Primaries for governor, U.S. Senate and Congress top Tuesday's ballot

Gov. Kevin Stitt will be on the ballot for the first time as a political insider on Tuesday, as voters choose nominees in a number of key races and Oklahoma County residents decide whether to approve $260 million to replace the trouble-plagued jail.

One of the marquee races is the Republican primary to replace U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, which attracted 13 candidates and may be headed for a runoff. The bitter battle between Attorney General John O’Connor and Tulsa attorney Gentner Drummond will likely decide who serves in that office for the next four years.

Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd ran into unexpected trouble two weeks ago when a dark money group that has received funding from the co-founders of Epic Charter Schools began attacking her and backing political newcomer Steve McQuillen. Byrd has accused the school's founders of retaliating against her for a scathing audit and has made a last-minute media and direct mail push to counter the dark money campaign.

Who can vote in Oklahoma primary elections?

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Only Republicans can vote in that party’s primaries. Democrats allow registered independents to vote in their primaries.

Nearly 25,000 voters had cast absentee ballots by mail through Saturday and another 29,000 had voted early in person.

Runoff primaries, for races with three or more candidates in which no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, are set for Aug. 23.

The primaries in 2018, when many of the same statewide offices were on the ballot, had historic turnout, driven by the question on legalizing medicinal marijuana. There are no statewide questions on the ballot this week.

Many local elected officials and business groups are backing the Oklahoma County ballot question known as Fix the Jail. The current facility, built in 1991 on the western edge of downtown Oklahoma City, has been overcrowded and dangerous to the point that the U.S. Justice Department has intervened. The question calls for $260 million to build a new jail within 10 miles of downtown.

Oklahoma County voters will also choose nominees to replace Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater, a Democrat who has been in office since 2007 and is not running for another term.

Who is on the Tuesday ballot for statewide primary elections?

Stitt, 49, was a political newcomer in 2018, the owner of a Tulsa-area mortgage company, when he finished second in the GOP gubernatorial primary, behind former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett but just ahead of then-Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb. Stitt beat Cornett in a runoff and Democrat Drew Edmondson that November.

This year, four Republicans and two Democrats will be on the ballot for governor as Stitt looks to secure another four years in office. Should he win, he would not be eligible to run again in 2026.

Stitt will appear on the GOP primary ballot along with Republican Mark Sherwood, Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs Director Joel Kintsel and Moira McCabe. 

On the Democratic ballot, state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, a lifelong Republican who switched parties to run for governor, will challenge Connie Johnson, a former progressive state senator who has unsuccessfully sought higher office several times. 

Stitt and Hofmeister are the likely favorites.

In the attorney general’s race, O’Connor’s campaign strategy has been to run as if he is trailing, which most polls show he is. 

“The only way to run, I'm told, is to run scared,” said O’Connor, who has never campaigned for office before. 

In recent weeks he has used his platform as the incumbent to announce charges against lawyers for coordinating illegal marijuana grow operations and publicly bash the Biden Administration, which he has sued more than a dozen times. 

With the endorsement of Stitt, O’Connor has joined the governor in arguing the U.S. Supreme Court's McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling has created chaos in the state. The stance toward the post-McGirt world might be the biggest separator between O’Connor and Drummond, who nearly won the nomination against then-Attorney General Mike Hunter in 2018.

Drummond has advocated for a more cooperative relationship between the state and tribal nations, accusing O’Connor of creating division with the tribes. O’Connor’s strategy has been to “pound the table, stomp your foot and hold your breath, and that has failed,” Drummond said at a debate this month.

No Democrat filed for the office. O’Connor or Drummond will face Libertarian Lynda Steele in November.

Three Republicans are vying for the nomination to replace Treasurer Randy McDaniel, a Republican stepping aside after one term. Four Republicans are seeking the nomination to replace Hofmeister, who is term-limited. Incumbent Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn is being challenged by two Republicans. 

The Corporation Commission seat being vacated by Republican Dana Murphy attracted four Republicans.

There are also primaries in several state legislative districts, which have new boundaries to reflect population changes in the 2020 Census.

Who is on Tuesday's ballot for Oklahoma's federal delegation? 

U.S. Sen. James Lankford, first elected to the Senate in 2014 to succeed Sen. Tom Coburn, has two GOP primary challengers, including Tulsa pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, who had hoped, apparently in vain, for an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

Six Democrats, all political newcomers, have filed to take on the winner in that race.

The most closely watched federal races will be for Inhofe’s seat and for the 2nd District congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Westville, the favorite in the crowded field hoping to replace Inhofe.

Mullin has led the public polls but has not shown he has the support to win the nomination without a runoff. Former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon has run about 20 points behind Mullin in a race that still had 22% undecided GOP primary voters in a poll taken earlier this month by Amber Integrated, of Oklahoma City.

Former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, an Oklahoma City Democrat, will take on the GOP nominee.

The race in the 2nd District, which covers most of rural eastern Oklahoma, features 14 Republicans, including current and former state lawmakers and the Muskogee chief of police. The McGirt decision, which has led to the affirmation of six Indian reservations in eastern Oklahoma, has been a major issue in the race; a runoff is expected.

Incumbent Republican Reps. Frank Lucas, of Cheyenne; Tom Cole, of Moore; and Stephanie Bice, of Oklahoma City, have challengers but are expected to win easily. These will be the first primaries in the newly drawn congressional districts. The Republican-dominated Legislature last year gave the GOP double-digit registration advantages in all five districts.