Dusty Deevers is an American politician and pastor who has served as a member of the Oklahoma Senate since December 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party.
He previously ran the Elgin pharmacy.[1] Since 2016, he has served as the pastor for Grace Reformed Baptist Church of Elgin.[3] He is also the CEO of Deevers Properties.[4] In 2020, his home caught fire while he was out of town, destroying most of his possessions.[5] In 2021, Oklahoma Watch reported on Deevers's anti-vaccine rhetoric, including comparing vaccine mandates to the Nuremberg laws.[6]
Southern Baptist Conference
In June 2023, Deevers was nominated to be the vice-president of the Southern Baptist Convention and received 20% of the vote, losing to Jay Adkins.[7] Deevers criticized SBC President Bart Barber's hiring of Brent Leatherwood from the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission as the SBC chief ethicist.[8][9] Barber received criticism for donating to Deevers's opponent, Jean Hausheer, during his 2023 primary election.[10]
Oklahoma Senate
Deevers filed for the special election to fill John Montgomery's seat in the Oklahoma Senate after Montgomery resigned to serve as the president of the Lawton Chamber of Commerce. He faced Jennifer Ellis, JJ Francais, and Jean Hausheer in the Republican primary.[11] During the primary, Deevers was targeted by negative ads from a "dark money" political action committee.[12] He won the primary with 37% of the vote.[a] He won the general election on December 12, 2023, defeating the Democratic nominee, former University of Oklahoma football player Larry Bush.[13]The Oklahoman described his campaign as focusing on culture war issues.[14] He was sworn in on December 20, 2023.[15]
In 2024, he authored a bill, cosponsored by Senator Warren Hamilton, "classifying abortion as homicide, which allows both doctors and mothers to be prosecuted." They could "face up to the death penalty if charged with first-degree murder, though the bill makes exceptions to save the life of the mother and for spontaneous miscarriages." It also "allows for wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of fetusus."[16]
Deevers self-identifies as an "abortion abolitionist," meaning he does not support abortion under any circumstance, and a "constitutional conservative."[11][19] In 2024, he introduced a bill that would charge women getting abortions with murder.[20] Deevers and Senator Warren Hamilton "spoke in favor of stricter laws at a rally organized by the groups Abolitionists Rising and Abolish Abortion Oklahoma at the state Capitol in early February" of 2024.[16]
In 2024, Deevers put forth a bill to ban all pornography involving sexual acts, nudity, partial nudity, or any content that appeals to a sexual fetish, such as BDSM; with the only exception being for married spouses sending sexual images to each other. Anyone who buys, views, procures, or possesses porn would be punished by up to 20 years in prison; while anyone who poses for or otherwise assists or offers to assist in the production and distribution of said porn would be punished with a year in prison.[22] Deever's proposal received national attention, with Rolling Stone describing it as "extreme — even for a Christian nationalist."[17]
A year later, Deevers again introduced a bill to criminalize the production and distribution of pornography, with a prison sentence of 10–30 years for "organized pornography trafficking." The bill also criminalizes drag performances.[23]
Electoral history
2023 Southern Baptist Conference Vice President election[7]
Candidate
Votes
%
Jay Adkins
2,393
63.27
Dusty Deevers
784
20.73
Gevan Spinney
587
15.52
Total votes
3,764
2023 Oklahoma's 32nd Senate district special Republican primary[24]
^Oklahoma law requires a candidate to receive a majority to win a party's nomination, except in special elections were the first round plurality winner gets the nomination.[4]
