Joe Watkins

Joe Watkins earned a high school diploma from Memorial High School. Watkins' career experience includes working as a carpenter.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Joe Watkins was born at Saint Francis and raised in Midtown Tulsa. The eldest son of two small business owners, he grew up helping in his mother’s office and his father’s woodworking shop.

Joe got his first job at 14. After graduating from Memorial High, he built a career at QuikTrip — rising from entry-level to management to corporate IT Specialist. In 2021, he returned to his roots by revitalizing Wood Dimensions Co., his father’s former woodworking business.

Committed to his community, Joe co-founded the From Heart to Hand Outreach, personally collecting and delivering essential supplies to Tulsans experiencing homelessness. He also serves on the leadership team of the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation (F.R.E.E.), a non-profit focused on economic opportunity and community development.

Joe and his wife Jenny are raising their son alongside three rescue dogs in the very community he hopes to represent. He knows firsthand what hardworking families face — because he’s living it.

Joe is running for State House because Oklahoma families are doing everything right and still falling behind. Groceries cost more, rent keeps rising, and healthcare is out of reach for too many. Joe believes hardworking people deserve a representative who truly understands their lives — and he’s ready to be that voice at the Capitol.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Affordable Housing

Joe will modernize Oklahoma's Housing Trust Fund with a State-Local Match that doubles the impact of local housing programs in Tulsa. Combined with Right to Counsel legislation giving tenants legal representation in eviction court, this plan stabilizes our community and treats housing as a public health issue.Affordable Healthcare

Many working families in District 75 have coverage but can't afford their deductibles or prescriptions. Joe will push for state-level caps on essential medications like insulin and inhalers, and a Patient Bill of Rights to end surprise billing. No Oklahoman should choose between their prescriptions and their rent.Public Education

Public tax dollars belong in public classrooms. Joe will fight to stop further private school voucher expansion and redirect those funds to increase pay for bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and classroom aides — the people who keep our neighborhood schools running every single day.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I’m passionate about five areas that directly impact District 75 families. First, capping out-of-pocket healthcare costs — no Oklahoman should choose between prescriptions and rent. Second, modernizing Oklahoma’s Housing Trust Fund to expand affordable housing and pair it with Right to Counsel protections against eviction. Third, protecting public education funding by halting voucher expansion and raising pay for support staff like bus drivers and cafeteria workers. Fourth, modernizing our energy grid by protecting net metering and incentivizing solar and EV infrastructure so families can lower their utility bills. Fifth, eliminating food deserts in East Tulsa by supporting local grocers and urban farms through a Healthy Food Financing Init