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Denise Brewer
Denise Brewer (Democratic Party) was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing District 71. She assumed office on November 21, 2018. She left office on November 23, 2022.
Brewer (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Oklahoma House of Representatives to represent District 71. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Brewer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Brewer was born on March 30, 1966, in Tachikawa, Japan. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in 1989. Her career experience includes working as a state representative and, for 25 years, a journalist. Brewer has been affiliated with the League of Women Voters, Heart of the Party, the Tulsa County Democratic Party, Mom's Demand Action, the ACLU, the Capitol Women's Caucus, the Brookside Neighborhood Association, and other neighborhood associations in District 71.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Brewer was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Brewer was assigned to the following committees:
- Agriculture & Rural Development Committee (decommissioned)
- Government Oversight & Accountability Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2020
See also: Oklahoma House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71
Incumbent Denise Brewer defeated Mike Masters in the general election for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Denise Brewer (D)  | 54.3 | 8,042 |
 | Mike Masters (R) | 45.7 | 6,767 | |
| Total votes: 14,809 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71
Mike Masters defeated Beverly Atteberry in the Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 on August 25, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mike Masters | 61.8 | 2,008 |
 | Beverly Atteberry | 38.2 | 1,242 | |
| Total votes: 3,250 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Denise Brewer advanced from the Democratic primary for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71
Mike Masters and Beverly Atteberry advanced to a runoff. They defeated David Matthew Hullum in the Republican primary for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 on June 30, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mike Masters | 48.9 | 1,302 |
| ✔ | | Beverly Atteberry | 44.5 | 1,184 |
 | David Matthew Hullum | 6.6 | 177 | |
| Total votes: 2,663 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71
Denise Brewer defeated Cheryl Baber in the general election for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Denise Brewer (D) | 56.1 | 6,611 |
 | Cheryl Baber (R) | 43.9 | 5,165 | |
| Total votes: 11,776 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71
Cheryl Baber defeated Beverly Atteberry in the Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cheryl Baber | 63.6 | 1,763 |
| Beverly Atteberry | 36.4 | 1,009 | |
| Total votes: 2,772 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71
Denise Brewer advanced from the Democratic primary for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Denise Brewer |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71
Cheryl Baber and Beverly Atteberry advanced to a runoff. They defeated Ben Croff, Eric McCray, and Mark Kosinski in the Republican primary for Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cheryl Baber | 43.4 | 1,515 |
| ✔ | | Beverly Atteberry | 24.3 | 847 |
| Ben Croff | 14.4 | 503 | ||
 | Eric McCray | 9.0 | 314 | |
| Mark Kosinski | 8.9 | 311 | ||
| Total votes: 3,490 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Denise Brewer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brewer's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I was raised in a USAF/NSA family all over the country and overseas. That experience instilled in me a dedication to public service that I live everyday. I spent 25 years as a nationally awarded news anchor/journalist. My job was to follow & report on the Capitol. Along the way I've made friends with experts & leaders across the state.
As District 71's Representative I've authored/co-authored nearly 50 bills, serve on 4 unique committees, the Women's & Democratic Caucuses, & am the Legislative Liaison for several state boards; including the OK Board of Medical Licensure. I also stay active in my community as a member/volunteer of LWV, Tulsa Dem. Party. Heart of the Party, Moms Demand Action and our neighborhood associations. I'm most proud of my children and family comes first.- We must continue to improve our public education system. Without a superior education system, we'll keep losing families & educators, and recruiting new businesses/building our economy will be a difficult sell.
- We are in an Executive Leadership vacuum. The Governor has been able to dissolve checks & balances, there's zero transparency and he believes he answers to no one. His handling of the pandemic has been incompetent, deadly & filled with lies. It is a priority that we restore those checks & balances, force transparency & let him know he answers to the people.
- We must implement Medicaid Expansion. The citizens voted and approved Medicaid Expansion, however, the Governor has yet to implement the program. He has discussed farming out the management of Med. Expansion to other states! It must be implemented and transparently managed right here in Oklahoma.
Sentencing & Prison reform is a must in Oklahoma. We have one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. We spend millions of dollars on for-profit prisons which should be shut down. Judges hand down lengthy sentences for non-violent and even misdemeanor crimes. Women and people of color are often judged most harshly. We need legislation which changes minimum sentencing, stops adding more years to people already in prison and we must legislate training regarding racism and sexism in the legal system.
I want to follow the example of all the leaders who've fought for what's right and never stopped, no matter the sacrifice.
-I've been endorsed by so many Education/Educators Groups, Women's Groups, the AFL-CIO, Political Groups and more.
-My entire adult life I've been a nationally awarded professional communicator
-We've lived here for 30 years. My children have gone from pre-school through high school and been raised their entire lives in District 71.
-For 25 years, my job was to cover Oklahoma's ups and downs, good and bad Legislation, scandals, economic crisis along with the amazing stories of our people. I know this state.
-I've been an active community member; on school boards and non-profit boards, volunteered for school and church and community events, raised more than a million dollars for Catholic Charities. I could go on, but the basic quality is I've worked over the decades to make my community better.
-I have empathy and I use that to create legislation which truly helps people
-Being a strong communicator
-Creating strong legislation for positive change, free of the influences of Lobbyists
-Working well in teams
-Passion and dedication to the job
Bills for raising revenue may only originate in the House of Representatives.
-providing healthcare/mental healthcare to our citizens; from the most rural of areas to the metros.
-Diversifying our economy and weaning Oklahoma off our dependence on fossil fuel production.
-Restructuring the tax system
-Prison/sentencing reform
With the core of my family from Elk City, OK and most of my many relatives being farmers & ranchers, I feel quite at home on the Rural & Agricultural Development Committee. A&B Public Safety is an honor as we focus on everything that goes along with keeping our citizens safe. Government Efficiency is fascinating and fun as we work toward streamlining the system. And Non-Appropriated Agencies provides assistance to non-governmental agencies.
Everyone in District 71 has my personal cell phone. One night, a lovely woman called me about having zero luck with the OESC and the state owed her months of back support. She started out strong, but as she told her story, I could hear the tears and fear in her voice. She'd just been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She'd been laid off and was living on her savings, which had run out. She was desperate to get the financial aid for which she qualified and had never received. It broke my heart. My office and I made her a priority, and I'm happy to say that before her cancer surgery we were able to resolve her case.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Oklahoma scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the Oklahoma State Legislature was in session from February 7 to May 27.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to children's interests.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on a variety of issues of interest to the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators were scored based on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to the oil and gas industry.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Oklahoma State Legislature was in session from February 1 to May 27.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Oklahoma State Legislature was in session from February 3 to May 22.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Oklahoma State Legislature was in session from February 4 through May 31.
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See also
2020 Elections
External links
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Candidate Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 13, 2020
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Katie Henke (R) |
Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71 2018-2022 |
Succeeded by Amanda Swope (D) |
