Capitol Connection: Earned the hard way

For Sen. Tom Woods, a childhood in the dairy barn continues to influence how he approaches service at the Capitol.

Sen. Tom Woods learned early that a dollar could take a week to earn and a moment to spend.

Long before committee meetings and policy debates, there were early mornings in a milk barn, a dollar-a-week paycheck and a childhood shaped by responsibility.

“I still remember I had $32 saved up and I had it spread out across my bed,” Woods, an Ozarks Electric Cooperative member, said. “I used to think, I can’t buy that Dr. Pepper out of the vending machine for $1.25 because I’ve got to work a whole week.”

That kind of thinking, he said, stays with you.

Woods was raised in a family that built its livelihood around a dairy operation. His father ran the family farm full time before spending two decades at Franklin Electric, a decision shaped in part by the need to secure health insurance for Woods’ siblings, two of whom were fully disabled.

By age 12, Woods got a chance to try the business himself. His parents gave him one cow. By 18, he had built that into a herd of 30 and purchased his teacher’s dairy operation. He continued milking cows until 2019, later shifting into a feed store and trucking business before ultimately transitioning away from dairy.

“You can’t take a day off. The cows don’t take a day off,” Woods said. “You’re married to a milk barn.”

Woods never planned on running for office. But over time, another concern began to take shape, one that had less to do with cattle and more to do with what he saw happening around him.

“What sparked my entire interest in running for office was the desire to push financial education in public schools,” he said.

He had seen firsthand how a lack of financial understanding could limit opportunities. Student loan debt, credit card balances and the challenges of homeownership were not distant policy issues. They were affecting people in his community.

That focus on practical, everyday concerns continues to shape how Woods approaches his role at the Capitol. Elected in a 2022 Republican runoff, he entered his first legislative session in 2023 without prior political experience.

What he found was a learning curve that had less to do with policy details and more to do with people.

“You realize how many other people you have to convince that you’re right in order to get something done,” Woods said. “And all that’s relationships.”

For Woods, the measure of helping his constituents is straightforward: policies that show up in everyday life, from infrastructure to education to the cost of utilities.

“These are the issues you’re going to talk about around the kitchen table,” he said.

Woods hears regularly from constituents about the cost of electricity and the importance of keeping rates manageable, especially in rural areas where electric cooperatives serve a large portion of the population.

“Anything the cooperatives can do to keep the rates down as much as possible is something I hear about a lot,” he said.

He emphasizes that cost increases often ripple outward, affecting farms, small businesses and households alike.

“Everything rolls downhill,” Woods said. “Sometimes people don’t understand that.”

Underlying those policy discussions is a consistent thread: an emphasis on responsibility, both personal and collective.

In 2023, Woods added another dimension to that sense of service when he joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard. The decision, while not central to his legislative role, reflects a broader commitment to contributing beyond the Capitol.

Taken together, his experiences form a picture that is less about a traditional political trajectory and more about a set of values carried forward from one setting to another.

“I’m focusing on what actually moves the needle for the next generation,” Woods said. “When I’m 80, I want to say I left my community better than I found it.”

At a glance:

Sen. Tom Woods

District: Senate District 4

Counties served: Adair, Cherokee, Delaware, Sequoyah

Hometown: Westville

First elected: 2022 (Republican runoff)

Occupation: Rancher, small business owner

Military service: Oklahoma Air National Guard (enlisted 2023)

Key focus areas: Financial education, rural infrastructure, utility costs, agriculture

Did you know?

Sen. Tom Woods was honored with an OAEC Legislative Award by the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives in December 2025 (pictured above). He was recognized for championing Oklahoma’s electric cooperatives.