Oklahoma Spotlight: State Representative Daniel Pae

The “Oklahoma Spotlight” highlights elected officials in our state and community. 

Meet State Representative Daniel Pae, a friend of Oklahoma’s business community, who represents House District 62 in Lawton.

Chamber: Please share with us a brief background on where you grew up and what inspired you to pursue public service?

Rep. Pae: I was born and raised in Lawton. To be honest, politics was not my initial passion in college. After realizing that participating in student government interested me more than taking pre-med courses, I decided to take a different path that led to internships at both the state and federal levels of government, along with serving as OU’s SGA President. Furthermore, it was not my intent to run for elected office immediately after graduating from OU, but as I have now learned, you do not choose the moment to lead—the moment chooses you. I ignored the polls, focused on door knocking, and persevered to win by a margin of 42 votes.

In my view, public service is a noble vocation because of how it emphasizes serving one’s community, advocating for positive changes, and making decisions based on common interests and needs. So long as I have the honor of serving in this position, I will keep challenging the status quo to prove that common decency and pragmatism are possible in modern politics.

Chamber: During college you served as student body president at the University of Oklahoma.  What lessons did you learn from that experience that have helped you serve effectively in the Oklahoma House of Representatives?   

Rep. Pae: Through serving as SGA President, I grew tremendously both as a leader and individual. The project that I’m most proud of during our administration was establishing the OU Food Pantry. We learned about how food insecurity is a major issue on college campuses, so we partnered with stakeholders to open this facility in 2017. It’s been amazing to see how much it’s grown in terms of volunteers and people who have been helped. Working on projects like the OU Food Pantry underscored the significance of building relationships and bringing people together to work toward a common objective. I also learned about effective time management, and representing around 30,000 students was good practice for representing my constituency in Lawton. 

Chamber: You are known as a creative legislator who is interested in pursuing policy solutions to challenges facing Oklahomans.  What is an issue you’d really like to tackle during your tenure in the legislature?

Rep. Pae: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to be one of the most important policy issues we address as lawmakers in the 21st century. This technology is going to profoundly change how we live, so we need to be proactive in terms of what parameters are placed around it. I want to continue collaborating in a bipartisan manner to develop long-term sustainable ideas. AI is going to affect areas ranging from schools, office spaces, hospitals, and so much more. There’s a role for both the federal government and state governments to legislate on this issue.  

Chamber: In closing, why do you believe it is important for the business community to make our voices heard in the legislative process and how does this help you as a legislator?

Rep. Pae: I believe that an effective legislator is willing to listen and learn. I always welcome dialogue on any given issue. We should be having policy conversations consistently, not just when it’s an election year. I welcome feedback from the business community, particularly since we’ve been having discussions on how to promote economic development and workforce readiness. My parents are small business owners, and having seen them operate their dry cleaners for the past few decades has shaped my views on tax and regulatory policies. Definitely reach out to my office if there’s anything I can do to help. 

Rep. Pae is chair of the House Rural Development committee and Vice-Chair of House Appropriations and Budget General Government Subcommittee.