On an Oklahoma night when medical marijuana passed and congressional races were close, Tuesday’s primary election featured no shortage of drama in legislative face. Six sitting lawmakers lost to primary opponents, three sitting and three new lawmakers secured their seats, and 34 races will have runoff primaries.
Currently, the Oklahoma House of Representatives contains 72 Republicans, 28 Democrats and one vacancy in House District 61. The Senate contains 39 Republicans, 8 Democrats and one vacancy in Senate District 30.
Even if every incumbent lawmaker won their Tuesday primary, the 38 open House seats and 10 open Senate seats will still shake up the Oklahoma Legislature.
See the full results from the Oklahoma State Election Board here.
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6 legislators lose seats
Sen. Ervin Yen (R-Oklahoma City), Rep. Chuck Strohm (R-Broken Arrow), Rep. Scooter Park (R-Devol), Rep. Greg Babinec (R-Cushing), Rep. Steve Vaughn (R-Ponca City) and Rep. Scott McEachin (R-Tulsa) lost their seats to primary challengers.
Joe Howell defeated Yen to face independent Christopher Hensley and Democrat Carri Hicks in November. Sheila Dills defeated Strohm to face Democrat Andy Richardson in the general election. Park lost to Toni Hassenbeck who will go on to face Brandon R. Thompson, a Democrat. Babinec was ousted by John Thomas Talley who will face Democrat Brandon Phillips, while McEachin was defeated by Jeff Boatman who will advance to face Carly Hotvedt. Vaughn lost to Ken Luttrell who held the seat as a Democrat before Vaughn.
6 races decided Tuesday
Despite Tuesday being primary-election day, nine House Districts and one Senate District featured one-party ballots. Any candidate who received more than 50 percent of the popular vote won a seat.
The following candidates have secured their place in the next Legislature. Sitting lawmakers who won re-election are identified as being a representative currently:
- HD 11 — Derrell Fincher (R)
- HD 37 — Ken Luttrell (R)
- HD 57 — Rep. Harold Wright (R)
- HD 60 — Rep. Rhonda Baker (R)
- HD 72 — Rep. Monroe Nichols (D)
- HD 74 — Mark VanCuren (R)
Additionally, the following lawmakers went unchallenged and have officially secured their place in the Legislature:
- Sen. Darcy Jech (R-Kingfisher) in SD 26
- Sen. J.J. Dossett (D-Owasso) in SD 34
- Sen. Michael Brooks (D-Oklahoma City) in SD 44
- Sen. Kay Floyd (D-Oklahoma City) in SD 46
- Rep. Johnny Tadlock (D-Idabel)
- Rep. Matt Meredith (D-Tahlequah)
- Rep. Dustin Roberts (R-Durant)
- Rep. Emily Virgin (D-Norman)
- Rep. Marcus McEntire (R-Duncan)
- Rep. Brad Boles (R-Chickasha)
- Rep. Charles Ortega (R-Altus)
- Rep. Mike Sanders (R-Kingfisher)
- Rep. Regina Goodwind (D-Tulsa)
- Rep. Collin Walke (D-OKC)
- Rep. Jason Dunnington (D-OKC)
- Rep. Shane Stone (D-OKC)
- Rep. Forrest Bennett (D-OKC)
- Rep. Mickey Dollens (D-OKC)
- Rep. Jason Lowe (D-OKC)
Ready for runoffs? 34, that is
If no candidate in a primary received more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters will compete in a runoff primary. Oklahoma’s runoff elections will be held Aug. 28. Runoffs typically feature lower voter turnout, but five congressional districts will see runoffs this year, and Republicans saw seven of their statewide races head to runoffs.
A record number of candidates filed for the 2018 election, meaning many runoffs for voters.
Republican #okleg runoffs
- SD 10 between Bill Coleman and Amber Roberts
- SD 16 between Ed Crocker and Becki Maldonado
- SD 30 between Lori Callahan and John Symcox
- SD 36 between John Haste and Bill Day
- HD 10 between Travis Dunlap and Judd Strom
- HD 14 between George Faught and Chris Sneed
- HD 17 between Jim Grego and John Hass
- HD 20 between Bobby Cleveland and Sherrie Conley
- HD 27 between Danny J. Sterling and Dave Spaulding
- HD 30 between Mark Lawson and Kent Glesener
- HD 36 between Sean Roberts and Louise Redcorn
- HD 38 between John Pfeiffer and Brian Hobbs
- HD 41 between Roxanne Pollard and Denise Crosswhite Hader
- HD 43 between Jay W. Steagall and Crystal Duncan
- HD 47 between Brian Hill and Beverly Adams
- HD 61 between Kenton Patzkowsky and Brad Raven
- HD 63 between Jeff Coody and Trey Caldwell
- HD 66 between Jadine Nollan and Brian Jackson
- HD 68 between Lonnie Sims and Nicole Nixon
- HD 71 between Cheryl Baber and Beverly A. Atteberry
- HD 79 between Dan Hicks and Karen Gilbert
- HD 80 between Stan May and Mike Ritze
- HD 82 between Nicole Miller and Brad Martin
- HD 98 between Laura Steele and Dean F. Davis
- HD 100 between Julie Roach and Marilyn M. Stark
- HD 101 between Tess Teague and Robert Manger
Democrat #okleg runoffs
- SD 16 between Mary B. Boren and Claudia Griffith
- HD 26 between E. Bruce Bushong and Terry W. Hopkins
- HD 41 between Jennie Scott and Sara Peterson
- HD 53 between Cyndy Southerland and Leslie Bonebreak
- HD 68 between Angela Statum and Michael Ross
- HD 91 between Amanda Jeffers and Sonya Ferguson
- HD 99 between Ajay Pittman and Nkem House
- HD 101 between John Carpenter and Madeline Scott
(Correction: This post was updated at 10:45 a.m., Wednesday, June 27, to reflect the proper party affiliation for two Democrats in the House of Representatives. It was updated again at 2:35 p.m. to include other House members who had faced no challengers this election cycle. NonDoc regrets this error.)
