1954 Oklahoma gubernatorial election

1954 Oklahoma gubernatorial election

←  1950 November 2, 1954 1958  →

Nominee Raymond Gary Reuben K. Sparks Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 357,386 251,808 Percentage 58.67% 41.33%

County results Gary:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Sparks:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election Johnston Murray Democratic Elected Governor Raymond D. Gary Democratic

The 1954 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1954, and was a race for Governor of Oklahoma. Democrat Raymond Gary defeated Republican Reuben K. Sparks. ^[1]

Primary election

Democratic party

Seeking the Democratic nomination for the third consecutive election, former state representative William O. Coe narrowly lost a runoff race for the second consecutive election, this time to Raymond Gary, the President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate.

Candidates

• William O. Coe, former member of Oklahoma House of Representatives
• William C. Doenges, automobile dealership owner from Bartlesville
• O. J. Fox
• Raymond Gary, President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate
• William Gill Jr.
• Tom D. Jones
• Troy P. Jones
• Bill Logan, member of Oklahoma Senate
• N. M. Lumpkin
• B. P. Matthews
• Willie E. Murray
• Tivis Nelson
• John B. Ogden
• William A. Red Hall
• Fletcher S. Riley
• Louis H. Ritzhaupt

Results

Democratic primary results ^{[1] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William O. Coe	159,122	30.47%
	Democratic	Raymond Gary	156,376	29.95%
	Democratic	Bill Logan	68,955	13.21%
	Democratic	William C. Doenges	41,438	7.94%
	Democratic	William Gill Jr.	31,125	5.96%
	Democratic	O. J. Fox	25,185	4.82%
	Democratic	Willie E. Murray	20,336	3.89%
	Democratic	Louis H. Ritzhaupt	4,630	0.89%
	Democratic	B. P. Matthews	4,439	0.85%
	Democratic	John B. Ogden	3,618	0.69%
	Democratic	Troy P. Jones	2,850	0.55%
	Democratic	William A. Red Hall	1,289	0.25%
	Democratic	Tom D. Jones	1,154	0.22%
	Democratic	Fletcher S. Riley	759	0.15%
	Democratic	Tivis Nelson	469	0.09%
	Democratic	N. M. Lumpkin	401	0.08%
Total votes			522,146	100.00%

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Raymond Gary	251,920	51.94%
	Democratic	William O. Coe	233,079	48.06%
Total votes			484,999	100.00%

Republican party

Candidates

• George Thomas Balch
• Joe H. Barber
• Rexford B. Cragg
• Reuben K. Sparks
• Blanche K. Young

Results

Republican primary results ^{[1] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Reuben K. Sparks	30,555	54.78%
	Republican	Joe H. Barber	6,690	12.00%
	Republican	Rexford B. Cragg	6,475	11.61%
	Republican	Blanche K. Young	6,042	10.83%
	Republican	George Thomas Balch	6,011	10.78%
Total votes			55,773	100.00%

General election

Results

1954 Oklahoma gubernatorial election ^{[1] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Raymond Gary	357,386	58.67%	+7.55%
	Republican	Reuben K. Sparks	251,808	41.33%	−7.28%
Total votes			609,194	100.00%
Majority			105,578	17.33%
	Democratic hold		Swing	+14.83%

Results by county

County [5]	Raymond Gary Democratic		Reuben K. Sparks Republican		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adair	2,988	61.07%	1,905	38.93%	1,083	22.13%	4,893
Alfalfa	1,214	33.18%	2,445	66.82%	-1,231	-33.64%	3,659
Atoka	3,017	76.73%	915	23.27%	2,102	53.46%	3,932
Beaver	1,299	47.25%	1,450	52.75%	-151	-5.49%	2,749
Beckham	3,206	64.47%	1,767	35.53%	1,439	28.94%	4,973
Blaine	2,139	41.66%	2,996	58.34%	-857	-16.69%	5,135
Bryan	6,013	83.69%	1,172	16.31%	4,841	67.38%	7,185
Caddo	6,064	66.22%	3,094	33.78%	2,970	32.43%	9,158
Canadian	3,622	49.41%	3,708	50.59%	-86	-1.17%	7,330
Carter	7,043	76.74%	2,135	23.26%	4,908	53.48%	9,178
Cherokee	3,693	61.63%	2,299	38.37%	1,394	23.26%	5,992
Choctaw	3,942	84.38%	730	15.63%	3,212	68.75%	4,672
Cimarron	1,024	59.16%	707	40.84%	317	18.31%	1,731
Cleveland	4,994	60.85%	3,213	39.15%	1,781	21.70%	8,207
Coal	1,714	81.39%	392	18.61%	1,322	62.77%	2,106
Comanche	7,131	72.66%	2,683	27.34%	4,448	45.32%	9,814
Cotton	1,988	79.58%	510	20.42%	1,478	59.17%	2,498
Craig	3,484	64.21%	1,942	35.79%	1,542	28.42%	5,426
Creek	7,106	60.04%	4,729	39.96%	2,377	20.08%	11,835
Custer	3,030	57.23%	2,264	42.77%	766	14.47%	5,294
Delaware	3,177	58.96%	2,211	41.04%	966	17.93%	5,388
Dewey	1,400	46.07%	1,639	53.93%	-239	-7.86%	3,039
Ellis	771	32.30%	1,616	67.70%	-845	-35.40%	2,387
Garfield	6,308	36.93%	10,774	63.07%	-4,466	-26.14%	17,082
Garvin	5,157	77.84%	1,468	22.16%	3,689	55.68%	6,625
Grady	5,376	68.50%	2,472	31.50%	2,904	37.00%	7,848
Grant	2,005	44.32%	2,519	55.68%	-514	-11.36%	4,524
Greer	1,709	74.53%	584	25.47%	1,125	49.06%	2,293
Harmon	1,074	87.46%	154	12.54%	920	74.92%	1,228
Harper	940	38.78%	1,484	61.22%	-544	-22.44%	2,424
Haskell	2,764	75.29%	907	24.71%	1,857	50.59%	3,671
Hughes	3,345	76.63%	1,020	23.37%	2,325	53.26%	4,365
Jackson	3,194	83.88%	614	16.12%	2,580	67.75%	3,808
Jefferson	1,968	84.86%	351	15.14%	1,617	69.73%	2,319
Johnston	2,350	79.18%	618	20.82%	1,732	58.36%	2,968
Kay	7,678	46.22%	8,933	53.78%	-1,255	-7.56%	16,611
Kingfisher	1,828	37.33%	3,069	62.67%	-1,241	-25.34%	4,897
Kiowa	3,349	71.99%	1,303	28.01%	2,046	43.98%	4,652
Latimer	2,348	78.35%	649	21.65%	1,699	56.69%	2,997
Le Flore	5,826	75.97%	1,843	24.03%	3,983	51.94%	7,669
Lincoln	4,245	54.44%	3,552	45.56%	693	8.89%	7,797
Logan	3,100	44.47%	3,871	55.53%	-771	-11.06%	6,971
Love	1,892	88.74%	240	11.26%	1,652	77.49%	2,132
Major	888	30.50%	2,023	69.50%	-1,135	-38.99%	2,911
Marshall	2,971	91.16%	288	8.84%	2,683	82.33%	3,259
Mayes	4,368	61.24%	2,765	38.76%	1,603	22.47%	7,133
McClain	2,418	73.45%	874	26.55%	1,544	46.90%	3,292
McCurtain	4,960	83.26%	997	16.74%	3,963	66.53%	5,957
McIntosh	2,634	71.58%	1,046	28.42%	1,588	43.15%	3,680
Murray	2,279	74.31%	788	25.69%	1,491	48.61%	3,067
Muskogee	9,860	67.80%	4,682	32.20%	5,178	35.61%	14,542
Noble	2,134	45.48%	2,558	54.52%	-424	-9.04%	4,692
Nowata	2,573	55.43%	2,069	44.57%	504	10.86%	4,642
Okfuskee	2,398	66.91%	1,186	33.09%	1,212	33.82%	3,584
Oklahoma	47,928	53.11%	42,314	46.89%	5,614	6.22%	90,242
Okmulgee	7,717	68.91%	3,482	31.09%	4,235	37.82%	11,199
Osage	4,991	58.52%	3,538	41.48%	1,453	17.04%	8,529
Ottawa	5,889	58.95%	4,100	41.05%	1,789	17.91%	9,989
Pawnee	2,420	51.15%	2,311	48.85%	109	2.30%	4,731
Payne	5,599	53.07%	4,951	46.93%	648	6.14%	10,550
Pittsburg	8,697	79.63%	2,225	20.37%	6,472	59.26%	10,922
Pontotoc	5,289	74.02%	1,856	25.98%	3,433	48.05%	7,145
Pottawatomie	7,821	64.51%	4,303	35.49%	3,518	29.02%	12,124
Pushmataha	2,496	78.64%	678	21.36%	1,818	57.28%	3,174
Roger Mills	1,305	68.72%	594	31.28%	711	37.44%	1,899
Rogers	3,856	60.91%	2,475	39.09%	1,381	21.81%	6,331
Seminole	5,737	69.92%	2,468	30.08%	3,269	39.84%	8,205
Sequoyah	3,656	71.81%	1,435	28.19%	2,221	43.63%	5,091
Stephens	4,951	71.87%	1,938	28.13%	3,013	43.74%	6,889
Texas	2,224	57.03%	1,676	42.97%	548	14.05%	3,900
Tillman	2,683	81.90%	593	18.10%	2,090	63.80%	3,276
Tulsa	36,209	46.65%	41,415	53.35%	-5,206	-6.71%	77,624
Wagoner	2,968	59.81%	1,994	40.19%	974	19.63%	4,962
Washington	5,344	42.45%	7,246	57.55%	-1,902	-15.11%	12,590
Washita	2,429	66.57%	1,220	33.43%	1,209	33.13%	3,649
Woods	2,002	39.60%	3,053	60.40%	-1,051	-20.79%	5,055
Woodward	1,177	24.04%	3,720	75.96%	-2,543	-51.93%	4,897
Totals	357,386	58.67%	251,808	41.33%	105,578	17.33%	609,194

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Cleveland
• Creek
• Lincoln
• Nowata
• Oklahoma
• Osage
• Pawnee
• Payne
• Wagoner

References

1. "1952-1956 results" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board. p. 16,21,23,26.
2. Oklahoma State Election Board (1954). "For Governor". Officially Verified Results of the Democratic Regular Primary Election Held July 6th, 1954. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
3. Oklahoma State Election Board (1954). "For Governor". Officially Verified Results of the Democratic Run-Off Primary Elections Held July 27th, 1954. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
4. Oklahoma State Election Board (1954). "For Governor". Official Verified Results of the Republican Primary Election, Held July 6th, 1954. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
5. Oklahoma State Election Board (1954). "For Governor". Officially Verified Results of the General Election Held November 2nd, 1954. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.