Come January 2027, Oklahoma will have a new governor. On Tuesday, Oklahomans narrowed a field of 15 hopefuls to six.
Democrats advanced State Rep. Cyndi Munson, and Republicans will head back to the polls in August for a runoff primary between former state lawmaker Mike Mazzei and Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Three independent candidates will be waiting for them in November.
Republican primary
Drummond and Mazzei each captured just over a quarter of the Republican votes in the nine-candidate GOP race. Their next closest rival, Chip Keating, received less than 20%.
Drummond was the first Republican to announce his candidacy in January 2025 and was long seen as the frontrunner in the race. He narrowly finished ahead of Mazzei by less than one percentage point of the vote.
As Oklahoma's Attorney General since 2023, Drummond has targeted illegal marijuana operations, pushed for better open records compliance and distributed millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds.
The Oklahoma State University alumnus and U.S. Air Force veteran has frequently found himself at loggerheads with Gov. Kevin Stitt. Drummond has criticized Stitt's adversarial relationships with Oklahoma-based tribes, Stitt's support for a public Catholic charter school and Stitt's "weaponization" of audits.
At a watch party in Tulsa on Tuesday night, Drummond said his platform is about honesty. He asked voters who supported his opponents to back him in August.
"This runoff is not about finding a candidate you agree with 100% of the time. It's about choosing a leader you can trust 100% of the time," Drummond said. "Oklahoma cannot afford another weak politician like Mike Mazzei, a politician who changes with the political winds. Our state needs proven leadership, steady conviction, and a governor who will stand his ground when Oklahoma's future is on the line."
Mazzei received an endorsement from President Donald Trump weeks before the primary, who commended his track record as a "MAGA warrior" and his "America First" platform in a post on social media.
He credited that endorsement for his strong performance and thanked the president in a speech to supporters in Bixby. And he credited the endorsement to "that praying wife of mine, Noel."
Mazzei said that leading up to his birthday on May 30, his wife had prayed for the endorsement as a birthday present. And though Mazzei spoke to Trump and was endorsed on Truth Social the day before, on his actual birthday, he picked up the local newspaper, "and it says May 30, 2026, which is my birthday. And on the other side of the front page, it says, President Trump endorses Mike Mazzei."
Mazzei said Oklahoma has "unlimited potential for growth and prosperity." He said the millions he contributed to his own campaign are an investment in the state's future.
Cyndi Munson claims Democratic nomination
Cyndi Munson will face the winner of the Republican runoff election this November. Munson garnered 75.1% of the vote, outpacing two other Democratic candidates.
Munson, who grew up in Lawton, was the first Asian American woman elected to the state legislature, where she currently serves as the House's minority leader. If elected, Munson said she wants to increase public school investments, lower health care costs and repeal Oklahoma's total abortion ban. She said she would work to repeal the parental choice tax credit, which offsets costs for parents who wish to transfer their students out of public schools.
A faithful crowd of Munson's supporters filled the taproom at Lively Beerworks on Tuesday night to watch the votes roll in. Many people wore bright green, which has become synonymous with Munson's campaign in Oklahoma. Kids also showed their support, with one handing Munson a homemade fidget toy.
Prior to her time at the Capitol, Munson worked at multiple nonprofits serving children, including Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma.
Dana Carter, 51, said she has been a long-time supporter of Munson. Carter said she believes Munson will stand up for the rights of all Oklahomans, no matter their political party. Still, Carter said she knows it will be an uphill battle for Munson to beat her Republican competitors.
"She's going to have to mobilize the people that already support her and expand her reach," Carter said. "It's going to take every single one of her supporters to get out, drag their friends and family to the polls and make it happen."
In an interview at her watch party, Munson said she thinks authenticity matters more to Oklahomans than party affiliation. She criticized what she described as "dysfunction" and "infighting" among the state's Republican leadership.
"I would just encourage Oklahomans to look back on what's happened over the last couple of decades, where we're ranked in things that are most important, like education and healthcare," Munson said. "And what does your day-to-day life look like? Republicans have had an opportunity to make things different, and they haven't. And I think Oklahomans are going to respond to that in this upcoming election come November."
Independent candidates for governor Jerry Griffin, Orlando Lynn Bush and Robert Brooks will also appear on the general election ballot in November.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
