Republican Candidates To Face Off In Debate, 1 Week Before Runoff Election

One week away from the runoff for Congressional District 5, Republican candidates Terry Neese and Stephanie Bice are vying for the opportunity to run against Democratic incumbent, Congresswoman Kendra Horn. 

Neese and Bice will face off in a debate Monday evening at the Tower Theater which will be streamed on the News 9 app.

Stephanie Bice is a is a lifelong Oklahoman and state senator, serving in the Legislature since 2014.

Proud of her business background, Bice identifies herself as a pro-life, pro-gun conservative.

One piece of legislation she is most proud of was the major overhaul of Oklahoma liquor laws, a bill which Bice wrote.

The candidate said she wants to introduce herself to voters during the debate, especially after attack ads from PACS called her integrity into question.

“I really want people to know who I am and why I’m running and the truth out there. There’s been a lot of outside money that’s been spent against me and a lot of the information that they are spreading is actually lies about my record and what I’ve done, and I want to clear the record,” Bice said.

At the Neese campaign, candidate Terry Neese spent the day preparing for the debate and working the phones.

Neese bills herself as a conservative Republican. 

She was raised in Cookietown and founded Neese Personnel Services in 1975, turning it into a multi-million-dollar business. 

She hopes she can focus on her business background in Tuesday's debate.

“I really want to talk about the economy. We’ve got to get people back to work, and it’s really all about jobs, and my background is the staffing industry and how important it is for people to have jobs. And we just have to get people back to work. It’s time,” Neese said.

Neese said it’s time for students to go back to school and for the country to return to normal.

News 9’s Caleigh Bourgeois and Aaron Brilbeck will follow the two candidates, reporting on the campaigns until the election.