Oklahoma held its runoff election on Tuesday. In some instances the vote was for the seat in question; in others, it was for the right to face a Democratic challenger in the general election on November 3.
At the top of the ballot is the governor’s race. Sitting Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond faced financial adviser and former Senator Mike Mazzei for the chance to run against Democratic nominee Cyndi Munson for the governor’s mansion.
Drummond lost the vote, with 184,631 or 49.72 % to Mazzei’s 186,678 or 50.28%. In Blaine County, Drummond won 773 to Mazzei’s 551. Mazzei will face Munson in November. However, given there are only 2047 votes between Drummond and Mazzei statewide, a recount seems likely. The vote will not become official until after it is certified, usually on the Friday following the election.
Seeking the role of state superintendent of education were former CareerTech administrator Robert Franklin, and pastor and teacher James Taylor. Franklin outdistanced Taylor 197,019 to 163,612. Blaine County supported Franklin 756 to Taylor’s 553.
In a very quiet race for Commissioner of Labor, John Pfeiffer faced Kevin West, with West coming out on top, 203,938 to 145,981.
Perhaps spurred by the recent media attention to lawsuits and rising homeowner rates, the race for Insurance Commissioner received a little more notice than that for the labor seat. In the race, Marty Quinn lost to Bob Sullivan, 194,922 to 158,627.
Closer to home was the race to replace term limited state senator Darcy Jech. Seeking the seat were businessman Rick Koch of Weatherford and hay broker Jessica Winegeart of Calumet.
Winegeart took the seat 5,064 to 4154. Winegeart also won Blaine County 62.5% to 37.5%.
Not on the ballot during this runoff is the contest between Mike Allen and Chad Scheihing for Blaine County Commission District #1. That will appear on the November general election ballot, since Allen is a Democrat and Scheihing is a Republican.
There were also two state questions on the ballot.
SQ 846 was to require proof of identity in order to vote by any means. It passed statewide 292,481 to 243,064, with Blaine County following suit 1,004 to 612. There was some question as to whether it was a needed measure, since it is standard practice to require identification to vote, even if the poll worker has known the voter most of their lives, as is the case in many small communities.
SQ 844 was a little more complicated. Currently, when a manufacturer locates, buys or expands a facility in Oklahoma, the business is given an ad valorem – property tax- break for five years. Those taxes are major funding sources for school districts and the state has historically picked up the tab for those taxes the business wasn’t paying for those five years.
SQ 844 would have allowed the state to stop that reimbursement, whether in whole or in part. The measure would also impact other entities such as EMS districts, career tech and colleges, county health departments and libraries. The question was written with language that indicated the impact to the entities as well as the state’s bottom line would be sorted out after the votes were counted.
The measure failed by a wide margin, with 389,735 no votes to 138,755 yes, and also lost in Blaine County 1,233 to 364.
Voters who are registered Democrats cast ballots for their nominee for the U.S. Senate seat vacated when Markwayne Mullin was elevated to head the Department of Homeland Security.
Those candidates were Jim Priest, a lawyer and ordained minister and N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, a nurse and a member of the Chickasaw nation. Thomas won the nomination with 61.19% to Priest’s 38.81% Thomas will face Republican Kevin Hern in November.
The candidates who won their seat outright will be sworn into office in January and those headed to the general election will continue to campaign until November 3.
Editor’s note – these results were taken from the Oklahoma election board website. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. Results are not official until the vote has been certified, which should take place on August 28.