2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial election
November 6, 2018
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Stitt: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% ≥90% Edmondson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% ≥90% Tie No votes | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Oklahoma |
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| Government |
The 2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Oklahoma. Incumbent Republican governor Mary Fallin was term-limited, and was prohibited by the Constitution of Oklahoma from seeking a third term. Republican Businessman Kevin Stitt was elected with 54.3% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee and former Oklahoma attorney general Drew Edmondson.
Primary elections occurred on June 26, 2018. Edmondson won the Democratic nomination outright. Stitt, however, faced a runoff election against former Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett. On August 28, 2018, Stitt won the Republican primary runoff and became the Republican nominee for the office. The Libertarian Party also held a primary, which advanced to a runoff, with Chris Powell, a former chair of the Libertarian Party of Oklahoma, winning the nomination.
Stitt won the general election with 54.33% of the vote. This was the first time ever that the Libertarian Party was on the ballot in a gubernatorial election in Oklahoma, and the only time since 1986 that a candidate from the incumbent president's party was elected Governor of Oklahoma.
A member of the Cherokee Nation, Stitt became the first tribally enrolled Native American to serve as governor of a U.S. state. Despite his victory, Stitt lost four counties that voted Republican in the 2016 U.S. presidential race: Cherokee, Cleveland, Muskogee, and Oklahoma.