Dale DeWitt (born January 17, 1950) is a United States politician from

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. DeWitt currently serves in the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's ...

. He served as Majority Leader and Majority Floor Leader during 2011 and 2012.

Early life and career

DeWitt was born in Blackwell in

Kay County Kay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, its population was 43,700. Its county seat is Newkirk, and the largest city is Ponca City. Kay County comprises the Ponca City micropolitan statistical a ...

in northern Oklahoma. In 1970, he received an associate degree from

Northern Oklahoma College Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) is a public community college in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, with additional campuses located in Enid, Oklahoma and Stillwater, Oklahoma. Student enrollment is approximately 2,700. NOC bought the former Phillips Universi ...

in Tonkawa. He then procured his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in 1973 in agriculture education from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

at Stillwater.Representative Dale DeWittProject Vote Smart
Accessed August 16, 2012. DeWitt worked as an educator from 1973-2001, primarily for the

Braman, Oklahoma Braman is a town in Kay County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 217 at the 2010 census, a decline of 11.1 percent from the figure of 244 in 2000. History Braman was named for railroad developer Dwight Braman, when its post office was ...

school district.

Political career

DeWitt was elected to the

in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in 2002 to fill the seat vacated by fellow Republican Jim Reese, who joined the George W. Bush administration in Washington, D.C. DeWitt served as part of the leadership team under House Speaker Kris Steele, serving as Majority Leader and Majority Floor Leader. He contributed to and co-authored the

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral distri ...

bill in 2011. In the 2012 legislative session, DeWitt authored legislation to protect Oklahoma's food supply against contamination from ricin, an extract of castor beans.Krehbiel, Randy
Oklahoma legislators want castor beans to be outlawed''Tulsa World''
Published Nov. 6, 2011.

References

1950 births Living people People from Blackwell, Oklahoma Republican Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Ranchers from Oklahoma Farmers from Oklahoma Oklahoma State University alumni 21st-century American politicians Northern Oklahoma College alumni {{Oklahoma-politician-stub