating a severe shortage of medical facilities and providers in rural communities.

Success in animal-related legislation proved more difficult. The Oklahoma Legislature passed SB 1073 by Senator Casey Murdock and Representative Carl Newton, which opens the door for a potential special hunting season for mountain lions, of which there have been few confirmed sightings in the past twenty years, according to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Lawmakers also passed HB 1126 by Representative Jim Grego and Senator Roland Pederson, which prohibits the distribution and sale of any falsely advertised and misbranded food, particularly concerning lab-grown meat. The law, which goes into effect on November 1, requires lab-grown meat that is packaged and labeled as an animal (chicken, pig, lamb, etc.), a meat product (beef, veal, pork, etc.), or a particular meat cut (bacon, hot dog, tenderloin, etc.) also be labeled with a “qualifying term” such as “cell-cultivated,” “fake,” or “imitation.” KPG argued that, currently, little to no lab-grown meat is being produced or sold in Oklahoma (hence the law is unnecessary) and that lab-grown meat is still meat, no matter how it’s produced, and the law creates an unfair competitive advantage for traditionally produced meat.

KPG, working with the Oklahoma Animal Coalition, lobbied to stop HB 1421 by Representative Josh West and Senator Grant Green, which would have changed the state’s commercial pet breeders law. An amendment to preempt municipalities from banning the retail sale of pets was brought to the Senate floor at the last minute, which would increase the problem of dog and cat overpopulation. After public pressure, the amendment was removed and the bill stalled.

Another success was the passage of HB 1588 Representative David Hardin and Senator Tom Woods, which directs the Oklahoma Conservation Commission to undertake a water quality plan and report for the Spring Creek Watershed, which has been polluted by industrial poultry feeding operations.

A bill that severely undermines Oklahoma’s initiative petition process, SB 1027 by Senator David Bullard and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, passed with an emergency clause and went into effect on May 24. The law has been challenged in the Oklahoma Supreme Court by a broad coalition of pro-democracy advocates. SB 1027 would make proposing and qualifying initiatives and referenda effectively impossible due to its draconian signature gathering limits and unconstitutional campaign finance rules.

While disappointed that SB 1027 became law, "I am grateful that Kirkpatrick Policy Group has fought alongside us for a better Oklahoma,” Bennett said.

____________________

‍