There’s more than just the race for president.
Oklahomans will head to the polls on Nov. 5 for the general election, in which they will have the chance to vote on local, statewide and federal races.
On the ballot are two state questions, legislative races to replace vacating lawmakers, the retention of state Supreme Court justices and more.
Voters can also cast their ballots starting Wednesday, Oct. 30 via early voting, running through Saturday, Nov. 2. Here are races to watch.
The race for president: one candidate only on the ballot in Oklahoma
Although much talk about the presidential election has centered on Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, Oklahomans will see five presidential choices on their ballots.
Aside from Trump and Harris, Libertarian Chase Oliver and independents Chris Garrity and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are listed on the ballot. Oklahoma is the only state where Garrity will have his name listed, though he does have write-in access in a handful of others. Kennedy, however, suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump.
State questions: Public infrastructure districts and voter eligibility
This November, two state questions are up for vote all across Oklahoma. Both are constitutional amendments that have been proposed by state lawmakers.
State Question 833 would allow for the creation of public infrastructure districts (PIDs). PIDs would be able to organize public works projects within district boundaries. They would be funded by a special tax in the district that wouldn’t affect those whose properties lie outside its boundaries, even if they are in the same municipality.
State Question 834 aims to clarify that only U.S. citizens can vote in Oklahoma.
The amendment would change the state constitution to say that only eligible citizens of the U.S. can vote in Oklahoma. It currently reads, “Subject to such exceptions as the Legislature may prescribe, all citizens of the United States, over the age of eighteen (18) years, who are bona fide residents of this state, are qualified electors of this state.”
Although there are some municipalities across the nation where noncitizens can vote in certain elections (such as noncitizen parents being able to vote in San Francisco school board elections), no cities in Oklahoma allow noncitizen voting. It is a felony for noncitizens to register to vote in Oklahoma.
The races for Congress
Neither of Oklahoma’s Republican Senators is up for re-election in 2024. But all five members of the House are running to retain their seats. Here are the races in seats currently held by the GOP.
- District 1: Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Tulsa) will face off against Democratic challenger Dennis Baker.
- District 2: Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Coalgate) is challenged by Democrat Brandon Wade and Independent Ronnie Hopkins.
- District 3: Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Cheyenne) has already retained his seat after defeating primary challengers Robin Carder and Darren Hamilton in June. No Democrats filed to challenge him.
- District 4: Rep. Tom Cole (R-Moore) won a crowded GOP primary earlier this year that included a challenge from Paul Bondar, Nick Hankins, Rick Harris and Andrew Hayes. He will face off against Democrat Mary Brannon and Independent Austin Nieves.
- District 5: Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma City) will work to retain her seat from Democratic challenger and former Senate candidate Madison Horn.
Tulsa mayoral race down to two candidates
The race for mayor of Tulsa is headed to its final stage, with the top two candidates from the August election now in the runoff.
Karen Keith is a Democrat who currently serves as the District 2 Tulsa County Commissioner. Keith boasts endorsements from Tulsa’s Fraternal Order of Police chapter and the Tulsa Firefighters. If elected, she wants to expand the firefighters’ partnership with family and children’s services in providing assistance to homeless individuals.
Monroe Nichols, also a Democrat, is a state representative serving District 72. He said if elected, he aims to end homelessness by 2030. According to his website, he plans to achieve that outcome in part through the establishment of a flexible funding account to serve the variety of needs Tulsa’s homeless population may have.
Nichols’ website also mentions that he wants to strengthen relationships between tribal and local governments. He plans to appoint an individual to a new position of Director of Tribal Policy and Partnerships if elected.
In a recent debate, both candidates expressed a desire to decrease racial disparities in policing outcomes. They also discussed a lawsuit surrounding the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice, in which Keith and other Tulsa County commissioners are accused of failing to protect clients from abuse by guards.
Keith and her fellow commissioners argue that they are not responsible for the abuse, as they did not assume responsibility of the center’s operations until this past July. During the debate, Keith said she found out about the sexual abuse when the general public did, though the commissioners knew about state violations at the center as early as May 2022.
Keith accused Nichols’ campaign of promoting a narrative against her in regards to the lawsuit with his campaign social media.
Contributing reports by Max Bryan, KWGS News.
New faces look to take seats of vacating legislators
When the election season began in April, Oklahoma’s 101 House districts and 26 of the state’s Senate districts were up for grabs.
Nearly 40% of the races were won automatically by uncontested candidates. Others were settled in the primaries and runoffs. 37 remain to be decided by voters in November.
Here are some of the races worth watching:
Senate District 15: Lisa Standridge (R) v. Elizabeth Foreman (D)
Lisa Standridge hopes to replace her husband, Rob Standridge, who was first elected in 2012 and is termed out. Rob Standridge passed measures related mostly to health care and the regulation of certain medicines. Lisa Standridge’s platform, according to posts on her campaign’s Facebook profile, is centered on immigration, lowering taxes and “parental rights.”
Elizabeth Foreman aims to jump from representing Oklahomans at the city level as a council member in Norman’s Ward 6 to the state level in SD 15. Her Democratic platform includes fighting the proposed turnpike projects in Cleveland County, ensuring easier health care access and funding for public schools.
Senate District 21: Randy Grellner (R) v. Robin Fuxa (D)
Republican Randy Grellner, a physican of nearly 25 years, faces Democrat Robin Fuxa, who has been an educator for more than two decades, to represent a district spanning Payne and Creek counties and much of Stillwater.
During a recent debate, Grellner said he’s focused on improving oil and gas policies, agriculture and rural health care. Fuxa said improving public education and health care costs are her main priorities.
The winner will replace incumbent Tom Dugger, a Republican, who decided not to seek a third term.
Senate District 46: Charles Barton (R) v. Mark Mann (D) v. David Pilchman (I)
This Senate District would not be up for grabs if the incumbent Democrat, Kay Floyd, hadn’t announced her retirement from office earlier this year. It’s the only three-way race in the Senate this November.
Often, third-party candidates, while unlikely to win, can make those who are likely suffer the opposite fate by pulling votes away from them. If that were to happen here, a district that has been blue for over a decade would flip to the opposing party.
Senate District 47: Kelly E. Hines (R) v. Erin Brewer (D)
The winner of this race would replace the Senate’s top leader, Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, as the representative for Senate District 47. Treat is also termed limited.
This race is interesting because Hines is markedly more conservative than Treat and has taken the angle that Oklahoma’s aerospace sector is ready to explode.
His Democratic opponent, Erin Brewer, is pushing a message of “partnership, not division” on her website. She also prioritizes government transparency, dealing with the negative effects on the state caused by illegal immigration, and supporting public schools.
House District 39: Erick Harris (R) v. Richard Prawdzienski (L)
Erick Harris, an Edmond Republican, is the incumbent serving this district, but he hasn’t been there for the entirety of his term limit like many others. He won his seat in a special election in February held to replace former state representative Ryan Martinez.
Harris is facing a former opponent in Richard Prawdzienski, a Libertarian from Edmond.
House District 63: Trey Caldwell (R) v. Shykira Smith (D)
This is an interesting race because of its stakes. The current chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, Kevin Wallace, R-Wellston, has already been voted out of office this year. If Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Lawton, were to lose to Smith, that would mean the House would be without the committee’s vice-chair.
Caldwell’s time in office has been defined by work to increase access to health care in rural parts of the state, criminal justice reform and education funding. Smith is pushing for accountability and representation of marginalized Oklahomans.
Nonprofits campaign for and against judicial retention
There are three Oklahoma Supreme Court justices up for retention votes: Noma D. Gurich, Yvonne Kauger and James E. Edmondson. All three were appointed to the court by Democratic governors: Kauger by George Nigh in 1984 and Edmondson and Gurich by Brad Henry in 2003 and 2011, respectively.
This fall, the political nonprofit People for Opportunity launched a campaign against the retention of the justices, whom it frames as “activist, liberal” justices. Counter campaigns mobilized shortly after, with the organizations Hands Off Our Courts and Protect Our Freedoms advocating for the retention of the justices.
In addition, the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Tribes — composed of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee, Seminole and Choctaw Nations — voted unanimously to support retention.
If any justices are not retained, Gov. Kevin Stitt would get to choose a successor from a list compiled by the Judicial Nominating Commission.
Three-way race for Corporation Commissioner as 30-year incumbent is term-limited
Oklahomans will choose between three candidates for a seat on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities and the oil and gas industry. The seat is left vacant for the first time in more than three decades as Republican Bob Anthony is termed out. Three candidates are vying to replace him.
Republican Brian Bingman said he would use a seat on the Corporation Commission to push back against what he calls “attacks on our energy companies and the left’s radical attempt to destroy our industry and livelihoods.”
Bingman is a 70-year-old Muscogee Nation citizen who lives in the Sapulpa area. Before his political career, he worked in the oil and gas industry as a landman.
In the 1990s, Bingman served as city commissioner and mayor of Sapulpa. He then represented the Tulsa area in both chambers of the state legislature. Most recently, Bingman acted as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Secretary of State and Secretary of Native American Affairs of Oklahoma. He resigned from the cabinet last year to run for Corporation Commission.
Stitt has endorsed Bingman’s candidacy.
Democrat Harold Spradling also ran for Anthony’s seat in the 2018 election and has run in the two elections for other seats on the commission since then.
The 90-year-old is an ordained minister and a retired licensed professional counselor from southern Oklahoma. According to his website, Spradling considers himself a “pre-Trump conservative” but said he’s affiliated with the Democratic Party because of his beliefs on social equality.
Libertarian Chad Williams describes himself as a political activist from Choctaw in central Oklahoma. An oilfield worker and former Marine, Williams has served in multiple leadership positions within the Oklahoma Libertarian Party. He also sat on the Choctaw City Council.
According to his statements on a Ballotpedia questionnaire, Williams favors performance-based regulation for utilities. He’d also like to see the Corporation Commission deregulate some of the older technologies under its governance, like cotton gins and landlines.
Edmond on the GO Bond: $231 million for infrastructure improvements
The Edmond on the GO bond package encompasses three proposals projected to generate $231 million.
The first proposal, worth $151 million, would be used for street improvements. The second proposal covers six parks and recreational projects worth $70 million. The final proposal of the bond package aims to direct $10 million to safety projects. The vast majority of the money — $9 million — would be used to build a new fire station at Kelly Avenue and Hawthorne Lane, replacing Fire Station Number 3 near Danforth and Kelly.
If passed, the bond projects will be funded by a property tax increase of 14.3%. For the median homeowner in Edmond, this would amount to an extra $40.65 per month and $487.76 per year.
If all three proposals are approved, the tax increase is projected to last 10 years. If only some proposals pass, the tax increase will still be set at 14.3% but will last for a shorter time. Edmond’s website does not specify how long the tax will last for each proposal.
Stillwater data center vote
Stillwater voters will decide whether to allow OG&E to provide power for the first phase of a data center on the northeast side of the city.
City officials say the data center could be a boon for the local economy, and approving the electric provider is the first step of that plan. But, opponents are concerned with amount of power and water it would require, as well as a possible increase in noise.
The city council still has to approve tax incentives and a development agreement for the data center, but approval can happen independently of the public's vote on OG&E.
If voter choose to vote against OG&E being the power provider, an alternative power provider would have to be chosen in order for it to fully move forward.
Oklahoma County Sheriff rematch
Current Sheriff Tommie Johnson III, a Republican, seeks relection after becoming Oklahoma County's first Black Sheriff in 2020. To maintain his role, he'll again have to defeat Democratic challenger Wayland Cubit. Johnson beat Cubit in 2020 by more than 16,000 votes.
The candidates disagree about who is to blame for the county's deadly and troubled jail. While the jail does have a separate CEO, Johnson sits on several boards that maintain oversight of the jail. Cubit says Johnson hasn't done enough to improve the situation, but Johnson claims his role is a bit removed from the day-to-day operations.
In Oklahoma, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. You can find your assigned polling location using the OK Voter Portal.
Early voting will also be available from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Saturday, polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can find your early voting location by checking out this this list from the Oklahoma Election Board.
