OKLAHOMA CITY – Republican Governor Kevin Stitt coasted to an easy primary victor last Tuesday evening, capturing 69% of the vote in a four-way contest. Roughly 500,000 of the state’s more than 2.2 million registered voters participated in the election.
Stitt captured 248,355 votes. Challenger Joel Kintsel, the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, was a distant second with 51,564 votes or 14.34%. Mark Sherwood recorded 47,680 votes – 13.26% – and Moira McCabe came in a 3.35% with a total of 12,033 votes.
However, though Stitt did well, his coattails were short.
In the race for Attorney General, incumbent John O’Connor failed in his attempt for re-election. O’Connor lost to challenger Gentner Drummond by more than 6,200 votes. O’Connor had 174,125 votes – 49.12% – to Drummond’s 180,388, about 51%.
Stitt’s election and O’Connor’s defeat generated a terse statement from the leader of the Cherokee Nation. “Although there is much to analyze about tonight’s Oklahoma primary results, it appears a large number of Cherokees turned out to vote,” tweeted Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. “That is very encouraging. It also appears that in the most-contested races of the day, candidates who framed Cherokee sovereignty as a ‘threat’ performed poorly. Candidates who stand with the tribes are prevailing.”
After Tuesday’s election, Republican voters will be forced to return to the polls in August to select candidates for several statewide offices.
Ryan Walters, Stitt’s Secretary of Education, was forced into a runoff election by April Grace, the superintendent Shawnee Public Schools. Walters received 142,540 votes, while Grace captured 105,303 votes. Two other candidates in the race, John Cox and William Crozier gather a combined 28% of the vote. Cox received 83,012 votes, or 24.15% while Crozier was a distant fourth with just 3.76% of the vote, about 12,936 votes.
In the race to replace outgoing U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe, 2nd District Congressman Markwayne Mullin pulled 155,997 votes or 43.62% to lead the 12-person field, but that amount wasn’t enough to keep him out of a runoff.
In August, Mullin will face off against former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon, who earned 62,712 votes or about 17.54%. Inhofe’s former chief of staff, Luke Holland, won only 11.28% or 40,322 votes, and former Trump administration EPA administrator Scott Pruitt captured only 18,040 votes.
Paul Royse had the fewest votes of the evening, earning on 900 votes – well less than one percent.
Three of the state’s five members of Congress easily outdistanced their opponents Tuesday. In CD 3, incumbent Frank Lucas received 44,417 votes, about 61% of the 72,645 votes cast. In the 4th Congressional District, incumbent Tom Cole earned 43,872 votes to overcome two opponents, James Taylor and Frank Blacke. Freshman Congresswoman Stephanie Bice overwhelmed her opponent, earning 51,589 to Sabrina Banks’ 23,876 votes.
The primary also saw the reelection of three candidates who had been opposed by the Oklahoma Council for Public Affairs and the organization’s political arm, People for Opportunity.
Earlier this month, Rachel Moore, the wife of Republican state Rep. Anthony Moore, filed an emergency petition for a protective order in Custer County District Court. Moore filed protective orders against Johnathon Small, the OPCA’s president; Dave Bond, the OCPA’s vice president for advocacy; Ray Carter, the director of the OCPA’s Center for Independent Journalism and Hallie Milner, the OCAP’s development and outreach coordinator.
Moore said she took the action because she received several text messages from an anonymous Google Voice number that “made all sorts of false accusations” and which she described as ‘threatening attacks.’
Trent England, a spokesman for the OCPA said, “While some staff members may, in their personal time, get involved in campaigns, none of that activity is done on behalf of OCPA. And, again, so far as we know, none of that activity has ever involved any contact or attempted contact with Rep. Moore’s spouse.”
Tuesday evening, Moore easily defeated his opponent, Kristen Kelly Poisson 2,992 votes to 1,796 or 62.49% to Poisson’s 37.51%. In addition, Rep. Rhonda Baker carved out a tight victory over her opponent 2,140 votes to 2,068 or 50.86% to 49.14% and Rep. Mark McBride defeated Kathren Stehno, 1,987 votes to 1,109 or 64.18% to 35.82%.
In Senate District 26 – which covers most of Kingfisher County – incumbent Darcy Jech was forced into a runoff by political newcomer Brady Butler. Jech ended the night with 42.76% of the vote, or 4, 054 votes. Butler, however, captured 3,556 votes, about 37.51%. A third candidate, JJ Stitt, a distant cousin of the governor, recorded 1,871 votes or 19.73%.