Oklahoma voters went to the polls Tuesday to pick nominees for an open Senate seat, the governor’s mansion, and a slate of statewide offices.
With nearly all precincts counted, several races were settled outright, while two marquee contests are now bound for an August runoff.
Republicans Pick Hern, Governor’s Race Splits
Representative Kevin Hern, who had President Trump’s endorsement, easily won the Republican nomination for the Senate seat once held by Markwayne Mullin, who left Congress earlier this year to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
Hern took nearly 70 percent of the vote in a field that included Gary England and Sean Buckner, clearing the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. He will now face the Democratic nominee in the fall, in a seat Republicans have controlled for decades.
On the Democratic side, no candidate hit that same majority mark. N’Kiyla Thomas finished first with about 45 percent of the vote, followed by Jim Priest at roughly 24 percent and Troy Green close behind. Because neither Thomas nor Priest reached 50 percent, the two will meet again in a runoff.
The governor’s race produced one of the night’s tightest finishes. Attorney General Gentner Drummond edged out former state senator Mike Mazzei, who had Trump’s backing, by less than half a percentage point in a crowded nine-person field.
With neither candidate near the majority threshold, Drummond and Mazzei now head to a Republican runoff to decide who succeeds term-limited Governor Kevin Stitt.
On the Democratic side, state Representative Cyndi Munson cleared the field with close to 75 percent of the vote, avoiding a runoff and securing the party’s nomination for what remains a steep uphill climb in a deeply red state.
Down Ballot Races and the Minimum Wage Question
Several other statewide contests were decided Tuesday night. T.W. Shannon won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, while Jon Echols claimed the Republican nod for attorney general over Jeff Starling. Both Kelly Forbes and Nick Coffey ran unopposed for the Democratic nominations for lieutenant governor and attorney general, respectively.
Further down the ballot, races for insurance commissioner, labor commissioner, and superintendent of public instruction on the Republican side all fell short of a majority winner and are headed to runoffs of their own.
Voters also weighed in on State Question 832, a measure that would have raised the state’s minimum wage. The proposal failed, with about 55 percent voting no and 45 percent voting yes.
In the First Congressional District, where Hern is vacating his House seat to run for Senate, a packed Republican field including state Representative Mark Tedford and pastor Jackson Lahmeyer also failed to produce a majority winner, sending that race to a runoff as well.
With Trump having won every county in Oklahoma in the last presidential election, the Republican nominees emerging from these runoffs will enter the general election as heavy favorites in most of these races.
