2012 elections review: One incumbent defeated in Oklahoma
June 27, 2012
By Ballotpedia's Congressional and State legislative teams
The fast-moving primary season of May and June continued yesterday with elections in Oklahoma.
Here's what happened in Oklahoma, where races for State Senate, State House, and U.S. House were held.
| Contested Primaries in Oklahoma -- June 22, 2012 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. House (5 seats) |
State Legislature (125 seats) | ||||
| Total Democratic Contested Primaries | 3 (60.0%) | 11 (8.8%) | |||
| Total Republican Contested Primaries | 4 (80.0%) | 37 (29.6%) | |||
U.S. House
Oklahoma had a total of five seats on the ballot in 2012. A total of 28 candidates filed to run, made up of 13 Republicans, 9 Democrats, and 6 Independents. Only four of the five incumbents ran for re-election. Incumbent Dan Boren (D), who represented the 2nd Congressional District, decided to retire after his term expires. Of the other four, the only incumbent who did not face a primary challenge was James Lankford (R) of the 5th District.
In the 1st District, incumbent John Sullivan (R) faced a tough primary opponent in Jim Bridenstine. Bridenstine and Sullivan sparred relentlessly during the primary campaign.[1] This translated into the primary, where the two were neck and neck for most of the night as results came in.[2][3] In a close race, incumbent John Sullivan was defeated by challenger Jim Bridenstine. Bridenstine will run against John Olson (D) in the general election. Olson ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The open 2nd District was also a hotly contested primary seat this year. Because it was an open seat, it has also received the most attention for much of the campaign. Six Republicans, three Democrats and one Independent all ran to replace retiring incumbent Boren. Though Boren is a Democrat, most expected the district to switch this year from blue to red. Both the Cook Political Report[4] and the Sabato Crystall Ball rated the race as "leaning Republican" prior to the primary[5] Runoff elections will be held on both tickets, as no candidate received enough of the vote to be declared the winner. On the Democratic ticket, Wayne Herriman and Rob Wallace edged out Earl Everett and will face off head to head in the runoff.[3] On the Republican ticket, George Faught and Markwayne Mullin emerged as the top two vote getters, defeating Wayne Pettigrew, Dustin Rowe, Dwayne Thompson and Dakota Wood.[3] The runoff primary will take place on August 28, 2012.[6]
In Oklahoma's 3rd District, Democratic candidate Timothy Ray Murray defeated Frankie Robbins to win the nomination. On the Republican ticket, incumbent Frank D. Lucas defeated challenger William Craig Stump. Murray (D) will face incumbent Lucas in the general election on November 6.[3]
Similarly, Donna Marie Bebo defeated Bert Smith in the Democratic primary to advance to the general election to take on incumbent Tom Cole on November 6.[3] Cole defeated challenger Gary D. Caissie in the Republican primary.[3]
The least competitive district was Oklahoma's 5th District, where no race was contested. Democratic incumbent Tom Guild and James Lankford (R) both ran unopposed in their primaries. They will face off in the general election, along with Independent candidates Pat Murphy and Robert T. Murphy.
| Members of the U.S. House from Oklahoma -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 1 | 0 | |
| Republican Party | 4 | 5 | |
| Total | 5 | 5 | |
State legislature
There are 125 total legislative seats with elections in 2012 -- 24 Senate seats and 101 House seats.
There were 11 (8.8%) contested Democratic primaries and 37 (29.6%) contested Republican primaries. Thus, there were 48 (19.2%) races with at least two candidates on the ballot. The 19.2% figure of contested primaries in Oklahoma is lower than the current national contested average of 20.02% for states that have had filing deadlines.
Oklahoma State Senate
In the Senate, 4 incumbents faced primary opposition -- 0 Democrats and 4 Republicans.
District 25: Incumbent Mike Mazzei defeated challenger Ronda Vuillemont-Smith
District 37: Incumbent Dan Newberry defeated challenger Mark Croucher
District 39: Incumbent Brian A. Crain defeated challenger Kevin McDugle
District 41: Incumbent Clark Jolley defeated challenger Paul Blair
Oklahoma House of Representatives
In the House, 15 incumbents faced primary opposition -- 2 Democrats and 13 Republicans. One incumbent, Guy Liebmann, was defeated by his primary challenger.
District 3: Incumbent James H Lockhart defeated challenger Traci Barnes
District 18: Incumbent Donald A Condit defeated challenger Carolyn McNatt Hill
District 25: Incumbent Todd Thomsen defeated challenger Donald Cole Gallup
District 36: Incumbent Sean Roberts defeated challengers Stan Sallee and Paul F. Nosak
District 39: Incumbent Marian Cooksey defeated challenger Bob Dani
District 45: Incumbent Aaron Stiles defeated challenger Derick Jensen
District 49: Incumbent Tommy C Hardin defeated challenger Samuel Q. Dishmon
District 59: Incumbent Mike Sanders defeated challenger Rodney Hiebert
District 63: Incumbent Don Armes defeated challenger B.L. Cozad Jr.
District 68: Incumbent Glen Mulready defeated challenger Darren Gantz
District 79: Incumbent Weldon Watson defeated challenger Lois Jacobs
District 82: Incumbent Guy Liebmann was defeated by challenger Mike Turner
District 84: Incumbent Sally Kern defeated challenger Curtis Moore
District 100: Incumbent Elise Hall defeated challenger Jeff Renner
District 101: Incumbent Gary Banz defeated challenger A.J. Bailey
| Oklahoma State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 16 | 12 | |
| Republican Party | 32 | 36 | |
| Total | 48 | 48 | |
| Oklahoma House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 31 | 29 | |
| Republican Party | 68 | 72 | |
| Vacancy | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 101 | 101 | |
See also
|
- United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma, 2012
- Oklahoma State Senate elections, 2012
- Oklahoma House of Representatives elections, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ realclearpolitics.com, "Museum: Sullivan's claims 'recklessly false'" accessed June 21, 2012
- ↑ Politico, "An incumbent caught sleeping?" accessed June 26, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Oklahoma Elections Division, "Election Results" accessed June 26, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 Competitive House Race Chart" accessed June 21, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Sabato Crystal Ball, accessed June 21, 2012
- ↑ Oklahoma Secretary of State Elections Board, "Release: Runoff primary election" accessed June 26, 2012
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