The politics of Oklahoma exists in a framework of a

presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

modeled after the United States. The

governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma Executive (government), executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The gove ...

is both

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

and

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

, and of a pluriform

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...

Executive power The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

is exercised by the governor and the government.

Legislative power A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

is vested in the governor and the bicameral

Oklahoma Legislature The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 sta ...

Judicial power The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudication, adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and app ...

is vested in the

judiciary of Oklahoma The Oklahoma Court System is the judicial system for the U.S. State of Oklahoma. Based in Oklahoma City, the court system is a unified state court system that functions under the Chief Justice of Oklahoma who is its administrator-in-chief. Und ...

. The political system is laid out in the 1907

Oklahoma Constitution The Constitution of the State of Oklahoma is the governing document of the U.S. State of Oklahoma. Adopted in 1907, Oklahoma ratified the United States Constitution on November 16, 1907, as the 46th U.S. state. At its ratification, the Oklahoma ...

. Oklahoma is currently categorized politically as

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

. The state has a history of Democratic state government dominance. Oklahoma came into being as a state at the height of the era of

Jim Crow Laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

and had a

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

presence in the 1920s. Race politics gave way to Democratic political infighting over the New Deal in the 1930s and 1940s and the gradual growth of the

Oklahoma Republican Party The Oklahoma Republican Party is the Oklahoma state affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party (GOP). Along with the Oklahoma Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties in the state. It is currently the dominan ...

's power. Today all of Oklahoma's federal offices, and all but one of its statewide offices, are held by the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

, which also holds supermajorities in both chambers of the state Legislature.

Political history

Until 1964,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

was considered a "

swing state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pre ...

" in American politics, shifting back and forth in its support for the two major

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...

. This was in part due to Oklahoma's situation both as a part of the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

states, which tended to be reliably

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, which was heavily Democratic at that time. The Republican candidate has carried Oklahoma in every presidential election since 1968, often by large margins. However, Oklahoma voters would split their political allegiances (electing Democrats for

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

, but Republicans for national office). In general, Oklahoma can be characterized as a politically

state.

Early history

Oklahoma politics from statehood through

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was dominated by the Democratic Party, with the Republican Party and the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

vying to challenge the Democratic Party's dominance. The

2nd Oklahoma Legislature The Second Oklahoma Legislature was a meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Oklahoma, composed of the Oklahoma Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives, during the only term of Governor Charles Haskell. State legislators ...

included Oklahoma's first black member, Republican

A. C. Hamlin Albert Comstock Hamlin (February 10, 1881 – August 29, 1912) was the first African American elected to the Oklahoma Legislature. He lost his re-election bid as a direct result of a constitutional amendment that prevented many black Oklahomans ...

, but passed legislation that made it nearly impossible for African-Americans to seek elective office, which limited him to one term. In the 1910s, the

included

Socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

, but the only bill they sponsored that became law involved hunting.A Century to Remember
(accessed August 9, 2013) Socialists were also elected to local office and received the nation's highest vote count per capita for the party's candidate,

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialism, socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate ...

in 1916. The

Jim Crow Law The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

in Oklahoma was struck down by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, but a special session was called by the Democratic governor and focused on voting laws that limited black voter participation. The

and the civil rights struggles of the

era came to Oklahoma in the 1920s, leading to the

Tulsa race massacre The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long massacre that took place between May 31 – June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deput ...

, lynchings and other violence. Following the practical destruction of the Socialist party in the aftermath of the Green Corn Rebellion, state politics became a two-party system that continued to exclude black voters.

New Deal coalition

At the U.S. Presidential level, Oklahoma's electoral college vote was a reliable part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

(which began in the U.S. election of 1932). Oklahoma did support President Eisenhower in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

and

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

, but then returned to supporting the Democrats in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

(Oklahoma split its electoral college vote Nixon–Byrd 7–1, due to a maverick elector, commonly referred to as a faithless elector, in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

). During this same period, Oklahoma's Governors, legislature, and delegation to Congress continued to be dominated by the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. However, there was political infighting over deficit spending in the late 1930s, leading to a successful bipartisan push for a 1941 constitutional amendment requiring legislators to pass a balanced budget. Leon C. Phillips, who opposed New Deal programs, rose to prominence, first as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and later as governor.Scales, James R. and Danny Goble (1982). ''Oklahoma Politics: A History''. University of Oklahoma Press.

Southern strategy

During the presidential campaign in 1968, Oklahoma was targeted by the

to be included in what was called the

Southern Strategy In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. As the civil rights movement and dismantling of ...

. Beginning with the second Presidential campaign of Richard Nixon (who appealed to Oklahoma voters on the issue of law and order), Oklahoma gradually changed in its voting pattern in national elections to become an increasingly reliable Republican state for presidential tickets. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

carried Oklahoma twice (by a wide margin), in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, for example. Starting with the 2004 election results, every county in Oklahoma has gone to the Republican candidate. In 2008, Oklahoma was the only state in which every county was carried by

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

. Gradually, the success of the Republican Party began to translate into Congressional, legislative, and other local political races.

Oklahoma politics today

By the start of the 21st century, conservative Republicans increased their strength in Oklahoma on the statewide level, but Democrats were still a major factor in statewide politics. This began to change in 2004, when the Republicans took control of the state House for only the second time ever, and the first time since 1921. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, incumbent Democratic governor

Brad Henry Charles Bradford Henry (born July 10, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who was the 26th governor of Oklahoma from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002. Henry won re-election for a second term ...

won re-election to a second term in a landslide, taking 66% of the vote against former Republican Congressman

Ernest Istook Ernest James "Ernie" Istook Jr. (born February 11, 1950) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 5th congressional district. He held his congressi ...

, and carrying every county except the three in the strongly Republican

Oklahoma Panhandle The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas Count ...

. Despite this landslide Democratic victory, the Republicans gained two seats in the State Senate (resulting in a 24–24 tie, although the Democratic Party held the tie-breaking Lieutenant Governor's vote) and increased their lead in the House to 57–44. In 2008, the Republicans gained two state senate seats, taking control (26–22) of that chamber for the first time in state history, while increasing their membership in the state House to a 61–40 advantage. The Republicans thus had complete control of the state legislature for the first time ever. In addition, Oklahoma was the only state where John McCain carried every county (even though Democrats still had a majority of registered voters). The 2010 statewide election saw a historic sweep—for the first time in Oklahoma history, the GOP won every statewide office up for election that year. In 2010, the GOP increased its majorities in the House by six seats and in the Senate by five seats. (One seat, State Senate District 47, was vacant, as incumbent Todd Lamb was elected Lieutenant Governor, and was filled by special election in January 2011.) The Republicans thus had complete control of state government for the first time ever. On the Congressional front, Tom Coburn held his U.S. Senate seat and the GOP maintained control of the four House seats it held, and came within 6 points of taking Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district (the only Oklahoman Congressional seat not held by the GOP). No Democrat has won a statewide election in Oklahoma since, although incumbent

Superintendent of Public Instruction A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistance on educationa ...

Joy Hofmeister, who was elected twice as a Republican, switched her affiliation to Democratic in 2021. In the 2012 statewide election, the GOP captured the 2nd District seat, and thus held every statewide office as well as the entire Congressional delegation. The GOP also increased its majorities in the Oklahoma Legislature by four seats in the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's b ...

for a total of 71 seats and one in the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.supermajority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

. The 2014 statewide election saw the GOP maintain its hold of all the statewide and Congressional seats (all five House seats and, due to both James Inhofe's seat being up for re-election and Tom Coburn resigning his seat mid-term, both Senate seats), its hold of its 71 seats in the House, and increase its Senate bloc to 39 seats. In 2016, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump easily carried the state, with congressional representation remaining unchanged. In 2018, Republican Representative Steve Russell from the 5th congressional district was defeated in his second reelection bid by Democratic nominee Kendra Horn, marking the first time a Democrat had been elected to the seat since 1974.

Political institutions

As in the national government of the United States, power in Oklahoma is divided into three main branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

Executive

The

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of the state is Oklahoma City and the Governor of Oklahoma is

Kevin Stitt John Kevin Stitt (born December 28, 1972) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, he began his first term as governor in January 2019 and was reelected to a second t ...

, a

. His first term began on January 14, 2019. The current

Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma The lieutenant governor of Oklahoma is the second-highest executive official of the state government of Oklahoma. As first in the gubernatorial line of succession, the lieutenant governor becomes the new governor of Oklahoma upon the death, resi ...

is Republican Matt Pinnell. Pinnell concurrently serves, by virtue of his office as lieutenant governor, as the

president of the Oklahoma Senate The lieutenant governor of Oklahoma is the second-highest executive official of the state government of Oklahoma. As first in the gubernatorial line of succession, the lieutenant governor becomes the new governor of Oklahoma upon the death, resi ...

. The offices of the governor and lieutenant governor have four-year terms. The Governor is assisted by a

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

consisting of the assembled heads of the various executive departments called Secretaries. Of the Secretaries, the highest in rank is Secretary of State, currently Michael Rogers, a

, who is the only appointed executive officer under the

. Other statewide executive offices are contested in elections and serving four-year terms that run concurrent with that of the Governor, with the exception of the three members of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Those members serve staggered six-year terms, with one member's term up for election every two years.

Current executive branch

Legislative

Senate chamber of the Oklahoma Senate, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The state legislature is a

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

body consisting of the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's b ...

, with members elected directly by the people. There are 48 state senators, each serving a staggered four-year term and 101 members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, each serving a two-year term. Members of both houses are elected from single member districts of equal population. The state has term limits for their legislature that restrict any one person to a total of twelve years service in both the House and Senate. The state legislature convenes in regular session at noon each odd-numbered year on the first Monday in February.Article V, Section 26
Oklahoma Constitution (accessed August 9, 2013) However, in the odd-numbered years following an election, the state legislature must meet on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January for the sole purpose of determining the outcome of the statewide elections. The state constitution limits the state legislature to meeting 160 legislative days during each biennium. In addition, the legislature may not meet in regular session after the last Friday in May of each year.

Current composition

In the 58th Legislature (2021–2022), the Republicans control both houses (a 82–19 majority in the House and a 38–9 majority in the Senate with one vacancy in Stephanie Bice's former seat). The Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma Senate

Current leadership

The Oklahoma House of Representatives ,

Speaker of the Oklahoma House The Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Oklahoma Legislature, the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The speaker exercises administrative and procedural functions, but remains a rep ...

Charles McCall Charles Adelbert McCall III (born April 19, 1970) is an American politician who currently serves as the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he represents the 22nd House District, which is located in ...

, January 3, 2017 , - , Speaker Pro Tempore of the House , Kyle Hilbert ,

, , - , Majority Leader ,

Jon Echols Jon Echols (born December 3, 1979) is an American politician who has served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from the 90th district since 2012. He is the Majority Floor Leader. Oklahoma House of Representatives In 2016, Echols asked th ...

, , - , Minority Leader ,

Emily Virgin Emily Virgin (born October 1, 1986) is an American politician who is the Minority Leader of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. She previously served as House Democratic Caucus Chair. She was first elected in 2010 at the age of 24 and repres ...

, Democratic , The Oklahoma Senate , - , President of the Senate and Lieutenant Governor , Matt Pinnell ,

, January 14, 2019 , - ,

President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate The President ''pro tempore'' of the Oklahoma Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the Oklahoma Senate and the highest-ranking state senator. The Oklahoma Constitution designates the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma as the highest-r ...

Greg Treat Greg Treat (born May 9, 1978) is an American Republican politician from Oklahoma and the current President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate. He represents district 47, which includes parts of Oklahoma City, Edmond, Deer Creek, and Bethany. He ...

, , - , Republican Floor Leader ,

Greg McCortney Greg McCortney (born May 30, 1974) is an American politician who has served in the Oklahoma Senate from the 13th district since 2016. In October 2021, McCortney was promoted to Majority Leader of the Oklahoma Senate because former Majority Leader ...

, , - , Democratic Floor Leader ,

Kay Floyd P. Kay Floyd (born 1958/1959) is an American politician who represents the 46th district in the Oklahoma Senate. A Democrat, her district includes parts of Oklahoma City. Political Career She was first elected to the Oklahoma House of Repr ...

, Democratic ,

Judicial

The

Judiciary of Oklahoma The Oklahoma Court System is the judicial system for the U.S. State of Oklahoma. Based in Oklahoma City, the court system is a unified state court system that functions under the Chief Justice of Oklahoma who is its administrator-in-chief. Und ...

has six levels. Most cases start in the district courts, which are courts of general jurisdiction. The lowest level courts are the Municipal Courts which exist to oversee the administration of justice within cities and have jurisdiction only over the violation of city ordinances. Appeals from Municipal Courts are heard by District Courts. There are 77 District Courts, with each having either a single or multiple District Judges with at least one Associate District Judge to administer justice. Appeals from the District Courts and challenges to certain governmental decisions are heard by either the

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals is an intermediate appellate court in the state of Oklahoma. Cases are assigned to it by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the state's highest court for civil matters.

for civil appeals or the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal appeals. The Court of Civil Appeals has twelve judges who sit in two-judge divisions and the Court of Criminal Appeals has five judges. Two specialized courts within administrative agencies have been established, the Court of Tax Review hears disputes involving illegal taxes levied by county and city governments, and the Workers’ Compensation Court. The nine-justice

Oklahoma Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.

is the court of last resort for all civil appeals. The Court has

appellate jurisdiction A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

on all civil issues, the Court of Civil Appeals, the Court of Tax Review and the Worker's Compensation Court. The Court only has original jurisdiction when new first impression issues, or important issues of law, or matters of great public interest are at stake. Within the Oklahoma court system there are two independent courts: the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary which monitors the actions of all judges and justices and the

Oklahoma Court of Impeachment The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma (in case citations, E.D. Okla. or E.D. Ok.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which ...

based in Muskogee, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma based in Tulsa, and the

United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (in case citations, W.D. Okla. or W.D. Ok.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which ...

based in Oklahoma City. Appeals are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit based in Denver, Colorado.

Federal representation

James Lankford official portrait 115th congress (cropped)

Markwayne Mullin official Senate photo (cropped)

Oklahoma's two

U.S. Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

, Republicans James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin, are elected at-large. Oklahoma is currently represented by five

congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

in the United States House of Representatives. At one point, Oklahoma had as many as eight congressional districts and as many as three at-large districts, but the state's sluggish population growth resulted in the state losing its seventh and eighth districts in 1953 and its sixth district in 2003. Oklahoma's 1st congressional district is based in Tulsa and covers the northeastern corner of the state and it borders Kansas to the north. It is represented by

Kevin Hern Kevin Ray Hern (born December 4, 1961) is an American businessman and politician from the state of Oklahoma. A Republican, he is a member of the United States House of Representatives for . He was first elected in 2018. Hern was ranked number 7 i ...

, a Republican. Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district covers (approximately) the eastern one-fourth of the state, bordering Kansas to the north, Missouri and Arkansas to the east, and Texas along the Red River to the south. It is represented by

Josh Brecheen Joshua Chad Brecheen (, , born June 19, 1979) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma who has served as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district since 2023. He represented the 6th district in the Oklaho ...

, a Republican.

Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district is the largest congressional district in the state, covering an area of 34,088.49 square miles, over 48 percent the state's land mass. The district is bordered by New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and the Texas ...

covers western Oklahoma, from the Panhandle to the Tulsa suburbs, and borders New Mexico to the west, Colorado and Kansas to the north, and the Texas panhandle to the south. It is represented by

Frank Lucas Frank Lucas (September 9, 1930 – May 30, 2019) was an American drug trafficker who operated in Harlem, New York City, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly ...

, a Republican. Oklahoma's 4th congressional district covers south-central Oklahoma and borders Texas along the Red River to the south. It is represented by Tom Cole, a Republican. Oklahoma's 5th congressional district, centered in Oklahoma City, covers central Oklahoma and borders all of the other congressional districts except District 1. It is represented by Stephanie Bice, a Republican. File:Rep. Kevin Hern official photo, 116th congress (cropped).jpg,

1st district The Innere Stadt (; Central Bavarian: ''Innare Stod'') is the 1st municipal district of Vienna () located in the center of the Austrian capital. The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the Inn ...

File:Rep. Josh Brecheen official photo, 118th Congress (cropped).jpg,

, 2nd district File:Frank Lucas (cropped).jpg,

, 3rd district File:Tom Cole official congressional photo (cropped).jpg, Tom Cole,

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

File:Stephanie Bice 117th U.S Congress (cropped).jpg, Stephanie Bice,

5th district District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

Presidential elections

In presidential elections, Oklahoma has consistently voted for Republican candidates since 1968, with the Democratic candidate having failed to pick up a single county in the state in all elections from 2004 on.

Notes

References

External links

Brief on Oklahoma politics.

Oklahoma Political Science Association Homepage.

Oklahoma's two U.S. Senators

Oklahoma Democratic Party

Oklahoma Republican Party

Republican State Senator Nancy Riley switches parties from Republican to Democrat

Lawton Politics
* {{Authority control simple:Oklahoma#Politics