1946 Oklahoma gubernatorial election

1946 Oklahoma gubernatorial election

←  1942 November 5, 1946 1950  →

Nominee Roy J. Turner Olney F. Flynn Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 259,491 227,426 Percentage 52.46% 45.98%

County results Turner:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Flynn:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election Robert S. Kerr Democratic Elected Governor Roy J. Turner Democratic

The 1946 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1946, and was a race for Governor of Oklahoma. Democrat Roy J. Turner defeated Republican Olney F. Flynn and three Independents, Mickey Harrell, R. M. Funk, and Bruno Miller. ^[1] Dixie Gilmer unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination.

Primary election

Oklahoma reinstated primary runoffs for this election.

Democratic party

Businessman Roy J. Turner defeated Tulsa County district attorney Dixie Gilmer in a runoff.

Candidates

• William O. Coe, former member of Oklahoma House of Representatives
• Dixie Gilmer, District Attorney of Tulsa County
• Johnson D. Hill, member of Oklahoma House of Representatives
• H. C. Jones, Collector of Internal Revenue for the State of Oklahoma ^[2]
• R. M. McCool
• Fred McDuff
• Earl R. Powers
• Jess L. Pullen, former Assistant Attorney General of Oklahoma
• Roy J. Turner, businessman

Results

Democratic primary results ^{[1] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Roy J. Turner	138,348	35.85%
	Democratic	Dixie Gilmer	84,783	21.97%
	Democratic	H. C. Jones	79,237	20.53%
	Democratic	William O. Coe	61,216	15.86%
	Democratic	Johnson D. Hill	8,012	2.08%
	Democratic	Fred McDuff	7,854	2.03%
	Democratic	R. M. McCool	4,094	1.06%
	Democratic	Earl R. Powers	1,206	0.31%
	Democratic	Jess L. Pullen	1,202	0.31%
Total votes			385,952	100.00%

Democratic primary runoff results ^{[1] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Roy J. Turner	194,311	53.43%
	Democratic	Dixie Gilmer	169,397	46.57%
Total votes			363,708	100.00%

Republican party

Mayor of Tulsa Olney F. Flynn secured the Republican nomination by a wide margin.

Candidates

• Rexford B. Cragg
• Harry E. Ingram
• Olney F. Flynn, mayor of Tulsa

Results

Republican primary results ^{[1] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Olney F. Flynn	30,348	73.77%
	Republican	Harry E. Ingram	6,932	16.85%
	Republican	Rexford B. Cragg	3,859	9.38%
Total votes			41,139	100.00%

General election

Results

1946 Oklahoma gubernatorial election ^{[1] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Roy J. Turner	259,491	52.46%	+0.57%
	Republican	Olney F. Flynn	227,426	45.98%	−1.66%
	Independent	Mickey Harrell	7,181	1.45%
	Independent	R. M. Funk	257	0.05%
	Independent	Bruno Miller	244	0.05%
Total votes			494,599	100.00%
Majority			32,065	6.48%
	Democratic hold		Swing	+2.23%

Results by county

County [6]	Roy J. Turner Democratic		Olney F. Flynn Republican		Mickey Harrell Independent		R. M. Funk Independent		Bruno Miller Independent		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adair	2,684	57.28%	1,982	42.60%	14	0.30%	4	0.09%	2	0.04%	702	14.98%	4,686
Alfalfa	1,060	30.36%	2,318	66.38%	112	3.21%	1	0.03%	1	0.03%	-1,258	-36.03%	3,492
Atoka	1,933	70.39%	792	28.84%	17	0.62%	2	0.07%	2	0.07%	1,141	41.55%	2,746
Beaver	1,068	49.65%	1,040	48.35%	41	1.91%	0	0.00%	2	0.09%	28	1.30%	2,151
Beckham	2,552	67.02%	1,148	30.15%	106	2.78%	1	0.03%	1	0.03%	1,404	36.87%	3,808
Blaine	1,507	37.01%	2,463	60.49%	97	2.38%	1	0.02%	4	0.10%	-956	-23.48%	4,072
Bryan	4,746	84.04%	830	14.70%	62	1.10%	5	0.09%	4	0.07%	3,916	69.35%	5,647
Caddo	4,681	58.98%	3,131	39.45%	120	1.51%	2	0.03%	2	0.03%	1,550	19.53%	7,936
Canadian	3,076	47.24%	3,179	48.82%	239	3.67%	11	0.17%	7	0.11%	-103	-1.58%	6,512
Carter	5,363	76.76%	1,557	22.28%	64	0.92%	0	0.00%	3	0.04%	3,806	54.47%	6,987
Cherokee	3,214	58.20%	2,288	41.43%	15	0.27%	1	0.02%	4	0.07%	926	16.77%	5,522
Choctaw	2,700	79.79%	649	19.18%	34	1.00%	0	0.00%	1	0.03%	2,051	60.61%	3,384
Cimarron	214	54.45%	176	44.78%	3	0.76%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	38	9.67%	393
Cleveland	3,511	57.80%	2,478	40.80%	80	1.32%	1	0.02%	4	0.07%	1,033	17.01%	6,074
Coal	1,502	82.17%	308	16.85%	16	0.88%	1	0.05%	1	0.05%	1,194	65.32%	1,828
Comanche	4,697	65.73%	2,294	32.10%	149	2.09%	1	0.01%	5	0.07%	2,403	33.63%	7,146
Cotton	1,731	75.23%	498	21.64%	68	2.96%	1	0.04%	3	0.13%	1,233	53.59%	2,301
Craig	3,252	53.06%	2,807	45.80%	67	1.09%	2	0.03%	1	0.02%	445	7.26%	6,129
Creek	5,413	43.88%	6,630	53.74%	284	2.30%	5	0.04%	5	0.04%	-1,217	-9.86%	12,337
Custer	3,015	59.20%	2,021	39.68%	54	1.06%	1	0.02%	2	0.04%	994	19.52%	5,093
Delaware	2,454	55.40%	1,943	43.86%	32	0.72%	1	0.02%	0	0.00%	511	11.53%	4,430
Dewey	1,307	51.05%	1,202	46.95%	47	1.84%	2	0.08%	2	0.08%	105	4.10%	2,560
Ellis	929	45.54%	1,060	51.96%	50	2.45%	1	0.05%	0	0.00%	-131	-6.42%	2,040
Garfield	3,978	30.71%	8,677	66.98%	285	2.20%	6	0.05%	9	0.07%	-4,699	-36.27%	12,955
Garvin	3,614	76.12%	1,082	22.79%	51	1.07%	1	0.02%	0	0.00%	2,532	53.33%	4,748
Grady	4,399	64.35%	2,341	34.25%	92	1.35%	4	0.06%	0	0.00%	2,058	30.11%	6,836
Grant	1,257	34.64%	2,311	63.68%	56	1.54%	0	0.00%	5	0.14%	-1,054	-29.04%	3,629
Greer	2,260	78.83%	556	19.39%	50	1.74%	0	0.00%	1	0.03%	1,704	59.43%	2,867
Harmon	1,059	81.21%	215	16.49%	30	2.30%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	844	64.72%	1,304
Harper	923	48.25%	936	48.93%	52	2.72%	1	0.05%	1	0.05%	-13	-0.68%	1,913
Haskell	2,337	67.06%	1,126	32.31%	17	0.49%	3	0.09%	2	0.06%	1,211	34.75%	3,485
Hughes	3,545	70.00%	1,474	29.11%	41	0.81%	3	0.06%	1	0.02%	2,071	40.90%	5,064
Jackson	3,278	82.34%	649	16.30%	50	1.26%	1	0.03%	3	0.08%	2,629	66.04%	3,981
Jefferson	1,727	76.48%	473	20.95%	54	2.39%	2	0.09%	2	0.09%	1,254	55.54%	2,258
Johnston	2,089	78.80%	530	19.99%	28	1.06%	2	0.08%	2	0.08%	1,559	58.81%	2,651
Kay	4,959	36.80%	8,360	62.04%	143	1.06%	3	0.02%	10	0.07%	-3,401	-25.24%	13,475
Kingfisher	1,298	33.47%	2,435	62.79%	135	3.48%	5	0.13%	5	0.13%	-1,137	-29.32%	3,878
Kiowa	2,212	66.99%	1,030	31.19%	58	1.76%	0	0.00%	2	0.06%	1,182	35.80%	3,302
Latimer	1,574	70.08%	662	29.47%	10	0.45%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	912	40.61%	2,246
Le Flore	4,560	71.72%	1,777	27.95%	12	0.19%	7	0.11%	2	0.03%	2,783	43.77%	6,358
Lincoln	3,240	46.76%	3,555	51.31%	119	1.72%	10	0.14%	5	0.07%	-315	-4.55%	6,929
Logan	2,550	39.68%	3,634	56.54%	231	3.59%	5	0.08%	7	0.11%	-1,084	-16.87%	6,427
Love	1,357	89.87%	145	9.60%	6	0.40%	2	0.13%	0	0.00%	1,212	80.26%	1,510
Major	730	24.72%	2,144	72.60%	77	2.61%	2	0.07%	0	0.00%	-1,414	-47.88%	2,953
Marshall	1,662	84.32%	300	15.22%	9	0.46%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	1,362	69.10%	1,971
Mayes	3,371	55.04%	2,714	44.31%	38	0.62%	1	0.02%	1	0.02%	657	10.73%	6,125
McClain	2,057	71.72%	764	26.64%	44	1.53%	1	0.03%	2	0.07%	1,293	45.08%	2,868
McCurtain	2,951	85.78%	475	13.81%	9	0.26%	3	0.09%	2	0.06%	2,476	71.98%	3,440
McIntosh	2,144	63.38%	1,166	34.47%	69	2.04%	2	0.06%	2	0.06%	978	28.91%	3,383
Murray	2,123	76.75%	615	22.23%	25	0.90%	1	0.04%	2	0.07%	1,508	54.52%	2,766
Muskogee	8,218	60.00%	5,384	39.31%	83	0.61%	9	0.07%	3	0.02%	2,834	20.69%	13,697
Noble	1,547	37.70%	2,476	60.35%	78	1.90%	2	0.05%	0	0.00%	-929	-22.64%	4,103
Nowata	1,814	43.92%	2,171	52.57%	134	3.24%	10	0.24%	1	0.02%	-357	-8.64%	4,130
Okfuskee	2,061	58.89%	1,359	38.83%	71	2.03%	5	0.14%	4	0.01%	702	20.06%	3,500
Oklahoma	28,626	48.14%	29,772	50.07%	979	1.65%	32	0.05%	56	0.09%	-1,146	-1.93%	59,465
Okmulgee	6,446	58.76%	4,294	39.14%	216	1.97%	9	0.08%	5	0.05%	2,152	19.62%	10,970
Osage	3,668	46.24%	4,107	51.78%	151	1.90%	3	0.04%	3	0.04%	-439	-5.53%	7,932
Ottawa	3,914	51.56%	3,605	47.49%	65	0.86%	4	0.05%	3	0.04%	309	4.07%	7,591
Pawnee	1,682	35.23%	2,965	62.11%	119	2.49%	5	0.10%	3	0.06%	-1,283	-26.87%	4,774
Payne	4,065	47.66%	4,325	50.71%	137	1.61%	2	0.02%	0	0.00%	-260	-3.05%	8,529
Pittsburg	5,872	72.40%	2,195	27.06%	38	0.47%	4	0.05%	2	0.02%	3,677	45.33%	8,111
Pontotoc	4,527	67.68%	2,116	31.63%	42	0.63%	2	0.03%	2	0.03%	2,411	36.04%	6,689
Pottawatomie	5,336	54.71%	4,283	43.91%	123	1.26%	4	0.04%	7	0.07%	1,053	10.80%	9,753
Pushmataha	2,505	80.65%	573	18.45%	22	0.71%	3	0.10%	3	0.10%	1,932	62.20%	3,106
Roger Mills	1,746	73.39%	575	24.17%	54	2.27%	0	0.00%	4	0.17%	1,171	49.22%	2,379
Rogers	2,358	49.16%	2,360	49.20%	79	1.65%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	-2	-0.04%	4,797
Seminole	4,819	58.36%	3,352	40.59%	87	1.05%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	1,467	17.76%	8,258
Sequoyah	3,243	65.78%	1,670	33.87%	12	0.24%	4	0.08%	1	0.02%	1,573	31.91%	4,930
Stephens	3,358	66.19%	1,666	32.84%	48	0.95%	1	0.02%	0	0.00%	1,692	33.35%	5,073
Texas	1,129	54.83%	887	43.08%	42	2.04%	1	0.05%	0	0.00%	242	11.75%	2,059
Tillman	2,423	77.46%	648	20.72%	55	1.76%	0	0.00%	2	0.06%	1,775	56.75%	3,128
Tulsa	19,859	32.49%	40,734	66.63%	496	0.81%	30	0.05%	13	0.02%	-20,875	-34.15%	61,132
Wagoner	2,056	44.40%	2,527	54.57%	39	0.84%	6	0.13%	3	0.06%	-471	-10.17%	4,631
Washington	2,886	35.11%	5,063	61.60%	262	3.19%	6	0.07%	2	0.02%	-2,177	-26.49%	8,219
Washita	2,311	65.67%	1,143	32.48%	61	1.73%	2	0.06%	2	0.06%	1,168	33.19%	3,519
Woods	1,678	40.45%	2,381	57.40%	87	2.10%	2	0.05%	0	0.00%	-703	-16.95%	4,148
Woodward	1,481	43.82%	1,855	54.88%	39	1.15%	2	0.06%	3	0.09%	-374	-11.07%	3,380
Totals	259,491	52.46%	227,426	45.98%	7,181	1.45%	257	0.05%	244	0.05%	32,065	6.48%	494,599

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Dewey

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Oklahoma

References

1. "1946-1950 results" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board. pp. 1, 6, 9, 13.
2. "H. C. Jones, Class of 1959". Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
3. Oklahoma State Election Board (1946). "For Governor". Officially Verified Results of the Democratic Regular Primary Election, Held Tuesday, July 2, 1946. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
4. Oklahoma State Election Board (1946). "For Governor". Officially Verified Results of the Democratic and Republican Run-Off Primary Elections, Held Tuesday, July 23, 1946. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
5. Oklahoma State Election Board (1946). "For Governor". Officially Verified Results of the Republican Regular Primary Election, Held Tuesday, July 2, 1946. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
6. Oklahoma State Election Board (1946). "For Governor". Officially Verified Results of the General Election, Held Tuesday, November 5, 1946. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.