Oklahoma House of Representatives Jett first ran for a seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives on November 5, 2002. He was defeated by incumbent Democratic representative
Dale Smith; however, he held the incumbent to less than fifty percent of the vote and came about one percent away from upsetting the incumbent, 48.6% to 47.5%. In 2004, Smith was term-limited after 14 years in the seat, leaving the seat open. Jett defeated Kevin Roland in the general election on November 2, 2004 In April 2008, Jett was recommended as an officer to the United States Navy Reserve. Jett has since retired as a lieutenant. In 2009, during his term as a state representative, Jett proposed a bill to alter the
flag of Oklahoma, which would have italicized and angled the word "Oklahoma" and adding an exclamation point after it. Jett introduced the bill in front of the International Relations and Tourism Committee. Jett's motivation was to insert Oklahoma pride into the flag and potentially promote
tourism.
2014 U.S. House campaign In 2014, Jett announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional District of Oklahoma. During a June 2014 campaign debate with the other four Republican candidates, Jett indicated that he would not have voted to raise the
debt ceiling and would not have voted for
John Boehner to remain as
Speaker of the House. Jett's biggest focus during his congressional campaign was getting elected to
reduce government spending, supporting a
federal balanced budget amendment and a
line-item veto.
2015 & 2017 Cherokee Nation campaigns In 2015, Jett ran for the at-large seat of the
Cherokee Nation Tribal Council. Jett finished third behind
Wanda Hatfield and Betsy Swimmer. Hatfield received 1,057 votes, Swimmer 770 votes, and Jett 717 votes. After the
2016 presidential election, Jett was appointed by
President Donald Trump to the
U.S. Treasury CDFI Fund Community Development Advisory Board where he serves as chairman. In 2017, Jett ran again for the At-large Tribal Councilor position of the Council of the Cherokee Nation. Jett finished second in the field of seven candidates, losing to
Mary Baker Shaw, with Shaw receiving 56.84% of the vote to Jett's 19.55%.
Oklahoma Senate In 2020, Jett ran against incumbent
State Senator for the 17th State Senate district of Oklahoma,
Ron Sharp, a Republican from
Shawnee. The former CFO of
Epic Charter Schools testified the founders of school paid political consultants to recruit Jett to oppose Sharp, who had been a critic of the school in the legislature. Jett denied he was recruited to run against Sharp. Jett and Sharp were joined in the June 30, 2020 Republican primary by Brandon Baumgarten of Shawnee. Jett took first place in the June 30th election with 44% of the vote. Baumgarten was eliminated in the primary. In the November 3, 2020 general election, Jett defeated Sadler with about 75% of the vote, to win the 17th Senate district seat. In February 2021, Jett introduced a bill to the Oklahoma Senate to prohibit teaching of
critical race theory in Oklahoma schools. In 2023, he proposed a bill that would prohibit social-emotional learning in Oklahoma schools and another bill that would prohibit "certain test or qualification as a condition of employment or promotion within certain institutions of higher education." It came along other anti-
DEI legislation from
Danny Williams and
David Bullard from the Oklahoma capitol after Superintendent and Secretary of Education
Ryan Walters "called for a 10-year review of all expenditures related to DEI over the last decade at Oklahoma higher education institutions" in early 2023. Foundation On June 18, 2024, Jett faced Sharp again. There were two other candidates in the race. Jett ended up with just over 50% of the vote, avoiding a runoff, with 3,573 votes to Sharp's 1,921 votes. Jett was unopposed in the November 5, 2024 general election. On September 3, 2024, Jett was announced as the chair of the
Oklahoma Freedom Caucus. In February 2025 he opposed a bill to ban the use of
corporal punishment on disabled schoolchildren. He described the ban as a "a top down socialist aligned ideological, unilateral divorce between parents’ ability to collaborate with their local schools to establish a disciplined regimen.” In September 2025, Jett introduced Senate Bill 1187 that would "require public universities in the state to have a memorial plaza dedicated to the late
Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was shot and killed September 10 at the
Utah Valley University campus in
Orem,
Utah, and also Senate Bill 1188 that would designate Kirk’s birthday, October 14, as "Charlie Kirk Free Speech Day" in Oklahoma. In January 2026, Jett filed a bill to bar state legislators from drinking alcohol at the
Oklahoma State Capitol and released a statement claiming other senators gave speeches "fueled by
Tito's and vodka" during the
last legislative session. Senate Pro Tem
Lonnie Paxton called the accusations "baseless" and removed Jett as vice chairman of the senate rules committee. ==Electoral history==