NORMAN — Emily Virgin surprised even herself Tuesday night when voters tossed her more than 50 percent of the vote for Norman House District 44.
The 23-year-old Democratic candidate escaped a runoff election by clobbering three other Democrats.
“I was very surprised, to be honest,” Virgin said. “But I worked hard, knocking doors, and it seems like it paid off.”
Virgin, who claimed she knocked on some doors “three times” during her primary campaign, will face lone Republican Kent Hunt in the November general election.
And even though District 44 is traditionally a Democrat stronghold, Virgin isn’t getting too comfortable after her beat down Tuesday night.
“I can’t take anything for granted,” she said, noting that although she captured more than 52 percent of the vote, she lost about 47 percent of the Democrats who voted for her opponents.
She said her challenge for the general election is to get Republicans to vote for her.
“You have to do that to win elections, any election,” Virgin said. “And that’s something I think I can do.”
Virgin said she stopped at some homes in House District 44 “as many as three times.”
The Democratic winner said this race showed her that voters are interested in issues, rather than political in-fighting. She said she intends to do whatever she can to promote public education, especially since Norman is the home of the University of Oklahoma.
“When I knocked on doors, starting in March, it became clear that education was the No. 1 issue,” Virgin said. “So, I listened to the voters and made it my No. 1 issue, too.”
Virgin also has repeatedly said during her campaign that she will work hard to do away with transferable tax credits, which she claims some businesses abuse and often profit from in less-than-ethical ways.
“Not all of them are bad and most of them are working,” she said. “But some of them are being abused and costing the state money.”
Virgin, who’s in her second year of law school at OU, said she is in her second year of law school at OU, defeated three other Democrats in Tuesday’s primary.
Democrats Isaiah McCaslin, Robert Murphy and Norman City Councilman Tom Kovach were on the receiving end of Virgin’s battering ram of a campaign.
Virgin said she raised about $60,000, including a strong direct mail strategy that she claims helped her win the primary.
“You can’t knock on every door,” she said. “And direct mail really helps you communicate the issues and respond to issues that come up during the campaign.”
Kovach, who raised about $30,000 for his campaign, said he feels Virgin ran a good campaign, but benefited from a strong support structure.
“I feel like we did what we could do and I’m content,” Kovach said. “But she was supported by some of the brightest political minds in Norman and she had a huge cash advantage.
“That’s kind of hard to overcome.”
Kovach also said his outspoken presence on the Norman City Council may have cost him some votes.
“Sometimes, when you’re on council, you make a vote one way or the other … it’s going to make some people mad,” he said. “I’m going to spend the rest of my time on the council working on issues, just like I have been since I was elected.”
In the end, Virgin captured 52.68 percent of the vote, followed by Kovach (23.8 percent), McCaslin (19.76 percent) and Murphy (3.75 percent).
Other state legislature races
In other Cleveland County races, Republicans Josh Cockroft and Richard Bennett will face off in the August runoff election in the race to become the District 27 state representative.
Cockroft netted 38.1 percent of the vote, with Bennett pulling in 23.35 percent.
Norm Seaberg (21.56 percent) and Donald Rominger, Jr. (17 percent) also ran in the District 27 state House race.
In the other legislative race relevant to Cleveland County, Anthony Sykes soundly defeated Linda Molsbee in the Republic primary for the state Senate, District 24.
Sykes took nearly 80 percent of the vote, so there will be no runoff in August.
Final election results won’t be certified until Aug. 3, according to the state election board’s website.
