2018 Oklahoma Gubernatorial Election

The 2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Oklahoma. Incumbent Republican Party (United States), Republican governor Mary Fallin was term-limited, and was prohibited by the Constitution of Oklahoma from seeking another gubernatorial term. Republican Businessman Kevin Stitt was elected with 54.3% of the vote, defeating Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee and former Attorney General of Oklahoma, Oklahoma attorney general Drew Edmondson.

Primary elections occurred on June 26, 2018. Edmondson won the Democratic nomination outright. Stitt, however, faced a runoff election against former List of mayors of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett. On August 28, 2018, Stitt won the Republican primary runoff and became the Republican nominee for the office. The Libertarian Party of Oklahoma, Libertarian Party also held a primary, which advanced to a runoff, with Chris Powell (politician), Chris Powell, a former chair of the Libertarian Party of Oklahoma, winning the nomination.

This was the first election in which the Libertarian Party has been on the ballot to participate in a gubernatorial election in Oklahoma, and the only time since 1986 Oklahoma gubernatorial election, 1986 that a candidate from the First presidency of Donald Trump, incumbent president's party was elected Governor of Oklahoma.

A member of the Cherokee Nation, Stitt became the first tribally enrolled Native Americans in the United States, Native American to serve as governor of a U.S. state.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominated

* Kevin Stitt, businessman

Eliminated in the primary runoff

*Mick Cornett, former mayor of Oklahoma City

Eliminated in the initial primary

*Christopher Barnett, businessman
*Dan Fisher (Oklahoma), Dan Fisher, former state representative
*Eric Foutch, veteran
*Barry Gowdy, nurse
*Gary Jones (Oklahoma politician), Gary Jones, Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector
*Todd Lamb (politician), Todd Lamb, Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
* Gary Richardson (lawyer), Gary Richardson, former United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, nominee for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district, OK-02 in United States House of Representatives elections, 1978#Oklahoma, 1978 and United States House of Representatives elections, 1980#Oklahoma, 1980, and independent candidate for governor in Oklahoma gubernatorial election, 2002, 2002
*Blake Stephens, Blake "Cowboy" Stephens, rancher and educator

Endorsements

First round

Polling

Results

Runoff

Campaign finance

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominated

* Drew Edmondson, former Attorney General of Oklahoma, attorney general of Oklahoma and candidate for governor of Oklahoma in 2010 Oklahoma gubernatorial election, 2010

Eliminated in the primary

* Constance N. Johnson, Connie Johnson, former state senator and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, 2014

Withdrew

* Scott Inman, state representative
* Norman Jay Brown, auto mechanic

Declined

* Dan Boren, former U.S. representative
* Joe Dorman, former state representative and nominee for governor in 2014 Oklahoma gubernatorial election, 2014

Endorsements

Polling

with Norman Brown

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominated

* Chris Powell, former chair of the Oklahoma Libertarian Party and candidate for Oklahoma County Clerk in 2016

Eliminated in the primary runoff

* Rex L. Lawhorn, former chair of the Oklahoma Americans Elect Party and Oklahoma State Director for Our America Initiative

Eliminated in the initial primary

* Joe Exotic, zoo operator

Endorsements

First round

Results

Runoff

Campaign finance

Results

General election

Oklahoma determines ballot order by a random drawing which took place for this election cycle on July 12, resulting in the Libertarian Party being listed first, Republicans second, and Democrats third.

Debates

Complete video of debate
September 24, 2018

Predictions

Polling

Graphical summary

with Mick Cornett

with Todd Lamb

Results

By county

Stitt won 73 counties, while Edmondson won four. Stitt won 56 counties with at least 60% of the popular vote, 14 counties with at least 70%, and three counties – Beaver County, Oklahoma, Beaver, Cimarron County, Oklahoma, Cimarron, and Ellis County, Oklahoma, Ellis – with upwards of 80%. Stitt had the largest margin of victory in Cimarron with 73.09% more votes than Edmondson's 12.27%, the latter's lowest county performance in the election. The largest county per vote count won by Stitt was Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Tulsa County, home of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa. Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma County, of which Oklahoma City is county seat, was the only county where Stitt failed to acquire three out of every seven votes.

Edmondson won Muskogee County, Oklahoma, Muskogee by a single vote, and had an 11.84% margin of victory – his only margin of victory above 10% – in Oklahoma County. Edmondson won his four counties with typically narrower margins than that of Stitt, having missed 50% of the popular vote in Muskogee. Powell never came close to winning any counties, but won his highest percentage of votes in Washita County, Oklahoma, Washita County, with 4.97%

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
*Caddo County, Oklahoma, Caddo (largest city: Anadarko, Oklahoma, Anadarko)
*Coal County, Oklahoma, Coal (largest city: Coalgate, Oklahoma, Coalgate)
*Latimer County, Oklahoma, Latimer (largest city: Wilburton, Oklahoma, Wilburton)
*Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, Pontotoc (largest city: Ada, Oklahoma, Ada)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
*Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland (largest city: Norman, Oklahoma, Norman)
*Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma (largest city: Oklahoma City)

By congressional district

Stitt won four of five congressional districts.https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::bae848ae-a6fd-4647-a2fc-3af07978eb28

See also

* 2018 Oklahoma state elections

References

External links

Candidates
at Vote Smart
Candidates
at Ballotpedia

Official campaign websites
Drew Edmondson (D) for GovernorChris Powell (L) for Governor
*

{{2018 United States elections

2018 Oklahoma elections, Gubernatorial
Oklahoma gubernatorial elections, 2018
2018 United States gubernatorial elections, Oklahoma
November 2018 in the United States
2018 in Oklahoma