Indigo Oliver, Oklahoma House District 47
These are the Downballot Diaries – stories of and from some of the people Every State Blue is supporting this cycle.
Every State Blue’s projects crowdfund support for underfunded Democrats running for state legislature – typically in the reddest and most gerrymandered districts in the country. We’re redefining what it means for Democrats to run everywhere.
We support people running hard in the hardest places.
Indigo Oliver is one of those people. This is her story.
As a licensed mental health therapist who specializes in trauma care, Indigo Oliver sees first-hand the effects of government neglect.
And so she is running to represent District 47 in Oklahoma’s House of Representatives.
“I’ve always been very concerned about politics in Oklahoma,” said Oliver, “but being a therapist – especially working with people whose mental health problems are exacerbated by the systems we live in in this state – is so frustrating. It feels like I’m taking a bucket trying to bail out someone’s boat, and people are shooting holes in the bottom of it.”
For example, just this year:
- Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Texas-based Tad Nelson & Associates found that Oklahoma ranks No. 1 in the nation for domestic violence among women and men.
- MAP, an independent think tank based in Boulder, ranks Oklahoma’s LGBTQ policy score an abysmal -6.75 out of 49.
- And the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Oklahoma 48th in education (only Alaska and New Mexico scored lower).
Meanwhile, recently Oklahoma’s governor, Kevin Stitt, signed legislation that raises to $275 million the funding cap on the state’s private school tax credit program, a move that de-prioritizes public education. Gov. Stitt also eliminated a statewide council on homelessness, and has pushed to have encampments of people without housing cleared which studies show is an ineffective means of dealing with homelessness. The people living rough generally always return to reestablish their camp.
Oliver wants to bring data-driven solutions to her state, and she’s finding plenty of people in Mustang and the surrounding areas who agree.
“I’ve been knocking doors, and such a large portion of people are registered Republican, but we also have a lot of independents and Democrats,” Oliver said. “Whatever the party, we are agreeing on priorities.”
Voter priorities that cross party lines, said Oliver, include building a strong public education system, particularly for the state’s children, and making accessible adequate mental health care.
“A lot of people in our state are aware that insurance says it covers mental health, but that is not what’s happening, especially in rural areas,” she said.
Voters also have told Oliver they’d like to see a little more humanity in politics.
“The big things we talk about are really just people wanting more compassion and more professionalism in our state legislature,” she said. “We have a lot of proposed data centers around us, and there’s a lack of transparency around decisions that affect people’s drinking water and utility bills.”
Democrats in her deeply-red district tend to feel isolated, though they shouldn’t, Oliver said.
“When I knock on a Democrat’s door, they will say, ‘I am the only one in my neighborhood,’ but I’ve talked to 50 of their neighbors who are also Democrats,” said Oliver. “It’s an illusion that there aren’t any Democrats in Oklahoma and it serves the narrative that there’s no way this could happen. Definitely, statistically we have way less Democrats, but it’s not as miniscule a number as you might think.”
Oliver chose her profession early after benefitting from therapy as a girl. She earned a bachelor of arts in psychology degree from Excelsior College in Albany, New York, and a master’s degree in education in professional counseling from the University of Oklahoma. She opened her practice in 2021.
“I loved my psychology classes, loved learning how to support people when life experiences are too much to process alone,” she said.
Oliver’s mother is a NICU nurse, her wife works in healthcare IT, and she brings a wealth of information and experiences to a legislature heavy on attorneys. She’s said she’s seen how inadequate systems affect vulnerable families, and she decided she was done sitting on the sidelines.
“All these bills affect people’s mental health,” Oliver said. “I am able to talk about what the American Psychological Association says, what the American Counseling Association says. There is a lot of evidence on what’s the best path forward if we can bring that expertise, and cut through the political noise.”
The district she’s seeking to represent encompasses Mustang, a bit of Yukon and Oklahoma City, and voters there haven’t had a Democratic candidate for state representative since 2018. Oliver said she’s both running to win, and she’s running to show others that winning is possible.
“I am knocking on doors and sometimes a child will be there with their parent and they’ll ask, ‘What’s a state representative,’ and I talk to them about how we vote in our state, and what’s important is that they can some day run for office, too. I am showing people you can run, even if you haven’t seen someone who looks like you doing it. I can widen the door for people.”
Support Indigo and her fellow Oklahoma candidates who are running in districts that went uncontested last cycle by clicking here or on the button below. 100% of your contribution goes to the candidates.
Learn more about Every State Blue and our projects (Blue Missouri, Blue Ohio, Blue Tennessee, and First In Line), here.
