Ryan LaCroix

Jake Merrick won the Senate seat once held by Stephanie Bice and several newcomers won city council posts in Oklahoma City, Norman Stillwater and Broken Arrow.

Updated February 18 at 12:44 p.m.

Oklahoma City has been struggling to meet its water demand, and that will likely continue after the snow melts and temperatures rise above freezing.

Like power infrastructure across the state, Oklahoma City’s water infrastructure was stressed to the breaking point this week. The cold created a surge in demand. Dripping faucets drove water use up by 100 percent, according to city utilities director Chris Browning.

Updated 12:37 a.m.

A record number of Oklahomans voted this year. More than 1.5 million Oklahomans cast ballots during the 2020 general election, beating 2016's number of about 1.4 million. Oklahoma also saw about an 175% increase in mail and absentee voting compared to 2016.

State Senator Stephanie Bice advances to face Congresswoman Kendra Horn, Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum avoids predicted runoff, three incumbent state Senators lose and Oklahoma County will have its first Black sheriff.

Oklahoma becomes the 37th state to expand Medicaid, Stephanie Bice and Terry Neese advance to Congressional District 5 Republican runoff, and more than half of Oklahoma legislative races are now decided.

President Donald Trump was in Tulsa Saturday night for his first campaign rally since the coronavirus shut down much of the nation. Turnout was far lower than expected, and only minor arguments and impassioned chants occurred when rally-goers and racial justice protesters met in the streets.

While supporters of President Donald Trump gathered to hear him speak at the BOK Center on Saturday, thousands attended the Juneteenth celebration that took place just a few blocks away the day before.

Update: 11:18 p.m.

Republican Kevin Stitt has defeated Democrat Drew Edmondson and Libertarian Chris Powell to become Oklahoma's next governor. The Tulsa businessman is a political newcomer who largely campaigned on his business background.

With nearly 89 percent of the vote tallied, Stitt leads Edmondson as the top vote-getter by a margin of 54.7 percent to 41.9 percent.

Dozens of schools across the state are closed for the seventh day, as thousands of Oklahoma teachers, students and education supporters are expected to descend on the state capitol today.

Warmer weather brought more demonstrators on Monday than the previous week, although the fight over education funding seems to be at a stalemate.

Updated 8:58 p.m.

After more than three hours of discussions behind closed doors, the Oklahoma Senate made quick work of three bills that would help fund a teacher pay raise package and potentially avoid next week’s teacher walkout.

Senators passed three bills Wednesday night: