Stephanie Bice Bio
Stephanie Irene Bice (née Asady; born November 11, 1973) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the United States Representative for Oklahoma’s 5th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she is the first American of Iranian and Pakistani descent elected to Congress. Before entering elected office, she built a career in financial oversight, business strategy, and marketing for her family’s technology company and later served as vice president of business development at a boutique digital marketing agency in Oklahoma City.
Bice previously represented the 22nd district in the Oklahoma State Senate from 2014 to 2020, where she became Assistant Majority Floor Leader in 2016. She lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, with her husband and their two daughters.
Early Life and Background
Stephanie Irene Bice was born on November 11, 1973, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Paula Sue Vanhooser, an American mother, and Hosein “Joe” Asady, a half-Iranian and half-Pakistani father. Her father came to California from Zahedan, Iran, via Karachi, Pakistan, at a young age to study computer science. The family later settled in Oklahoma, where Stephanie grew up and attended Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City.
After high school, Bice enrolled at Oklahoma State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in international business. Her multicultural background and Oklahoma upbringing shaped her early worldview and would later inform her policy interests in business, immigration, and healthcare. In 2024, her alma mater invited her back as commencement speaker in recognition of her public service.
Path to US Politics
Following college, Bice worked for eight years in financial oversight, business strategy, and marketing for her family’s technology company based in Oklahoma City. She later moved into the digital sector as vice president of business development at a boutique digital marketing agency, gaining experience in small-business operations and economic development that would shape her political platform.
Her entry into elected office came in 2014, when she won a seat in the Oklahoma State Senate representing the 22nd district. She was unopposed in the 2014 general election, an early signal of strong local support. Within two years, the Senate Republican Caucus elevated her to Assistant Majority Floor Leader, a leadership post that gave her a voice in shaping the chamber’s legislative agenda and party strategy.
Stephanie Bice Career
Early Career (2014-2018)
Bice’s first notable political role began in 2014 when she was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate for the 22nd district. In her first term, she served on the Subcommittee on General Government and Transportation, as well as the Business, Commerce and Tourism, Finance, and Public Safety committees. She quickly built a reputation as a policy-oriented legislator focused on criminal-justice reform, healthcare oversight, and regulatory modernization.
In 2016, Bice was elected Assistant Majority Floor Leader by the Senate Republican Caucus, a leadership position she held alongside her committee work. She was reelected to the Senate in 2018, winning 73 percent of the vote in the Republican primary and 68 percent in the general election, demonstrating broad support in her district.
Oklahoma Senate Breakthrough (2014-2020)
During her six years in the Oklahoma State Senate, Bice sponsored several pieces of legislation that became law. She was the Senate sponsor of House Bill 1269, a measure that provided relief to people serving felony prison sentences for crimes that had been reclassified as misdemeanors. Rather than granting automatic retroactive relief to all eligible inmates, the law directed the Pardon and Parole Board to create an accelerated, single-stage commutation docket to review eligible cases.
Bice also authored SB 142, a law signed in May 2019 that addressed the overuse of powerful antipsychotic drugs in nursing home patients who had not received a psychiatric diagnosis or given informed consent. She additionally sponsored State Question 792, which modernized Oklahoma’s liquor laws by allowing grocery stores to sell full-strength beer and wine, reshaping the state’s retail alcohol market.
U.S. House of Representatives Era (2021-Present)
In April 2019, Bice announced her candidacy for Oklahoma’s 5th congressional district, a seat that had been a Republican stronghold for more than four decades until Democrat Kendra Horn won it in 2018. Bice placed second in the June 2020 Republican primary behind businesswoman Terry Neese, then defeated Neese in the runoff before going on to defeat Horn in the general election. Her campaign focused on immigration and affordable healthcare, themes drawn from her business and Senate experience.
Redistricting following the 2020 census made the 5th district significantly safer for Bice by shifting a mostly Latino section of Oklahoma City into the heavily Republican 3rd district. She won reelection in 2022 by defeating Democratic candidate Joshua Harris-Till and Independent David Frosch, and in 2024 she drew no Republican primary challengers before defeating Democratic candidate Madison Horn in the general election. In late 2020, she was identified as a member of the Freedom Force, a group of incoming Republican House members focused on opposing socialism in America.
On January 6, 2021, Bice voted to object to Arizona’s and Pennsylvania’s electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election. She later joined 35 Republicans in voting to establish the January 6 commission to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol, and she voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. She has voted to provide Israel with military support following the 2023 Hamas attack and, in July 2025, voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. She also introduced a resolution stating that The Star-Spangled Banner should only be performed in English.
Notable Events and Milestones
One of the defining moments of Bice’s career came in 2020 when she became the first American of Iranian and Pakistani descent elected to the United States Congress. Her 2020 victory over Kendra Horn flipped the seat back to Republican control, and her subsequent elections in 2022 and 2024 cemented her hold on the district.
Stephanie Bice Career Wins
Stephanie Bice has compiled a record of election victories at both the state and federal levels, beginning with her first run for the Oklahoma State Senate in 2014.
Election Highlights
Bice was first elected to the Oklahoma State Senate in 2014, running unopposed in the general election for the 22nd district. She was reelected in 2018 with 73 percent of the vote in the Republican primary and 68 percent in the general election. Her 2020 victory in the U.S. House Republican primary runoff over Terry Neese was followed by a general-election win over Kendra Horn for Oklahoma’s 5th congressional district.
Other Wins & Achievements
Bice was elected Assistant Majority Floor Leader by the Senate Republican Caucus in 2016, a leadership milestone during her tenure in the Oklahoma State Senate. She has continued to win reelection to the U.S. House in 2022 and 2024, and in 2024 she served as commencement speaker at Oklahoma State University.
Stephanie Bice Family
Family Background and Political Lineage
Stephanie Bice was raised in Oklahoma City by her mother, Paula Sue Vanhooser, and her father, Hosein “Joe” Asady, who came to the United States from Zahedan, Iran, via Karachi, Pakistan, to study computer science. Her mixed Iranian, Pakistani, and American heritage has been a defining part of her public identity, making her the first American of Iranian and Pakistani descent elected to Congress.
Personal Life
Bice married Geoffrey Bice in 1996, and the couple has two daughters. The family lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. Bice is a Roman Catholic and a member of St. Eugene Catholic Church in Oklahoma City; she converted to Catholicism before her wedding.