Oklahoma Republicans swept statewide offices in Tuesday’s midterm elections, but Democrats still made significant gains in some of the state’s most populous counties and defeated at least five incumbent Republican state representatives.
The results mirrored a national political shift toward Democrats, although the movement in Oklahoma was concentrated largely in metropolitan areas and surrounding suburbs.
In four state House districts, Democrats reversed Republican advantages ranging from nearly two to more than 16 percentage points in the 2024 election, according to a Frontier analysis of Oklahoma State Election Board data.
And in the governor’s race, Democrat Cyndi Munson performed substantially better in Oklahoma’s largest counties than Democratic gubernatorial candidates did in 2018 and 2022.
Canadian County, a traditionally conservative area west of Oklahoma City, shifted nearly 14 percentage points toward Democrats compared with the 2022 governor’s race, narrowing the Republican margin of victory from more than 20 points to about six points Tuesday.
Democrats also expanded their gubernatorial margins in Oklahoma, Tulsa and Cleveland Counties.
Together, those four counties accounted for nearly 78% of the statewide Democratic shift in the governor’s race across the 76 counties with complete returns in election data analyzed by The Frontier.
Legislative gains for Democrats
Democrats defeated four incumbent state representatives in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and one each in Tulsa and Comanche County.
“Tonight, Oklahoma voters sent a clear message: Oklahoma Democrats support working families,” said House Democratic Leader Melissa Provenzano in an emailed statement following the election. “5 new members is long-overdue growth, and it happened because we ran on Oklahoma values. Oklahoma values are Democratic values.”
Several of the victories represented substantial swings from 2024.
Chaunté Gilmore lost to Republican Marilyn Stark in 2024 by fewer than two percentage points in House District 100. On Tuesday, Gilmore defeated Stark by more than 18 points.
In House District 84, Republican Tammy West won reelection in 2024 by more than 16 points. Two years later, Democrat Jeffrey Perez defeated her by nearly four points.
Dalton Gau defeated Republican Eric Roberts in District 83 by more than seven points, reversing a nearly 11-point Republican advantage in 2024. And in District 95, Democrat Tegan Malone defeated Republican Max Wolfley after losing to him in both 2022 and 2024.
“I believe Republicans in Oklahoma County are somewhat shocked at last night’s results,” Amy Warne, Chair of the Oklahoma County Democratic Party, told The Frontier on Wednesday. “And if (Oklahoma) County were not gerrymandered to exclude the most progressive areas, we would have likely elected a Democrat for CD5. I believe we need to start preparing now to protect each of the seats we won last night.”
In Tulsa, Democrat Joe Watkins defeated incumbent Republican Rep. T.J. Marti in House District 75, winning about 53% of the vote and flipping a seat that Republicans had held. Watkins, a woodworker and co-founder of a local homelessness outreach effort, won by just 542 votes in a district that includes parts of Tulsa and Broken Arrow.
Tulsa County Democratic Party Chair Hudson Harder told The Frontier the party did well in Green Country even though it was only able to flip one seat. Democrat John Crosiant narrowly lost to Republican Mark Tedford in the 1st Congressional District, even with much less money, Harder said.
“Tulsa is kind of always overlooked as far as national candidates,” Harder said. “But I think these results show that a little more investment in Tulsa will go a long way.”
Democrats were also able to pick up an open seat in Comanche County in District 64 previously held by Rep. Rande Worthen, who did not seek reelection this year. There were issues with vote reporting in Comanche County late Tuesday, but totals on Wednesday showed Democrat Kathy Suttles was able to win a narrow victory against Republican Louis Jackson 50% to 49%.
Even with these gains, the Republican Party maintains overwhelming control of the Oklahoma House.
Republicans are projected to hold 75 of the Oklahoma House’s 101 seats, leaving them one vote short of the three-fourths majority required to approve revenue-raising legislation without sending it to a statewide vote.
“The State Senate Democrats contested more seats this cycle than in the last 20 years. We are immensely proud of every candidate who stepped up and put their name on the ballot, and gave voters a choice – in some districts – for the first time in decades,” Senate Democratic Leader Julia Kirt said in a statement. “We celebrate the progress made in our state tonight and retain all eight members of our caucus that is focused on problem solving for Oklahoma. Now we turn our focus ahead on continuing to compete across the state in elections to come.”
Oklahoma’s largest counties moved toward Democrats
Democrats gained ground in urban parts of the state while Republicans maintained or expanded their advantages in some rural areas, election data shows.
Democratic legislative victories were accompanied by substantial gains in the governor’s race.
In Oklahoma County, Munson defeated Republican Mike Mazzei by nearly 25 percentage points. Four years earlier, Democrat Joy Hofmeister carried the county by about 13 points against Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Voters in four of the state’s more populous counties accounted for most of the statewide shift toward Democrats. In Tulsa County, Munson won by about 10 points, compared with Hofmeister’s narrow victory in 2022 and Stitt’s roughly three-point victory in 2018. Cleveland County also continued to trend more Democratic, increasing from about five points in 2018 to seven points in 2022 and more than 12 points Tuesday. Canadian County remained Republican, but the margin narrowed dramatically. Stitt won the county by about 23 points in 2018 and 20 points in 2022. Mazzei won it by about six points Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in mostly rural Southeastern Oklahoma, including Coal, Pushmataha and McIntosh counties, Republican candidates strengthened their margins compared with 2018.
In a statement Wednesday morning, Stitt congratulated Mazzei on his win and said the newly-elected Governor “inherits a stronger Oklahoma and a state government oriented toward efficiency, transparency, and accountability.”
“Mike is a businessman who understands that every dollar the government spends belongs to the taxpayer,” Stitt said. “Electing business leaders back-to-back is how we build on Oklahoma’s incredible momentum from the past eight years.”
The Frontier is a nonprofit newsroom that produces fearless journalism with impact in Oklahoma. Read more at www.readfrontier.org.
