2014 Oklahoma elections

2014 Oklahoma elections

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A general election was held in the U.S. state of Oklahoma on November 4, 2014. All of Oklahoma's executive officers were up for election, as well as the state's five seats in the United States House of Representatives and both of the state's United States Senate seats. Primary elections were held on June 24, 2014, and primary runoffs were held on August 26, 2014. ^[1]

Governor

Main article: 2014 Oklahoma gubernatorial election

Incumbent Republican governor Mary Fallin ran for re-election to a second term in office. ^[2] She was challenged in the primary by Dax Ewbank ^[3] and attorney Chad Moody. ^[4]

State Representative Joe Dorman ran as a Democrat ^[5] and Independents Richard Prawdzienski, the former chair of the Libertarian Party of Oklahoma and candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma in 2010 ^[6] and Kimberly Willis ^[3] also ran.

Lieutenant governor

2014 Oklahoma lieutenant gubernatorial election

←  2010 November 4, 2014 2018  →

Nominee Todd Lamb John Cox Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 562,088 258,564 Percentage 68.5% 31.5%

County results Lamb:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%

Lieutenant governor before election Todd Lamb Republican Elected Lieutenant governor Todd Lamb Republican

In Oklahoma, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately. Incumbent Republican lieutenant governor Todd Lamb ran for re-election to a second term in office. ^[3] He ran against Democratic businesswoman Cathy Cummings. ^[7]

2014 Lieutenant governor results ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Todd Lamb	562,088	68.49%	+4.46%
	Democratic	John Cox	258,564	31.51%	−1.00%
Turnout			820,652	100.00%

Attorney general

Incumbent Republican attorney general Scott Pruitt ran unopposed for re-election to a second term in office. ^[3]

Treasurer

Incumbent Republican state treasurer Ken A. Miller ran unopposed for re-election to a second term in office. ^[3]

State auditor and inspector

Incumbent Republican state auditor and inspector Gary Jones ran unopposed for re-election to a second term in office. ^[3]

Superintendent of public instruction

Incumbent Republican superintendent of public instruction Janet Barresi ran for re-election to a second term in office. ^[9]

Republican primary

Candidates

Barresi's first term was seen as controversial ^{[9] [10] [11]} and she was challenged in the Republican primary by businesswoman, former public school teacher and former State Board of Education member Joy Hofmeister ^[12] and educator and candidate for superintendent in 2010 Brian S. Kelly. ^[13]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Janet Barresi	Joy Hofmeister	Brian S. Kelly	Other	Undecided
SoonerPoll [14]	June 19–21, 2014	840	± 3.38%	19.5%	41.7%	14.1%	—	24.7%
SoonerPoll [15]	May 5–10, 2014	580	± 4.07%	16.4%	17.1%	14.3%	—	52.1%

Results

Republican primary results ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joy Hofmeister	151,124	57.63
	Republican	Brian S. Kelly	56,060	21.38
	Republican	Janet Barresi	55,048	20.99
Total votes			262,232	100

Democratic primary

Candidates

Four Democrats ran in the primary: Superintendent of Peggs School District in Cherokee County John Cox, ^[17] founder of the ASTEC Charter Schools System Freda Deskin, ^[18] Government Relations Director for Professional Oklahoma Educators and former Assistant State Superintendent for Financial Services at the Oklahoma State Department of Education Jack Herron, ^[19] and retired college professor, former chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party and former Oklahoma State Department of Education employee Ivan Holmes. ^[20] Bennington Schools Superintendent Donna Anderson had been running, ^[21] but withdrew from the race. ^[3]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	John Cox	Freda Deskin	Jack Herron	Ivan Holmes	Other	Undecided
SoonerPoll [22]	June 19–21, 2014	781	± 3.5%	19.4%	26.2%	2.9%	8.6%	—	42.8%
SoonerPoll [23]	May 5–10, 2014	631	± 3.9%	10.6%	14%	3.5%	8.3%	—	63.5%

Results

Democratic primary results ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Cox	68,889	41.04
	Democratic	Freda Deskin	64,135	38.21
	Democratic	Jack Herron	22,335	13.31
	Democratic	Ivan Holmes	12,504	7.45
Total votes			167,863	100

Runoff

Democratic primary runoff results ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Cox	60,370	62.89
	Democratic	Freda Deskin	35,621	37.11
Total votes			95,991	100

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Joy Hofmeister (R)	John Cox (D)	Undecided
Sooner Poll [25]	October 25–29, 2014	949	± 3.18%	42.3%	40.1%	17.6%
Sooner Poll [26]	August 28–30, 2014	603	± 3.99%	38.4%	40.5%	21.2%

Results

Results by county:

  Cox—60-70%

  Cox—50–60%

  Hofmeister—70-80%

  Hofmeister—60-70%

  Hofmeister—50-60%

2014 State Superintendent of Public Instruction results ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joy Hofmeister	457,053	55.81%	−0.11%
	Democratic	John Cox	361,878	44.19%	+6.47%
Turnout			818,931	100.00%

Commissioner of Insurance

Incumbent Republican Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak ran for re-election to a second term in office. ^[3]

He was challenged in the Republican primary by Bill Viner. No other candidate filed to run. ^[3]

Republican primary results ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John D. Doak	189,893	77.49
	Republican	Bill Viner	55,173	22.51
Total votes			245,066	100

Commissioner of Labor

Incumbent Republican Labor Commissioner Mark Costello ran for re-election to a second term in office. ^[3]

Mike Workman was the Democratic candidate. ^[3]

Results by county

Costello:

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

Workman:

•   50–60%

Corporation Commissioner

One of the three seats on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission was up for election. Incumbent Republican Commissioner Patrice Douglas, the Chairman of the commission, did not run for re-election to a first full term in office. She is instead running for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district. ^[3]

State Senator Cliff Branan and former Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2006 Todd Hiett ran for the Republican nomination. No other candidate filed to run. ^[3]

Republican primary results ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Todd Hiett	128,173	52.24
	Republican	Cliff Branan	117,169	47.76
Total votes			245,342	100

United States Senate

Regularly-scheduled election

Main article: United States Senate election in Oklahoma, 2014

Incumbent Republican senator Jim Inhofe ran for re-election to a fourth term in office. He was challenged in the Republican primary by D. Jean McBride-Samuels, ^[27] retired air traffic controller Rob Moye, ^[28] perennial candidate Evelyn Rogers ^[28] and Iraq War veteran Erick Wyatt. ^[29]

Insurance agency owner Matt Silverstein ran for the Democrats ^[30] and Independents Aaron DeLozier, ^[28] Joan Farr ^[31] and Ray Woods ^[27] also ran.

Special election

Main article: United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, 2014

Incumbent Republican senator Tom Coburn announced his intention to resign on 113th Congress on January 3, 2015, four years into his second six-year term. ^[32] Thus, a special election was held to fill his seat for the remaining two years of his term. ^[33]

For the Republicans, former state senator and candidate for Governor in 2010 Randy Brogdon, ^[34] Army veteran and sales professional Andy Craig, ^[35] college professor Kevin Crow, ^[36] U.S. Representative James Lankford, ^[37] businessman Eric McCray, ^[38] State Representative and former Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives T.W. Shannon ^[39] and paramedic Jason Weger ^[40] ran.

Patrick Hayes, ^[31] State Senator Constance N. Johnson ^[41] and perennial candidate Jim Rogers ^[31] ran for the Democratic nomination. Independent Mark Beard also ran. ^[31]

United States House of Representatives

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma, 2014

Oklahoma's five seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2014.

References

1. "Oklahoma Elections — 2014". Oklahoma Secretary of State. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
2. "12 Oklahoma candidates look to campaigns for 2014". News OK. November 25, 2012.
3. "Candidates for Federal, State and Legislative Offices". Oklahoma Secretary of State. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
4. "OKC Republican, Independent join governor's race". The News & Observer . April 10, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
5. "Dorman formally announces candidacy for governor". Tulsa World. February 4, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
6. Knight, E. Zachary (February 21, 2014). "Richard Prawdzienski Announces Independent Bid For Governor's Seat". Oklahomans for Ballot Access Reform. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
7. James Coburn (December 27, 2013). "Cummings going after lieutenant governor position". Edmond Sun. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
8. "General Election". Oklahoma State Election Board. November 4, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
9. "Candidates Lining Up To Run Against Oklahoma Schools Superintendent Janet Barresi". The Okie Blaze. November 5, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
10. "How Elections Will Affect State School Superintendent Seats in 2014". Governing. January 21, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
11. "State Superintendent Janet Barresi's controversial style both loved and hated". Tulsa World. August 18, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
12. Andrea Eger (January 27, 2014). "Joy Hofmeister enters state superintendent's race". Tulsa World. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
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14. SoonerPoll
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19. "Longtime Oklahoma education official seeks superintendent post". News OK. June 10, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
20. ""Keep Everyone in the Loop," says Ivan Holmes, Candidate for Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction". Demo Okie. August 29, 2013. Archived from the original on September 9, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
21. "Bryan County's Donna Anderson campaigning for State Superintendent". KXII. September 23, 2013. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
22. SoonerPoll
23. SoonerPoll
24. "Runoff Primary Election". Oklahoma State Election Board. August 26, 2014. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
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26. Sooner Poll
27. Smoot, D.E. (April 9, 2014). "Most candidate filings are for state, federal offices". Muskogee Phoenix . Retrieved April 10, 2014.
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29. Faught, Jamison (March 3, 2014). "Inhofe draws his first GOP challenger: Iraq vet Erick Wyatt". Muskogee Politico. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
30. "Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, challenger Matt Silverstein report campaign donations". The Oklahoman. October 25, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
31. "Candidates for Federal, State, Legislative and Judicial Offices" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board. April 11, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
32. Edwards, A (January 17, 2014). "Oklahoma will hold special election to fill Coburn's U.S. Senate seat after retirement". kfor.com. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
33. Michael Bates (January 16, 2014). "Replacing Tom Coburn: Oklahoma's congressional special election laws". BatesLine. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
34. Russell Mills (March 3, 2014). "Randy Brogdon announces US Senate run". KRMG. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
35. Faught, Jamison (March 26, 2014). "Recap: Current Candidates for Coburn's Senate seat". Muskogee Politico. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
36. Troxtell, Adam (February 11, 2014). "Crow confident in face of obstacles to reach Senate". The Express-Star. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
37. "US Rep. Lankford Announces Run For US Senate Seat". news9.com. KWTV-DT. January 20, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
38. "Okla. City businessman to seek US Senate seat". The Oklahoman . Associated Press. January 28, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
39. Jaffe, Alexandra (January 28, 2014). "Okla. Speaker to launch Senate bid". The Hill . Retrieved January 20, 2014.
40. "Norman paramedic to seek open US Senate seat". news9.com. KWTV-DT. Associated Press. January 21, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
41. Felder, Ben (April 8, 2014). "Johnson announces Democratic bid for U.S. Senate". Oklahoma Gazette. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.