Get To Know New Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, Her Priorities For 2025

State Senator Julia Kirt is stepping into a new leadership role as the Senate Minority Leader. Kirt has served her district, representing parts of Oklahoma City, for six years now.

She said she is excited to be a voice for all four million Oklahomans.

Who is Sen. Julia Kirt?

First elected to serve Senate District 30 in 2018, Kirt represents parts of northwest Oklahoma City, Bethany, and Warr Acres. Prior to her time in the state legislature, she led statewide arts and culture nonprofit organizations for nearly 20 years. Kirt received a Governor's Arts Award for her leadership of Oklahomans for the Arts and the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

“I got some national recognition for the way I helped artists be businesspeople in Oklahoma,” Kirt said.

Kirt was motivated to run for office when her children began attending public school in her district.

“We were just dealing with challenges at our neighborhood elementary, and that got me motivated to look at what was happening at the state level,” Kirt said. “When I started running, it was really fun and interesting, but it was really different from anything I’d ever done.”

Kirt will be the first mother to hold the title of Senate Minority Leader.

She currently serves on the Appropriations, Revenue and Taxation, Retirement and Government Resources, Veterans and Military Affairs, Economic Development/Workforce, and Tourism Committees.

Kirt's Role as Senate Minority Leader

As Minority Leader, Kirt will oversee the Democratic caucus, which includes eight members, three of whom are new senators elected in November. Kirt says the caucus will work together to be a voice for all Oklahomans and to hold their Republican counterparts accountable.

“Our Democratic caucus always works across the aisle. We know that the best solutions are not one-party solutions, and we have to find ways to work together,” Kirt said.

“People need to know that they deserve freedom and opportunity in this state, and that means a government that’s working in a fair way to help them prosper,” Kirt said. “People don’t recognize that this is their government—they have a say and should be expecting more from us. I want to hear from people telling us what they need and want and how the challenges in their life could be solved, because we should be working on real problems up here.”

Kirt’s Priorities for the 2025 Legislative Session

Affordable housing is a top priority for Kirt in the upcoming session.

“I’m working heavily on housing and making sure we have the housing we need for our workforce,” Kirt said. “People have been struggling; inflation has really pinched people, so housing is less affordable. There are a lot of people having a hard time keeping up, so I want to look at it from both the housing and workforce standpoints.”

Senate Democrats' Priorities for the 2025 Legislative Session

Kirt says the caucus will work together on new ideas, but their current focus is on education, accessible healthcare, and job advancement.

“Really, we envision a state where every kid can read to the best of their ability. We’re talking about what it means for everybody to have a quality job and more access to that freedom of a real quality job,” Kirt said. “We’re trying to take practical steps along the way but also envision what our state can be and not be so caught up in where we are in this moment, but what’s possible for this state.”

The 2025 legislative session for Oklahoma's 60th Legislature will begin on Monday, Feb. 3.