The Oklahoma State Capital

More than six months before the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, a Guthrie Democrat candidate was among the early wave of same-sex marriage license recipients, obtaining a marriage license from the Oklahoma County Court Clerk’s office.

Oklahoma County court records show that Democratic House District 33 candidate Max Eugene Burchett Jr. applied for a marriage license on Dec. 11, 2014. The completed license was returned to the court four days later, and the certificate was formally recorded on Dec. 17.

The marriage occurred roughly two months after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the state’s appeal of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision blocking Oklahoma’s constitutional prohibition on same-sex marriage.

Burchett subsequently applied for a second same-sex marriage license, with a second applicant, this time through the Logan County Court Clerk’s office. That second license was issued in April 2021 and returned to the court the following month.

Burchett’s campaign website describes his current living arrangement as follows:

“At home in Guthrie, Max is a husband and proud father of two. His 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter are a constant reminder of why this work matters — every decision made in the State House will shape the Oklahoma they grow up in. His husband, who spent most of his career in banking, is now pursuing his degree to become a registered nurse, a transition that reflects the same spirit of service and reinvention that defines the Burchett family.”

Contemporary reports from 2014, estimated that 3,200 individuals obtained same-sex marriage licenses from Oklahoma courthouses during the immediate months after the Denver Court’s decision went into effect in October 2014. Approximately 2,200 of those licenses reportedly came from Oklahoma and Tulsa counties, while additional demand appeared in counties bordering Texas. Texas was outside the 10th Circuit’s jurisdiction and continued to prohibit the practice at the time.

Burchett will appear on the November general-election ballot, where he will challenge freshman state Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle. Jenkins defeated Cushing Mayor B.J. Roberson in the June Republican primary to secure her party’s nomination for another term.

A review of voter-registration figures for the mostly rural district shows Republicans outnumbering Democrats by more than three to one. Of the district’s 20,262 active voters, 12,797 are Republicans, 4,074 are Democrats, 3,223 are independents and 168 are Libertarians.

The district has been in Republican hands since 2004, when Cushing veterinarian Lee Denney won the open seat after incumbent Democrat Dale Wells did not seek reelection. Denney defeated Democratic nominee Susan Custer with approximately 61 percent of the vote.

The 2021 redistricting process assigned a significant portion of Logan County to House District 33. The district’s previous Logan County footprint had been largely limited to the Coyle area.

In 2024, Jenkins overcame a substantial spending disadvantage to defeat incumbent Republican John Talley of Stillwater. Campaign-finance filings showed Talley reporting more than $101,000 in expenditures, compared with approximately $22,600 for Jenkins. Jenkins campaigned on a pledge not to accept gifts or campaign contributions from lobbyists, a policy that distinguishes her fundraising practices from those of many legislators in both parties.