Speaking for a Better Oklahoma: Agribusiness alumnus serves as Speaker Pro Tempore in Oklahoma Legislature

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu

Kyle Hilbert slid a white pin across the table. Alongside his name appear the words “passion, integrity, progress.” Hilbert used these three principles during his 2015 campaign for president of the Oklahoma State University Student Government Association. In 2017, Hilbert took these same principles with him to the Oklahoma Legislature.

Hilbert grew up in Depew, Oklahoma, and was involved in the Depew FFA Chapter. He served as the Northeast District Vice President for Oklahoma FFA as a freshman at OSU.

Hilbert decided to run for House District 29 representative as a 21-year-old senior at OSU.

James Leewright, the incumbent representative, was running for the state senate, leaving the seat open. Hilbert’s father told his son he would make a great candidate.

“I kind of laughed, said ‘OK, Dad, whatever,’” Hilbert said. “I called my wife, girlfriend at the time, Alexis, and told her about my dad’s phone call. She took it more seriously from the start and said I should do it.”

The second person to call Hilbert was Brian Campbell, who was his high school agricultural education teacher, Hilbert said.

“I was undecided, but my ag teacher called me, and I started taking it a little more seriously,” Hilbert said. “My dad, my agricultural education teacher and then Leewright himself called me. They all three said the same thing — ‘Kyle, you’d make a great candidate.’”

Hilbert’s wife, Alexis, said she supported him immediately, despite it shifting their plans to move to Washington, D.C.

“He was going to go to law school, and I was going to work on Capitol Hill and get a job as a staffer,” Alexis Hilbert said. “Instead, when he got the calls from his dad and then his ag teacher encouraging him to run, I said, ‘If it’s something you feel you’re led and called to do, let’s do it.’”

Kyle Hilbert filed to run for office in October 2015 and was 22 years old when he was elected in 2016.

His experiences in FFA through high school and then as an FFA state officer have been the most beneficial things to him as a legislator, Kyle Hilbert said.

“I would not be a legislator but for that and then going up through the Ferguson College of Agriculture,” Kyle Hilbert said.

Kyle Hilbert was an agribusiness major and graduated in 2017. He served as SGA president, was an ambassador for the college, and was an active member in FarmHouse.

His involvement on campus and in the college helped prepare him for office, Kyle Hilbert said, in addition to the importance of having people skills.

“Just because you disagree with somebody one day doesn’t mean you should disagree with them forever,” Kyle Hilbert said. “The State Capitol is about relationships. You can’t do anything by yourself.”

Mark Lawson, state representative for House District 30, said Kyle Hilbert is diligent and is always looking for ways to improve and solve problems for other members.

“He takes seriously serving constituents first and taking care of people back home,” Lawson said. “But, I also appreciate that it is not his only goal in the House chamber. He also wants policy that is going to be good across the state.”

People see him on the news or in the headlines with cool one-liners, Alexis Hilbert said, but seeing his dedication behind the scenes is one of her favorite parts of his role.

“In my first legislation session, I studied every spreadsheet, went to everything I could, and acquired all of the knowledge and background information I could,” Kyle Hilbert said. “When my bills came up for vote in committee, I would talk to every member in the committee before it got presented, which I assumed everyone did,” he added. “Turns out, they don’t.”

In 2019, Kyle Hilbert served as vice chair of the appropriations and budget committee. He said his age may have caused people to doubt him, which only motivated him more.

“Because of age being a weakness, it forced me to work harder, which actually turned it into a strength,” Kyle Hilbert said.

“I’ve been able to be a part of many of our budgets over the past seven fiscal years,” Kyle Hilbert said. “When I got here, we were looking under every couch cushion that existed for pennies to keep the government running, and now we’re in a position as a state where we have $4.6 billion in surplus.”

This feat is truly impressive, Kyle Hilbert added, because the surplus is double the amount Gov. Kevin Stitt wanted Oklahoma to have.

“At the end of the day, being effective comes down to finding your area you care about and focusing on that, being a person of integrity, and working hard,” Kyle Hilbert said. “Without all three of those things, it won’t work.”

Many issues face the state, Kyle Hilbert said, and the important part is finding ones to focus on.

“You can’t be ‘inch deep, mile wide’ in everything,” Kyle Hilbert said.

In addition to fiscal policy, one of the important issues for Kyle Hilbert has been education. The Hilberts have two daughters, 4-year-old Addison and 1-year-old Dorothy. His daughters have shaped his perspective on public education, he said.

“I’ve always cared about common education, particularly early childhood education,” Kyle Hilbert said. “Now, it’s something I think about a lot more than I used to.”

Children’s formative years are important to the future education of students, he added.

“If a kid is behind in first and second grade, they’re way more likely to be behind in eighth or ninth grade and never catch up,” Kyle Hilbert said. “We have to be laser-focused on improving our outcomes in early childhood if we want to do anything to fix our education system long term.”

Decisions made at the state level impact children’s education, Alexis Hilbert said. This has framed how the Hilberts think about making Oklahoma a better place for their girls and other children in the state, she added.

“I graduated from Depew High School with 33 people in my graduating class,” Kyle Hilbert said. “Then, I graduated from OSU and spoke at commencement. That’s a testament to the strength of small schools.”

Kyle Hilbert wants to ensure students have personal development opportunities and a strong education system across the board, he said. Opportunities through FFA programs are important, he added, which is why he advocates for FFA in the legislature to ensure it receives strong funding.

“I really can see in his thought process of decision making he wants to create a state that is good for our kids,” Lawson said. “He approaches it with a very humble attitude and wants to help members succeed and resolve issues in their districts.”

Having kids is the experience that has shaped him the most, Kyle Hilbert said, and is a driving factor for improving the state.

“I want to make this state better and leave it a better place for the next generation,” he said. “For me, that’s really my main focus on all things is that one word — better.”

Kyle Hilbert tries to make the state better for every constituent in House District 29 and every person he comes into contact with, Alexis Hilbert said.

“Wherever we are, somebody comes up to him because they recognize him,” Alexis Hilbert said. “He’ll get stopped way out in the middle of Oklahoma, and he just stops and listens. He’s like ‘How can I help?’”

Alexis Hilbert said she enjoys seeing her husband’s interactions with people in everyday life because he takes those moments to see how the state can improve.

As for issues Oklahoma may have, Kyle Hilbert strives to make things better tomorrow than they were yesterday, he said.

“Every individual constituent you’re helping has a unique challenge,” Kyle Hilbert said. “You get to figure out the puzzle pieces and put the puzzle together. Being a state representative is more than just pressing a green or red button. It encompasses a lot of things.”

Now in his eighth year in the Oklahoma legislature, Kyle Hilbert said he loves how no two days are the same. Getting to solve hard problems is his favorite part, he added.

“Sometimes that’s helping a single constituent navigate the complexities of government bureaucracy,” Kyle Hilbert said. “Sometimes it’s passing legislation that moves the needle for our state.

“But, there are few things more gratifying than bridging people together and resolving a complex issue,” he said.

Kyle Hilbert served as Speaker Pro Tempore for the 58th and 59th legislatures, and his colleagues want his leadership to continue.

“We’re going to elect him as the next Speaker of the House,” Lawson said. “That’s because he’s made that reputation for himself as a hard worker, kind man, smart and helpful. A lot of people see the same things in him as I do and trust he’s got what it takes to lead this chamber and lead the state.”

Story by: Sydney Vieira | Cowboy Journal