Here’s a look at what happened during Tuesday’s primary runoffs, what you need to know and what it means for Oklahoma’s general elections in November:
Many incumbents won their runoffs
In perhaps the closest race of the night, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter won the Republican nomination in the attorney general’s race by less than 1 point.
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter. KASSIE McCLUNG/The Frontier
Hunter, who was appointed in February 2017, won his runoff against Tulsa attorney Gentner Drummond by razor thin margins — by 269 votes.
“I promised my supporters I wouldn’t make them pay for a landslide,” Hunter said to laughs at his watch party. “I don’t know this is what I intended.”
Drummond text messaged The Frontier late Tuesday and said it was a possibility he would seek a recount.
However, during a press conference the next day, Drummond announced he conceded the race to Hunter and called the election “historically close.”
“After considering whether to seek a recount, and researching what that would entail, I’ve decided that instead we would concede the election today in an effort to bring unity to the Republican party,” Drummond said.
In all, seven incumbent candidates won their races and will go on to November’s general elections, and six incumbents lost.
Rep. Travis Dunlap, a Republican from Bartlesville, lost his primary by about 16 points to Judd Strom. Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, lost his race by about 16 points to Stan May.
A mixed night for teachers
At least nine teacher candidates were on the ballot on Tuesday, and three won their runoffs.
The publication Education Week counted 65 teachers running for office in Oklahoma this year. Twelve went unopposed in their primaries. Thirty-one teachers lost their primaries, according to Education Week. More than 20 teachers moved on from their primaries.
Meanwhile, incumbents who were opposed to raising taxes to fund a teacher pay raise in 2017 didn’t do well on Tuesday. Six candidates against the tax package lost their runoffs and one incumbent won.
Rep. Tess Teague, R-Choctaw, voted against the tax package in 2017. She lost her race.
Rep. George Faught, a Republican from Muskogee, also opposed the tax package. His opponent won the runoff by less than 100 votes.
Rep. Bobby Cleveland told TV reporters during last year’s teacher walkout that educators should have been in the classroom instead of protesting at the Capitol. He lost by just 1 percentage point.
Rep. Jeff Coody, who told a group of students last session that the teacher walkout was “akin to extortion,” lost his runoff election by 16 points to challenger Trey Caldwell.
Stitt will take on Edmondson in November
Kevin Stitt won the Republican party nomination for governor and will take on Democratic candidate Drew Edmondson in the Nov. 6 general election.
Stitt, a businessman from Jenks, took a comfortable lead over former Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett. Stitt had a nearly 10-point lead over Cornett when the Associated Press called the race at 8:30 Tuesday night.
Cornett received more votes than Stitt in the primary election. The former mayor pulled almost 133,000 votes while Stitt won about 110,000 votes.
Edmondson could face a tough battle against Stitt in the conservative state. However, recent polls suggest Edmondson would have a better chance winning against Stitt than Cornett.
Edmondson easily won his primary race against Connie Johnson in June, when he drew 61.4 percent of the vote.
This story was updated on Aug. 29 to reflect Gentner Drummond announced he conceded the election to Mike Hunter.
