Kendra Horn | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, c. 2019–2020 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's5th district | |
| In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Steve Russell |
| Succeeded by | Stephanie Bice |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kendra Suzanne Horn (1976-06-09)June 9, 1976 (age 49) Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | University of Tulsa (BA) Southern Methodist University (JD) |
Kendra Suzanne Horn (born June 9, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer who served as theU.S. representative forOklahoma's 5th congressional district from 2019 to 2021. A member of theDemocratic Party, her district included the vast majority ofOklahoma City. As of 2025, Horn is the last Democrat to representOklahoma in Congress.[1]
Horn defeatedRepublican incumbentSteve Russell in the2018 election in what many political analysts considered an upset victory. She was the first Democrat to represent the state's 5th congressional district in 44 years and the firstOklahoma Democrat elected to Congress in eight years. She was the first Democratic woman elected to the House from Oklahoma. Horn lost her2020 re-election bid to Republican challengerStephanie Bice afterserving one term.
Horn was the Democratic nominee in theOklahoma Senate special election in 2022, losing toMarkwayne Mullin.
Born inChickasha, Oklahoma, Horn was a member of theGirl Scouts and received theGold Award. Horn received her bachelor's degree in political science withOmicron Delta Kappa honors from theUniversity of Tulsa in 1998. In 2001, Horn received herJ.D. degree from Southern Methodist UniversityDedman School of Law. She also studied at theInternational Space University inStrasbourg, France.[2]
Kendra Horn worked in private practice as a lawyer at a small firm inDallas, Texas before opening a solo practice in 2002. Horn served as the press secretary to United States CongressmanBrad Carson (OK-02) from 2004 to 2005. She went on to work for theSpace Foundation first as Manager of Government Affairs at their D.C. office and later as the Manager of Communication and Media Relations until 2008. She also worked as a strategic consultant with Amatra, a communication technology firm, beginning in 2009. During the2014 Oklahoma gubernatorial election, Horn managed the political campaign of Democratic nomineeJoe Dorman. In addition, Horn co-founded and served as executive director of Sally's List, an Oklahoma-based organization that recruits and supports women candidates, and Women Lead Oklahoma, a nonpartisan nonprofit that trains and supports women to encourage community and civic action.[3][4][5][6]
On July 3, 2017, Horn announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for United States House of Representatives to Oklahoma's fifth congressional district.[7] After receiving 44% of the vote in the Democratic primary on June 26, 2018, Horn and primary opponent Tom Guild advanced to the primary runoff.[8] During the August 28 primary, Horn received 76% of the vote, easily defeating Tom Guild and becoming the Democratic nominee.[9]
Horn defeated RepublicanSteve Russell in the November 6 general election with 50.7% to his 49.3% of the vote, in what was widely considered one of the most stunning upsets of the cycle.[10] Nearly every major rating organization believed Russell would win, andFiveThirtyEight only gave Horn a 14% chance of winning.[10] Ultimately, Horn won by defeating Russell inOklahoma County, home to three-fourths of the district's population, by 9,900 votes, more than three times the overall margin of 3,300 votes.[11] She garnered support from female Republican voters in an election largely seen as a referendum againstPresident Donald Trump.[12]
When Horn took office, she became the first Democrat to represent the district sinceJohn Jarman in 1974, who switched parties to become a Republican midway through what would be his final term.[10]
Horn won the Democratic nomination for her seat in the 2020 primary. She faced Republican Oklahoma State SenatorStephanie Bice in the 2020 general election.[12] Bice defeated Horn in the 2020 election, returning the seat to Republican control.
After the 2020 election, Horn joined former Congress membersXochitl Torres Small andJoe Cunningham to launch Shield PAC, apolitical action committee that hopes to raise funds to defend moderateDemocrats in swing districts.[13]
On January 3, 2019, the first day of the116th United States Congress,[14] Congresswoman Horn joined 219 other Democrats to supportNancy Pelosi in thechamber-wide election forSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives.[15] When explaining her decision to support Pelosi, Horn mentioned that the Democratic and Republican nominees were Pelosi andKevin McCarthy, respectively, and said that Pelosi's support for improving health care, strengtheningMedicare andSocial Security, and supporting public education aligned with her successful campaign platform in the2018 election and therefore with her goals in Congress.[16] The admission of Horn to theNew Democrat Coalition was announced on January 23.[17] On January 29, Horn announced she was joining theBlue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate and conservative Democrats.[18] Horn is considered to be a moderate Democrat.[19]
On December 18, 2019, Horn voted for both articles of impeachment against President Trump.[20]
In March 2022, Horn announced that she would be running in the2022 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma afterJim Inhofe announced his retirement.[27][28] Horn ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.[29] She lost the general election toRepublican candidateMarkwayne Mullin.[30]
Horn was born and raised inChickasha, Oklahoma.[1] She is anEpiscopalian.
She is not biologically related toMadison Horn, the Democratic nominee forthe other Senate election held in parallel in Oklahoma.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kendra Horn | 34,857 | 43.8 | |
| Democratic | Tom Guild | 14,242 | 17.9 | |
| Democratic | Elysabeth Britt | 10,739 | 13.5 | |
| Democratic | Eddie Porter | 8,447 | 10.6 | |
| Democratic | Leona Kelley-Leonard | 6,693 | 8.4 | |
| Democratic | Tyson Todd Meade | 4,527 | 5.7 | |
| Total votes | 79,505 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kendra Horn | 22,052 | 75.8 | |
| Democratic | Tom Guild | 7,039 | 24.2 | |
| Total votes | 29,091 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kendra Horn | 121,149 | 50.7 | |
| Republican | Steve Russell (incumbent) | 117,811 | 49.3 | |
| Total votes | 238,960 | 100.0 | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kendra Horn (incumbent) | 60,168 | 85.69 | |
| Democratic | Tom Guild | 10,050 | 14.31 | |
| Total votes | 70,218 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Stephanie Bice | 158,044 | 52.1 | |
| Democratic | Kendra Horn (incumbent) | 145,541 | 47.9 | |
| Total votes | 303,585 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Markwayne Mullin | 710,643 | 61.8 | ||
| Democratic | Kendra Horn | 405,389 | 35.2 | ||
| Libertarian | Robert Murphy | 17,386 | 1.5 | ||
| Independent | Ray Woods | 17,063 | 1.5 | ||
| Total votes | 1,150,481 | 100.0 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's 5th congressional district 2019–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromOklahoma (Class 2) 2022 | Most recent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
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