Oklahoma Primary 2026: BatesLine ballot card

In-person absentee voting will be available at your county's early voting locations on Thursday, June 10, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Friday, June 11, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday, June 12, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tulsa County will have in-person absentee voting at the new Tulsa County Election Board location at 12000 E. Skelly Drive and at Tulsa Tech Broken Arrow Campus near 111th Street S & 129th East Ave (aka Florence and Olive). Polls in each precinct will be open Tuesday, June 16, 2026, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

NOTE: Precinct boundaries, voting locations, and district boundaries have changed, in some cases dramatically. Enter your name and date of birth on the Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter portal and you will see where to vote and your sample ballot.

In response to popular demand, I have assembled the guidance detailed below into a downloadable, printable, single-page PDF.

Here are the candidates I'm recommending and (if in the district) voting for in the Oklahoma Republican primary elections on June 16, 2026. (This entry will change as I decide to add more detail, link previous articles, or discuss additional races between now and election day. The entry is post-dated to keep it at the top.)

As I post this, I'm still unsure about several races, and there are other races I had planned to write about in detail, but time is short, people are voting, and many have asked for a summary of my recommendations. My most enthusiastic choices are in bold; in other races, there may be one or two other candidates that would be acceptable, or I simply don't know the endorsed candidate as well as I would like. There are certain incumbents that I'd like to see defeated, but I don't feel comfortable endorsing an opponent at this point. I'll try to fill in TBDs and NOTs before the start of early voting.

US Senate: Kevin Hern
1st Congressional District: Mark Tedford
2nd Congressional District: Josh Brecheen
3rd Congressional District: Wade Burleson
4th Congressional District: Marcie Everhart
5th Congressional District: No primary

SQ 832 (eternal minimum wage escalator): NO

Governor: Mike Mazzei
Lt. Governor: David Ostrowe
Auditor and Inspector: Melissa Capps elected without opposition
Attorney General: Jeff Starling
Treasurer: Todd Russ
Superintendent of Public Instruction: John Cox
Labor Commissioner: Kevin West
Insurance Commissioner: Marty Quinn
Corporation Commissioner: Justin Hornback

The Treasurer's race was a tough call. I admire Cindy Byrd's work in eight years as State Auditor. She had been running for Lt. Governor but switched races at filing time. Todd Russ has gotten great investment results for Oklahoma's public funds, has improved the state's credit rating, and has divested from funds that discriminate against the oil and gas industry. But Jason Murphey, whom I greatly respect, sees "danger signs" in Russ's handling of the Invest in Oklahoma Board and his hiring of a lobbyist. On the other, other hand, reporting from OCPA's Ray Carter makes it clear that Russ bent over backwards, extending the deadline, so that taxpayers had multiple bidders from which to choose. The winning bidder was the low bidder, and the various state pension fund boards will independently choose whether or not to opt-in to invest with the fund.

District Attorney, District 14: Steve Kunzweiler.

This is the most important race on the Tulsa County ballot. Kunzweiler is an honest, hardworking leader who has done a great job for us, despite limited resources and obstacles like McGirt and SQ 780 that make it much harder for a DA to put bad guys behind bars. I've looked into the accusations against him, amplified by dark money from Delaware, and they reflect a failure to understand the law and the facts.

His opponent, Colleen McCarty, has never tried a case before a jury but has spent her entire, 5-year legal career leading non-profits that advocate for bad ideas from the Left: lighter sentencing for career criminals, "social justice," trans rights and woke history in schools, and California-style jungle primaries. She has been dishonest about her 17-year history as a Democrat and deceptive in the way she tells conservative audiences about her left-wing non-profit work, describing letting criminals out of jail early as "fiscally conservative." She protested against a bill that would have acknowledged unborn children as persons with unalienable rights.

District 14 District Judge, Office 4: Dustin Allen. Either Allen or Phillip Peak would be preferable to DEI supporter Loretta Radford, but Allen has law enforcement backing and a longer history as a Republican.

In the State House and Senate, we need to re-elect Freedom Caucus members and elect challengers who will join them in resisting lobbyists and corporate welfare and who will stand for the taxpayers of Oklahoma.

Senate 2: Payton Pepin
Senate 4: Kenny Smith
Senate 10: Jaden A. Terrazas
Senate 12: William Stump
Senate 20: Mark LeMarr
Senate 26: Brady Butler
Senate 28: Robert Trimble
Senate 34: Dana Prieto (i)
Senate 42: Malana Bracht

House 3: Rick West (i)
House 8: Tom Gann (i)
House 10: Jake Bair
House 11: Wendi Stearman
House 12: Sandy Hodges
House 14: Roy Timmons
House 24: Chris Banning (i)
House 32: Jim Shaw (i)
House 33: Molly Jenkins
House 36: Jenni White
House 69: Angela Strohm
House 98: Gabe Woolley (i)

Tulsa County Assessor: John Wright re-elected without opposition
Tulsa County Treasurer: John Fothergill
Tulsa County Commissioner District 1:
Tulsa County Commissioner District 3: Kelly Dunkerly re-elected without opposition

City of Bixby Charter Amendment Propositions: NO

MORE INFORMATION:

POLLING:

May 21-25 NonDoc poll of Governor and State Superintendent races: This poll was used to decide which candidates qualified for the NonDoc debates
June 2-3 JMC Analytics poll of Governor, Senate: JMC Analytics is a Louisiana-based polling company

OTHER CONSERVATIVE VOICES:

Here are some blogs, endorsement lists, candidate questionnaires, and sources of information for your consideration.

• Muskogee Politico news, questionnaires, and analysis
• Muskogee Politico primary picks
• Muskogee Politico legislator tax votes, 2016-2018
• Oklahoma Conservative PAC meeting videos, including candidate speeches
• Jason Murphey Primary Voter Guide
• Oklahoma Constitution Index: Scores incumbent legislators on voting record
• iVoterGuide surveys of Oklahoma statewide, federal, and legislative candidates
• Tulsa County Republican Party candidate guide, with links to social media, GOP questionnaires, and GOP candidate interview transcripts
• City Elders Tulsa speakers' videos, including candidate speeches
• Oklahomans for Life candidate surveys: 2026 primary survey
• Oklahomans for the 2nd Amendment (OK2A)
• NRA-PVF endorsements
• Make Oklahoma Healthy Again (MOHA) endorsements -- formerly Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights (OKHPR)

ANTI-CONSERVATIVE VOICES:

Historically there have been some endorsement lists that are generally negative indicators, including public employees and teacher's unions (and front groups like Oklahomans for Public Education), but these groups have become careful to conceal their support, which backfires in a Republican primary.

The State Chamber of Oklahoma puts out a voter guide that lists State Chamber PAC endorsements. Being pro-business is great, but please read my 2016 article "Chambers of Horrors" to understand why social and fiscal conservatives, opponents of cronyism, and supporters of historic preservation should find Chamber endorsements problematic.

There are some self-styled "conservative influencers" who have shown themselves confused, inconsistent, or downright treacherous. Caveat lector. Anyone who promotes an inexperienced left-winger for District Attorney is not someone conservatives should look to for endorsements.

If you appreciate the many hours of research that went into this guide and into the rest of my election coverage, and if you'd like to help keep this site online, you can contribute to BatesLine's upkeep via PayPal. You can also support BatesLine through a paid Substack subscription. In addition to keeping me caffeinated, donated funds pay for web hosting, subscriptions, and paid databases I use for research. Many thanks to those generous readers who have already contributed.