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Poteau Daily News
Anti-GOP, marijuana turnout highlight state elections
By Sean Murphy
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s
primary election was marked by an en-
ergetic push from pro-education groups
that helped oust Republican incumbents
and a strong turnout in the vote that legal-
ized medical marijuana.
Tuesday’s primary election also win-
nowed the 15-candidate field seeking to
replace Gov. Mary Fallin as the state’s
next chief executive. A series of attack
ads between two candidates in the Re-
publican primary for attorney general
preceded what turned out to still be a
two-way race.
The primary runoff for attorney gen-
eral and other races is set for Aug. 28.
Here are highlights from Tuesday:
Teacher Candidates
The primary was the first test for many
of the nearly 100 teachers running for
office in Oklahoma after a year that saw
tens of thousands of educators walk off
their job for two weeks to protest dwin-
dling funding for schools.
At least six Republican incumbents
were bounced from office during Okla-
homa’s primary election, including sev-
eral who were targeted by pro-education
groups.
Several GOP incumbents who voted
against tax hikes to fund teacher pay
raises were either ousted from office or
pulled into a runoff against a fellow GOP
opponent.
Of the 10 “no” voters in the House who
were running for re-election, two were
defeated outright on Tuesday night —
Reps. Chuck Strohm of Jenks and Scott
McEachin of Tulsa. Seven others ended
up in the August primary runoff against
fellow Republicans.
Four other Republican incumbents
also were defeated on Tuesday, including
one who lost to a seventh-grade English
teacher from Elgin.
Governor
Fifteen candidates — two Democrats,
10 Republicans and three Libertarians —
ran to replace Fallin, who has served eight
years as the state’s chief executive. Most
of the attention, and money, has been fo-
cused on the Republican primary, which
included former Oklahoma City Mayor
Mick Cornett, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, and
Tulsa mortgage company founder Kevin
Stitt.
Cornett and Stitt both advanced to the
Republican runoff, knocking off Lamb,
the early favorite and establishment pick
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
who started the campaign with $1 million
in carry-over funds from his lieutenant
governor’s campaign.
Stitt took advantage of his status as a
political outsider and outraised all of his
opponents with $4.2 million, including
$2.1 million of his own money, to nar-
rowly edge out Lamb for the second spot
in the runoff.
On the Democratic side, former Okla-
homa Attorney General Drew Edmond-
son clinched the nomination over ex-state
Sen. Connie Johnson. The $1.5 million
Edmondson raised was more than 20
times as much as Johnson.
Medical Marijuana
Oklahoma voters on Tuesday easily
approved the medicinal use of marijuana,
despite opposition from law enforcement
and business, faith and political leaders.
State Question 788 was the result of
an activist-led signature drive. It allows
physicians to approve medical marijuana
licenses for people to legally grow, keep
and use cannabis. The proposal doesn’t
list any qualifying medical conditions, al-
lowing doctors to prescribe it for a wide
range of ailments.
Opponents had argued the proposal
was too loosely written, and Gov. Mary
Fallin said it would essentially allow
recreational use. After the vote, Fallin
said she would work with state agencies
and lawmakers to establish a regulatory
framework “to make sure marijuana use
is truly for valid medical illnesses.”
It was the first marijuana question on a
state ballot in 2018, and Oklahoma voters
showed up in droves. The state’s election
board says more votes were cast on the
issue than in the 2014 general election.
Attorney General
The top two candidates in the most
heated statewide primary race advanced
in the Republican primary for attorney
general. Sitting Attorney General Mike
Hunter led the three-candidate race and
faces Tulsa attorney Gentner Drum-
mond in a runoff for the GOP nomina-
tion. Hunter was appointed to the post
by Fallin after former Attorney General
Scott Pruitt was tapped by President
Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency. A series
of attack ads launched by Hunter and
Drummond provided plenty of fire-
works.
Angela Bonilla finished third in the
Republican race.
Associated Press writer Adam Kealo-
ha Causey contributed to this report.