Cyndi Munson, born May 24, 1985 in Monterey, California, grew up in Lawton, Oklahoma. She graduated from University of Central Oklahoma with a BA in political science. She first ran for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, but lost to the incumbent. She ran again in 2015 and became the first Asian American woman to serve in the Oklahoma Legislature. She became the minority leader of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
She announced her gubernatorial bid in April 2025.
Hannah Atkins, born November 1, 1923 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is the first African American woman to be elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. She graduated from St. Augustine's College (now University) in Raleigh in 1943. In 1959, she worked at Fisk University in Nashville, until she and her family moved back to Winston-Salem. In 1953, they moved to Oklahoma and Atkins became a branch librarian for the Oklahoma City Public Library. In 1962, she became a reference librarian for the Oklahoma State Library. She then worked her way up to chief of general reference and acting law librarian.
She worked as an instructor of law and instructor of library science at Oklahoma City University.
Atkins was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1968 and served until 1980, fighting for health care, child welfare, mental health reform, women's rights and civil rights.
In 1980, Jimmy Carter named her to the General Assembly of the 35th Session of the United Nations. She returned to Oklahoma in 1982 and worked as consultant to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, assistant director of the Department of Human Services, Cabinet Secretary for Social Services, and Secretary of State. She had oversight of the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Corrections, and the Pardon and Parole Board. She was the highest ranking woman in Oklahoma state government until her retirement in 1991.
She continued to serve as a member of the Oklahoma Task Force for the Bombing Memorial.
Albert Comstock "A.C." Hamlin, born February 10, 1881 in Topeka, Kansas, moved with his family to Oklahoma Territory in 1890. In 1908, he was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives due to the majority of African-Americans in Logan County, Oklahoma, which is just north of the capitol. He had served on the school board and a town trustee prior to his election.
The white supremacists in Oklahoma politics created a constitutional amendment created to prevent black people from voting. Thus, Hamlin lost his bid for re-election in 1910. The amendment, known as the 'grandfather clause' was declared unconstitutional in 1915, but Hamlin died in August 1912 of unknown causes.
Now, an awards banquet named for Hamlin is held biennially by Oklahoma's Legislative Black Caucus.
Annie Menz became the first Latina elected to serve in the Oklahoma House of Representatives January 2023. She is a Democrat representing District 43 which covers parts of Norman, south of Oklahoma City. Her mother is an immigrant, and her grandparents came from Mexico. Her grandfather was a US Army veteran that served in WWII.
Mezn and Jessica Garvin (first Latina elected to Oklahoma State Senate) will serve on the Latino Caucus, which has been established to focus on issues that affect Oklahoma Latinos.
Enoch Kelly Haney, born November 12, 1940 in Seminole, Oklahoma, served as the principal chief of the Seminole Nation in Oklahoma, and served in both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature. He was also an artist and his creation The Guardian is the bronze statue that sits atop the Oklahoma State Capitol.
He graduated from Prairie Valley High School in Earlsboro, Oklahoma, and earned an Associate of Arts degree from Bacone College in Muskogee. He obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Oklahoma City University and served in the Oklahoma National Guard.
He was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1980 to 1986 and then was elected to the Oklahoma Senate from 1986 to 2002. He went on to be the Chief of the Seminole Nation in Oklahoma from 2002 to 2005.
William A. Durant, born March 18, 1866 in Indian Territory, in what is now Bryan County, Oklahoma, He became a lawyer and practiced in the courts of Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, as well as the US federal courts. He was elected to the legislature of the Choctaw Nation in 1890 and became its speaker in 1891.
When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, he was elected to the state legislature and served in the first six regular sessions of the Oklahoma Legislature. He became the only Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives to serve simultaneously as the Speaker of the Choctaw Nation.
Durant was appointed by Franklin Roosevelt in 1937 as Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation until his death in 1948.
