Kidd withdraws from State Senate race

State Sen. Chris Kidd has withdrawn his candidacy for the Senate District 31 seat, saying he wants to focus on his family and his ranch.

Kidd, a Ringling Republican first elected to the State Senate in 2016, was one of four Republicans who filed for the District 31 seat during last week’s filing period. Monday, he submitted a form with the Oklahoma State Election Board to withdraw from the race, joining State Rep. Kevin McDugle, District 12, and Rob Crowley, a candidate for State Senate District 13, in taking the same action.

Kidd’s decision leaves leaves three Republicans in the race for Senate District 31: Pamela McNall-Grainer, Comanche; Rick Wolfe, Elgin; and Spencer Kern, Duncan. Senate District 31 includes Comanche, Cotton, Jefferson, Love and Stephens counties.

In a statement, Kidd said he wanted to retire at the end of the current term, his second in the State Senate.

“Working for the citizens of Oklahoma has been one of the most rewarding, fulfilling and humbling experiences of my life,” he said. “I take great pride in the accomplishments we made for our state during my tenure, but now I look forward to spending more time at home with my family.”

A fifth-generation Oklahoman and member of the agricultural community, Kidd took those interests to the state Capitol. As chair of the Senate Agricultural and Rural Affairs committee, he has overseen passage of policies to help rural Oklahoma and ensure Oklahoma’s agriculture industry continues to thrive.

He has been involved in other efforts, to include advocating for the elimination of the state’s grocery tax and the expansion of broadband access. In the area of education, Kidd supported funding efforts to expand nursing programs at Cameron University and Great Plains Technology Center.

His legislative efforts have included the Oklahoma Research and Development Attractions Act, designed to attract research and development companies through a grant program managed by the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST); and extending a sales tax exemption to the spouses of service members killed in action. He also passed a bill in the 2017 session to commemorate Oklahoma’s second-largest industry by creating the annual Oklahoma State Aviation and Aerospace Day.

Kidd wrote legislation allowing county health departments to form health districts, and led legislation to ensure school support staff members were paid even if their districts closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.