Oklahoma’s primary election had promised a lot of fireworks and it certainly delivered. Seven candidates recommended by the OEA Fund for Children and Public Education’s won their races and will return to the legislature as they won’t face an opponent in the general election.
There will be a runoff for State Superintendent for Public Instruction between Shawnee superintendent April Grace and Secretary of Education Ryan Walters.
In the race for governor, incumbent Kevin Stitt and Democratic challenger Joy Hofmeister both easily won their primaries. They will face a Libertarian (Natalie Bruno) and an independent (Ervin Yen) in the general election.
The biggest wins for public education on the night had to be Sen. Brenda Stanley (SD 42) and Reps. Mark McBride (HD 53), Anthony Moore (HD 57) and Rhonda Baker (HD 60). All four incumbents won in spite of hundreds of thousands of dollars in dark money being spent by voucher proponents, trying to smear their reputations.
All four earn another term as they do not have general election opponents.
In all, 26 state legislators have been elected and will return for another term as they do not have an opponent for the general election. Eleven legislative races have runoffs as does Republican candidates for Labor Commissioner.
Of the other incumbents with primaries, Reps. Logan Phillips (HD 24) and Wendi Stearman (HD 11) and Sen. Jake Merrick (SD 22) all lost their seats.
“While we had some great wins in the primary, there is still a lot of work to be done leading up to the general election,” said OEA President Katherine Bishop. “Public education will be under attack in several races and we will need everyone in the education community to come together for our students. In may sound overly dramatic, but the survival of public education is at stake.”
Visit our Campaign 2022 page to see a complete list of all runoff elections as well as candidates already in the general election.
Runoffs on Tuesday, August 23rd
State Senate
SD 2 (Republican) – Ally Seifried vs Jarrin Jackson
SD 4 (Republican) – Keith Barenberg vs Tom Woods
SD 26 (Republican) – Darcy Jech vs Brady Butler
SD 28 (Republican) – Grant Green vs Jeff McCommas
State House
HD 13 (Republican) – Neil Hays vs. Carlisa Rogers
HD 21 (Republican) – Dustin Reid vs. Cody Maynard
HD 31 (Republican) – Collin Duel vs Karmin Grinder
HD 34 (Republican) – Michael Baughman vs Andrew Muchmore
HD 36 (Republican) – John George vs Anita Raglin
HD 66 (Republican) – Gabe Renfrow vs Clay Staires
HD 87 (Republican) – Gloria Banister vs Scott Esk
Commission of Labor
Leslie Osborn vs. Sean Roberts
Elections Decided
Sate Senate
SD 10 – Bill Coleman (Incumbent)
SD 12 – Todd Gollihare
SD 18 – Jack Stewart
SD 36 – John Haste (Incumbent)
SD 42 – Brenda Stanley (Incumbent)
SD 48 – George Young (Incumbent)
House
HD 1 – Eddy Dempsey (Incumbent)
HD 5 – Josh West (Incumbent)
HD 11 – John B. Kane
HD 15 – Randy Randleman (Incumbent)
HD 18 – David Smith (Incumbent)
HD 20 – Sherrie Conley (Incumbent)
HD 24 – Chris Banning
HD 29 – Hilbert (Incumbent)
HD 32 – Kevin Wallace (Incumbent)
HD 33 – John Talley (Incumbent)
HD 37 – Ken Luttrell (Incumbent)
HD 48 – Tammy Townley (Incumbent)
HD 49 – Josh Cantrell (Incumbent)
HD 50 – Marcus McEntire (Incumbent)
HD 53 – Mark McBride (Incumbent)
HD 55 – Nick Archer
HD 57 – Anthony Moore (Incumbent)
HD 60 – Rhonda Baker (Incumbent)
HD 76 – Ross Ford (Incumbent)
HD 89 – Arturo Alonso
