Law & Principles
Democratic Socialist wins Oklahoma Senate nomination
Ray Carter | August 26, 2026
In this week’s primary runoff elections, N’kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas prevailed in the Democratic race for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination in Oklahoma, making her the latest self-proclaimed “Democratic Socialist” to win a Democratic primary.
Thomas received more than 61 percent of the Democratic primary vote, defeating Jim Priest, a longtime fixture in Oklahoma Democratic Party politics who significantly outspent Thomas.
“Most countries that have socialism, they are thriving.” —N’kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas
Thomas is now one of several self-proclaimed Democratic Socialists running for statewide offices across the country. Other socialist candidates include Angie Nixon, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Florida, and Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan.
Thomas’ nomination made national news. NBC News highlighted Thomas’ primary victory, declaring it “another win for the party’s democratic socialist wing.” NBC reported that Thomas stated, “Capitalism is what’s destroying our country right now.” Thomas previously told online outlet NonDoc, “Most countries that have socialism, they are thriving.”
Thomas has previously declared that she wants Oklahoma “to be a blue state like Illinois or California.”
Thomas has staked out positions on a range of issues, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and transgenderism.
On her Instagram account, Thomas said she supports “ending ICE as it currently operates” and vowed to end qualified immunity for federal immigration enforcement officers.
In a Jan. 13 post on her Facebook page, Thomas criticized Gov. Kevin Stitt for signing a law that prohibits males from competing in girls’ athletics as “transgender women.”
Thomas will face Republican Kevin Hern in the November election for U.S. Senate.
Photo credit: Aimee Tietze Adams via N’Kiyla 'Jasmine' Thomas: U.S. Senate 2026 on Facebook
Ray Carter
Director, Center for Independent Journalism
Ray Carter is the director of OCPA’s Center for Independent Journalism. He has two decades of experience in journalism and communications. He previously served as senior Capitol reporter for The Journal Record, media director for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and chief editorial writer at The Oklahoman. As a reporter for The Journal Record, Carter received 12 Carl Rogan Awards in four years—including awards for investigative reporting, general news reporting, feature writing, spot news reporting, business reporting, and sports reporting. While at The Oklahoman, he was the recipient of several awards, including first place in the editorial writing category of the Associated Press/Oklahoma News Executives Carl Rogan Memorial News Excellence Competition for an editorial on the history of racism in the Oklahoma legislature.