Jake A. Merrick is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma who served in the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

, he won the special election to finish the term of

Stephanie Bice Stephanie Irene Bice (née Asady; born November 11, 1973) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she is the first Iranian American to ...

. He lost his re-election campaign to a primary challenge from

Kristen Thompson Kristen Thompson is an American politician who is the Oklahoma Senate member from the 22nd district. Early life and career Thompson received her undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders from the University of Oklahoma. She ow ...

Early life and career

Before running for office, Merrick worked as a licensed minister, bodybuilder, and personal trainer. He is a former pastor for Living Rivers Millennial Church in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

and former co-pastor for the Tabernacle of Praise in

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest ...

. Merrick worked as a professor of theology and philosophy at

Southwestern Christian University Southwestern Christian University is a private Pentecostal university in Bethany, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1946 as Southwestern Bible College in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was the first Pentecostal educational institution in the state. Whi ...

. Merrick is also the co-owner of a construction company.

Oklahoma State Senate (2021–present)

While campaigning for the 2021 Oklahoma State Senate special election, Merrick stopped using

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

entirely in favor of

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

and

Parler Parler () is an American alt-tech social networking service associated with conservatives. Journalists have described Parler as an alt-tech alternative to Twitter, and users include those banned from mainstream social networks or who oppos ...

. He was endorsed by his predecessor

and by the

Governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the ''ex officio ...

Kevin Stitt John Kevin Stitt (born December 28, 1972) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, he began his first term as governor in January 2019 and was reelected to a second t ...

. Merrick is one of the few "abortion abolitionists", people that seek to abolish access to abortion, elected in the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Stephanie Bice Stephanie Irene Bice (née Asady; born November 11, 1973) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she is the first Iranian American to ...

's term.

2022 re-election campaign

Merrick ran for re-election in 2022. He faced a primary challenge from

Edmond Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include: * Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician * Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer * Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politician ...

business owner

. Thompson out fundraised Merrick and was endorsed by Governor

. On June 28, Thompson defeated Merrick in the Republican primary.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrick, Jake A. 21st-century American legislators Candidates in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections Living people Republican Party Oklahoma state senators Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Oklahoma politicians