Republicans narrowed their choices for Oklahoma insurance commissioner Tuesday, with Bob Sullivan and Marty Quinn now headed to an Aug. 25 primary runoff.
Sullivan received about 37% of the vote and Quinn finished with nearly 28%.
Sullivan, from Inola, has been a property and casualty insurance expert for two decades. His priorities are to lower rates, protect homeowners and small businesses, hold insurance companies accountable and stand with President Donald Trump and put Oklahoma first.
In expressing gratitude to his supporters, Sullivan said that Oklahomans are “crying out under duress” of rising insurance rates and increasing insurance claims going unpaid. He said people are looking for a change, calling himself the candidate to reject the status quo.
“I’m committed now more than ever to continuing this fight and to look forward to the runoff election and traveling more throughout the state of Oklahoma and interacting with more people in our state and working to convince them that I’m the man for the job,” Sullivan said.
Quinn, from Claremore and a former legislator, has over 40 years of experience in the industry. He served in the Oklahoma House from 2010 to 2014 and in the Oklahoma Senate from 2014 to 2022. He is terming out of the Legislature.
He promises to recruit more insurance carriers back to Oklahoma to provide a variety of options for families, hold insurance companies accountable and create a faster claims process.
Quinn said there were four strong candidates in the race, pointing out 35% of voters did not choose the top two finishers. He said that will require him to further push out his message that consumers are important and rates are too high.
“We know that prices are too high, but we also know that consumers are not getting justice in some of the situations that they’ve had to face over the last couple of years,” Quinn said. “So we plan on making that a big part of what we’ve got to correct moving forward, but prices have to come down as well.”
The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Craig McIntyre in the Nov. 3 general election.
The insurance commissioner leads the Oklahoma Insurance Department, which enforces state insurance laws, protects consumers and observes a competitive insurance marketplace. Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready is terming out this year.
For more Election Day results from the Tulsa Flyer, click here.
This article was produced as part of a partnership between the Tulsa Flyer and La Semana, a Tulsa-based bilingual Spanish-English newspaper serving Latino communities in Oklahoma.
News decisions at the Tulsa Flyer are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
