Oklahoma's Primary Decisions
Oklahoma Primary Voters Nominate Federal, State Officials and Decide Minimum Wage Ballot Measure
Voters in Washington, D.C., and Oklahoma head to the polls Tuesday, June 16, for primary elections that will reshape leadership in both places for years to come. D.C. is choosing a new mayor and a new congressional delegate for the first time in over a decade, while Oklahoma is filling an open U.S. Senate seat and picking a new governor, all on the same day. AP News will call races as results come in.
The two elections could not look more different. D.C. is debuting ranked-choice voting for the first time, which may delay final results by days. Oklahoma is running a traditional primary, but a late Trump endorsement and a crowded 13-candidate Senate field have scrambled expectations heading into Election Day.
D.C.'s Most Competitive Mayor Race in a Decade
Mayor Muriel Bowser is retiring after three terms, leaving D.C.'s most powerful job wide open. Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George leads the Democratic mayoral field with 36% support in the final Washington Post-Schar School poll. Her closest rival, former At-Large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, sits at 25%. A full 25% of likely voters remain undecided — a huge wild card in a ranked-choice race.
Ranked-choice voting, or RCV, is new to D.C. this year. Voters rank candidates by preference instead of picking just one. If no one reaches 50%, the last-place candidate is dropped and their votes go to voters' next choice. The system may mean no winner is declared on election night, according to AP News.
Oklahoma Senate Race Opens After Mullin Joins Trump Cabinet
Sen. Markwayne Mullin resigned on March 23 to become U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security under President Trump. Gov. Kevin Stitt then appointed energy executive Alan Armstrong to serve as a placeholder. Armstrong signed an agreement not to run for the full term, blowing the race wide open. Thirteen candidates across all parties filed to run, according to AP News.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern is seen as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. On the Democratic side, attorney and ordained minister Jim Priest is seeking to unite a fractured party. "This campaign is about bringing people together and restoring faith that government can still do good," Priest said. Oklahoma is a reliably Republican state, and the Cook Political Report favors the GOP to hold the seat.
Trump Endorsement Scrambles Oklahoma's Wide-Open Governor Race
Gov. Kevin Stitt cannot run again under Oklahoma's two-term lifetime limit. Attorney General Gentner Drummond entered the race as the frontrunner, but a late endorsement from President Trump for former State Sen. Mike Mazzei has shaken up the Republican field, according to analysts at The Frontier. The top four Republican candidates have loaned a combined $22 million of their own money to their campaigns, a sign of how competitive the race has become.
Voters will also weigh in on State Question 832, a ballot measure that would raise Oklahoma's minimum wage from $7.25 to $12.00 per hour starting in 2027, and to $15.00 by 2029. The increase would affect roughly 350,000 workers. Business groups oppose it, warning the state's own fiscal report says it could force new taxes or cut services for some municipalities, according to AP News.
Eleanor Holmes Norton's 35-Year Run Comes to a Close
In D.C., the race to replace Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is drawing nearly as much attention as the mayoral contest. Norton announced her retirement in January after 18 terms — 35 years — in Congress. At-Large Councilmember Robert White and Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto are the leading candidates to succeed her, according to Ballotpedia.
The broader D.C. primary also plays out against a backdrop of federal pressure. The Trump administration federalized the D.C. police force earlier this year. Some analysts warn that a progressive mayoral win could prompt Congress to push to end D.C.'s Home Rule, the law that gives the District control over its own government. D.C. polls open at 7:00 AM Tuesday. Oklahoma polls open at 7:00 AM and close at 7:00 PM.
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