After technical difficulties delayed midterm election results for hours in Comanche County, the results came in Wednesday morning, revealing Suttles' victory.
Voters elected Suttles to represent House District 64, giving her about 600 more votes than her Republican opponent Louis Jackson, according to unofficial results from the Oklahoma State Election Board.
Suttles is a U.S. Army veteran who prioritizes affordable housing, expanding childcare access and healthcare and investing in education, according to her campaign website.
Rep. Rande Worthen (R-Lawton) has held the seat since 2017. He did not seek re-election this year. The district's last Democratic representative was Rob Kirby, who held the seat for six consecutive terms between 1993 and 2004.
The win marks the sixth Democrat newly elected to join the state legislature Tuesday night — the biggest gain to the caucus in over 20 years. Six other Democratic incumbents defended their seats, and two candidates were elected to replace their incumbent Democratic peers.
Despite the minority caucus nearly doubling, Republicans maintain a supermajority in both chambers of the Oklahoma state legislature.
In a statement Wednesday, Secretary of the State Election Board Paul Ziriax said delayed reporting of election results was strictly related to the reporting process. He said there was not a problem with the results themselves.
"In Comanche County, the election results continue to be manually entered into the election results reporting system. Our technical team, staff, and county election board offices worked nonstop throughout the night" Ziriax said.
Shortly after releasing that statement, the Oklahoma State Election Board posted on social media that Comanche County votes are now reported in full, including election day, mail absentee and early voting.
County election results will be certified Friday after 5 p.m. State and federal election results will be certified on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
