N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas Wins Oklahoma Senate Democratic Runoff

Nurse N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas has won the Democratic Senate primary runoff in Oklahoma, NBC News projects, marking another win for the party's democratic socialist wing.

Thomas, 31, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, defeated attorney and minister Jim Priest, 70, despite being drastically outspent. The two advanced to a runoff after neither won a majority in the June primary.

Thomas will face Republican Rep. Kevin Hern in the fall, who will be heavily favored to win the open seat replacing former Sen. Markwayne Mullin, now secretary of homeland security. Oklahoma is a solidly Republican state that President Donald Trump won by 34 points in 2024.

Thomas' win comes as progressive candidates have made gains nationally this year, with democratic socialists also winning high-profile primaries in Florida's Senate race and a Michigan House battleground.

Thomas described herself as "a self-proclaimed democratic socialist" but said she is "not yet" a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She said she does not back every DSA position — as a military spouse, she opposes defunding the Defense Department — but supports Medicare for All, universal childcare and parental leave, and abolishing ICE.

"The system right now doesn't work for us and it never has," Thomas said, adding her campaign is focused on health care access in rural Oklahoma.

Asked whether she considers herself a capitalist or a socialist, Thomas said, "Capitalism is what's destroying our country right now," though she later called capitalism "inevitable" and said she supports people owning businesses and property.

Priest's campaign spent $315,000 in the primary, compared with Thomas' $57,000, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Thomas had just $456 in her campaign account as of August 5, while Hern's campaign had $2.6 million on hand as of June 30.