Congresswoman-elect Stephanie Bice Named GOP Freshman Class President for 117th Congress


Oklahoma City — Congresswoman-elect Stephanie Bice was elected by her peers to serve as Republican Freshman Class President during last week’s House orientation in Washington, D.C. It is believed that Bice is the first female Republican class president in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Bice said she’s looking forward to encouraging open communication between members of the freshman class.

“I came to Congress to help find solutions to some of our nation’s largest problems,” Bice said. “Working with the new representatives of the freshman class and fostering relationships among members will enable all of us to work better together to serve our constituents.”

Bice is one of 16 Republican women elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, a new record. The House will have at least 28 Republican women serving in the 117th Congress, up from 15. Currently, there are 42 Republicans in the House freshman class.

In related news, Governor Kevin Stitt has set December 7, 8 and 9 as filing dates for a special election to fill the state Senate seat Bice is vacating to take her seat in Congress. Her resignation from the Legislature’s upper chamber will be effective on December 31. 
The special election to fill the seat will be February 9, according to Stitt’s order. 

The race for the Fifth Congressional District seat was close, although Bice’s victory over Democratic incumbent Kendra Horn was more decisive than the 2018 results. In this year’s high-turnout election, Bice had 158,044 votes (52.06 percent of the total) to Horn’s 145,541 (47.94 percent of the votes cast). 

The historic 2018 race had lower turnout and as well as a closer final margin. The final official results found then-incumbent Steve Russell, the Republican, with 117,811 (49.3 percent) supporters to Horn’s 121,149 (50.7 percent) votes. 
Note: Patrick B. McGuigan contributed to this report.