Among the House members being sworn in today: Kendra Horn, Oklahoma’s first female Democratic member of Congress.
Horn, who represents central Oklahoma, including Oklahoma City, said she plans to provide the best constituent service in Congress — and has some GREAT restaurant recommendations.
Lauren Dezenski: In five words, describe your first emotions when you realized you flipped your district to blue (for the first time since the mid-1970s).
Kendra Horn: Excited, relieved, thankful, hopeful, determined.
LD: What’s your top priority in your first term?
KH: Providing the best constituent service in the nation.
LD: What was your biggest lesson from your campaign?
KH: Be authentic.
LD: If 2018 is the year of the woman, what does that make 2019?
KH: The year of returning common sense leadership to Congress. With a divided government, it’s time we focus on the things we agree on in the best interest of our communities. Our job is about public service and doing what’s right. We need to keep that in mind with everything we do.
LD: Did you have a New Year’s resolution in 2018 — and did you achieve it? What about 2019?
KH: You can probably guess what my 2018 resolution was. But in case you can’t, CNN is now interviewing the first Democratic woman to ever serve in Congress from Oklahoma. I feel pretty good about how my 2018 resolution turned out.
2019 is all about representing the people of Oklahoma’s 5th District to the best of my ability. That’s going to take a lot of hard work, seeking out the voices of people in my district and making sure I listen to them. Also, exercise.
LD: What’s your favorite pump-up music to get yourself motivated?
KH: “Hamilton: The Musical” was pretty much the soundtrack of the campaign for the past two years.
It was even on in the car full blast on the way to the watch party while my campaign manager was in the back seat on his laptop trying to confirm if we actually won, as the final votes were still being reported.
LD: What is your favorite thing to eat in your district?
KH: With an affordable cost of living and a growing younger population, Oklahoma City is seeing a boom in great new restaurants. It’s hard to narrow it down to just one. Case in point, Nonesuch restaurant was just named the best [new] restaurant in America by Bon Appetit. Of course I haven’t had a chance to eat there yet because they’re booked up for months and I’ve been a little busy, but I’m looking forward to trying it out if I can get a reservation.
And of course our rural counties have great restaurants as well. Shawnee’s Vann’s Pig Stand is renowned for their barbecue and Robertson’s Ham in Seminole is one of the best roadside stops along I-40.
Stay tuned: We will have more questions for freshmen lawmakers in upcoming editions of The Point! Is there a new face we should talk to from your district? Email lauren.dezenski@cnn.com with your suggestions!
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly state that Kendra Horn is Oklahoma’s first female member of Congress who is a Democrat.
