Todd M. Thomsen (born June 24, 1967) is a former Republican

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Thomsen served in the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's ...

as the

Majority Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

and represented District 25 from 2006 to 2018.

Early life and career

Thomsen was a punter and kicker for the

Oklahoma Sooners football The Oklahoma Sooners football team represents the University of Oklahoma (OU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The program began in 1895 and is one of the most succ ...

team from 1985 to 1988 and was part of OU's 1985 national championship team. He graduated with bachelor's degree in 1989." He currently serves as Coordinator for the

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international nonprofit Christian sports ministry based in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City. History FCA was founded in 1954 by Eastern Oklahoma State College, Eastern Oklahoma A&M basketball c ...

Political career

Thomsen was elected in 2006 after he won against Democrat Darrell Nemecek by two votes. In 2008, Thomsen ran for reelection "in order to continue working to improve education, keep taxes low, and represent conservative values in the Legislature". He was reelected in November 2008 and served in the House as a member of the House Education Committee, and the chair of the House Higher Education and Career Tech Committee. He has proposed and supported antievolution resolutions in Oklahoma. In 2009, he gained international attention when he introduced House Resolution 1014 and 1015 on March 9, 2009 opposing University of Oklahoma's invitation of

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biol ...

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...

. Subsequently, Dawkins spoke before a crowd in McCasland Field House at the university about the proposal and said "I am aware that representative Todd Thomsen is not representative of the state of Oklahoma". With the adjournment of the Oklahoma House of Representatives in May 2009, the Resolutions are presumably dead. In March 2009, Thomsen was appointed to the Oklahoma Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Advisory Committee whose purpose "is to enhance scientific and engineering research and development conducted at universities in the state and by doing so enhance the success of Oklahoma researchers in federal award competitions through a partnership of higher education institutions, independent research entities, industry and state government."

Election history

:Results from the Oklahoma State Election Board.2006 Election Statistics
an

from the Oklahoma State Election Board

District

Oklahoma House District 25 encompasses much of Pontotoc County and portions of McClain County and Pottawatomie County. The biggest city in the district is

Ada, Oklahoma Ada is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,481 at the 2020 United States census. The city was named for Ada Reed, the daughter of an early settler, and was in ...

References

External links

Oklahoma House of RepresentativesHR1014HR1015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomsen, Todd 1967 births Candidates in the 2022 United States elections Living people Republican Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Oklahoma Legislature Oklahoma Sooners football players Politicians from Ada, Oklahoma University of Oklahoma alumni