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2018 Oklahoma Senate elections
General	November 6, 2018
Primary	June 26, 2018
Primary Runoff	August 28, 2018

Republicans maintained a majority in theOklahoma State Senate in the November 6, 2018 elections. A total of24 seats out of the chamber's 48 seats were up for election in 2018.^[1] Heading into the election, Republicans controlled 38 seats to Democrats' eight, with two seats vacant. After the election, Republicans had a39-9 majority.

TheRepublican Party maintained a trifecta after the 2018 elections, keeping control of thestate Senate,state House, andgovernorship.

Because state senators in Oklahoma serve four-year terms, winning candidates in this election served through 2022 and played a role inOklahoma's redistricting process. In Oklahoma, congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. If the legislature is unable to approve a state legislative redistricting plan, a backup commission must draw new lines.Read more below.

The Oklahoma State Senate was one of 87 state legislative chambers with elections in2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Oklahoma state senators serve staggered,four-year terms and half of the Senate is up for election every two years.

For more information about the Democratic primary,click here.
For more information about the Republican primary,click here.

Post-election analysis

See also:State legislative elections, 2018

The Republican Party maintainedsupermajority status in both chambers of the Oklahoma State Legislature in the 2018 election. In the state Senate, 24 out of 48 seats were up for election. Republicans increased their supermajority in the Oklahoma State Senate from 38-8 to 39-9. Two seats were vacant before the election. One Republican incumbent was defeated in the primary and no incumbents were defeated in the general election.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives held elections for all 101 seats. The Republican supermajority in the House of Representatives increased from 72-27 to 76-25. Two seats were vacant before the election. Five Republican incumbents were defeated in the primary and three Democratic incumbents were defeated in the general election.

National background

On November 6, 2018, 87 of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly scheduled elections for 6,073 of 7,383 total seats, meaning that nearly 82 percent of all state legislative seats were up for election.

• Entering the 2018 election, Democrats held 42.6 percent, Republicans held 56.8 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.6 percent of the seats up for regular election.
• Following the 2018 election, Democrats held 47.3 percent, Republicans held 52.3 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.4 percent of the seats up for regular election.
• A total of 469 incumbents were defeated over the course of the election cycle, with roughly one-third of them defeated in the primary.

Want more information?

• Incumbents defeated in 2018's state legislative elections
• 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of state legislative chambers
• 2018 election analysis: Number of state legislators by party
• 2018 election analysis: State legislative supermajorities

Candidates

See also:Statistics on state legislative candidates, 2018

General election candidates

Oklahoma State Senate general election candidates
Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name. = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office	Democratic	Republican	Other
District 2	Jennifer Esau	Marty Quinn (i)
District 4	Eddie Martin	Mark Allen (i)
District 6	Arnold Bourne	David Bullard
District 8	Shannan Tucker	Roger Thompson (i)	Marlena Nobles (Independent)
District 10		The general election was canceled and this candidate was elected: Bill Coleman
District 12	Rick Parris	James Leewright (i)
District 14	Justin Arledge	Frank Simpson (i)
District 16	Mary Boren	Becki Maldonado
District 18	Charles Arnall	Kim David (i)
District 20	Heady Coleman	Chuck Hall
District 22	William Andrews	Stephanie Bice (i)
District 24	Renee Jerden	Darrell Weaver
District 26		The general election was canceled and this candidate was elected: Darcy Jech (i)
District 28		Jason Smalley (i)	Stephanie Sanders (Independent)
District 30	Julia Kirt	John Symcox
District 32	Jacobi Crowley	John Montgomery
District 34	The general election was canceled and this candidate was elected: J.J. Dossett (i)
District 36	Bryan O'Brien	John Haste
District 38	Jeff Berrong	Brent Howard
District 40	Carri Hicks	Joe Howell	Christopher Hensley (Independent)
District 42	Linda Wade	Brenda Stanley	Matt Campbell (Independent)
District 44	The general election was canceled and this candidate was elected: Michael Brooks (i)
District 46	The general election was canceled and this candidate was elected: Kay Floyd (i)
District 48	George Young	Willard Linzy

Primary runoff candidates

Oklahoma State Senate primary runoff election candidates
Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name. = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office	Democratic	Republican	Other
District 10		Bill Coleman Amber Roberts
District 16	Mary Boren  Claudia Griffith	Becki Maldonado Did not make the ballot: Ed Crocker
District 30		Lori Callahan John Symcox
District 36		Bill Day John Haste

Primary candidates

The candidate list below is based on a candidate filing list provided by the Oklahoma State Election Board on April 13, 2018.^[2] The filing deadline for the June primary was on April 13, 2018.(I) denotes an incumbent.

Oklahoma State Senate primary election candidates
Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name. = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office	Democratic	Republican	Other
District 2	Jennifer Esau	Marty Quinn (i)
District 4	Christopher Ford Eddie Martin	Mark Allen (i) Heath Eubanks
District 6	Arnold Bourne	David Bullard Erick Wyatt
District 8	Shannan Tucker	Roger Thompson (i)
District 10		Bill Coleman Gary Lanham Amber Roberts
District 12	Rick Parris	James Leewright (i)
District 14	Justin Arledge	Frank Simpson (i) Joe Caudle
District 16	Mary Boren  Claudia Griffith Aleisha Karjala	Gary Caissie Ed Crocker Becki Maldonado
District 18	Charles Arnall	Kim David (i) Eric Tomlinson
District 20	Heady Coleman	Chuck Hall Aiya Kelley
District 22	William Andrews	Stephanie Bice (i) Leslie NesSmith
District 24	Renee Jerden	Dan Belcher Darrell Weaver
District 26		Darcy Jech (i)
District 28		Jason Smalley (i) Robert McKinney
District 30	Larry Buss Julia Kirt	Lori Callahan Jeffrey Cartmell Erick Harris Tim Haws Eric Roberts John Symcox Evan Vincent
District 32	Jacobi Crowley Deborah Farler	John Montgomery
District 34	J.J. Dossett (i)
District 36	Alan Leizear Bryan O'Brien	David Dambroso Bill Day John Haste Dana Prieto
District 38	Jeff Berrong	Brent Howard
District 40	Danielle Ezell Carri Hicks	Ervin Yen (i) Joe Howell
District 42	Linda Wade	Brenda Stanley
District 44	Michael Brooks (i)
District 46	Kay Floyd (i)
District 48	Christine Byrd George Young	Willard Linzy

Margins of victory

See also:Margin of victory analysis for the 2018 state legislative elections

Amargin of victory (MOV) analysis for the2018 Oklahoma State Senate races is presented in this section. MOV represents the percentage of total votes that separated the winner and the second-place finisher. For example, if the winner of a race received 47 percent of the vote and the second-place finisher received 45 percent of the vote, the MOV is 2 percent.

The table below presents the following figures for each party:

• Elections won
• Elections won by less than 10 percentage points
• Elections won without opposition
• Average margin of victory^[3]

Oklahoma State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory Analysis
Party	Elections won	Elections won by less than 10%	Unopposed elections	Average margin of victory[3]
Democratic	7	1	3	29.4%
Republican	17	1	2	30.0%
Other	0	0	0	N/A
Total	24	2	5	29.7%

The margin of victory in each race is presented below. The list is sorted from the closest MOV to the largest (including unopposed races).

Oklahoma State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory by District
District	Winning Party	Losing Party	Margin of Victory
Oklahoma State Senate District 42	Republican	Democratic	7.6%
Oklahoma State Senate District 30	Democratic	Republican	8.8%
Oklahoma State Senate District 32	Republican	Democratic	10.3%
Oklahoma State Senate District 40	Democratic	Republican	19.1%
Oklahoma State Senate District 8	Republican	Democratic	20.8%
Oklahoma State Senate District 36	Republican	Democratic	24.3%
Oklahoma State Senate District 16	Democratic	Republican	25.8%
Oklahoma State Senate District 2	Republican	Democratic	26.0%
Oklahoma State Senate District 4	Republican	Democratic	26.3%
Oklahoma State Senate District 24	Republican	Democratic	27.0%
Oklahoma State Senate District 38	Republican	Democratic	30.3%
Oklahoma State Senate District 6	Republican	Democratic	31.8%
Oklahoma State Senate District 18	Republican	Democratic	32.4%
Oklahoma State Senate District 22	Republican	Democratic	36.5%
Oklahoma State Senate District 20	Republican	Democratic	40.2%
Oklahoma State Senate District 14	Republican	Democratic	40.5%
Oklahoma State Senate District 28	Republican	Independent	46.7%
Oklahoma State Senate District 12	Republican	Democratic	48.6%
Oklahoma State Senate District 48	Democratic	Republican	63.8%
Oklahoma State Senate District 26	Republican	None	Unopposed
Oklahoma State Senate District 34	Democratic	None	Unopposed
Oklahoma State Senate District 44	Democratic	None	Unopposed
Oklahoma State Senate District 46	Democratic	None	Unopposed
Oklahoma State Senate District 10	Republican	None	Unopposed

Seats flipped

See also:State legislative seats that changed party control, 2018

The below map displays each seat in theOklahoma State Senate which changed partisan hands as a result of the 2018 elections, shaded according to the partisan affiliation of the winner in 2018. Hover over a shaded district for more information.

State legislative seats flipped in 2018, Oklahoma State Senate
District	Incumbent	2018 winner	Direction of flip
Oklahoma State Senate District 30	David Holt	Julia Kirt	R to D
Oklahoma State Senate District 32	Randy Bass	John Montgomery	D to R
Oklahoma State Senate District 40	Ervin Yen	Carri Hicks	R to D

Incumbents retiring

Eleven incumbents did not run for re-election in 2018.^[4] Those incumbents were:

Name	Party	Office
Josh Brecheen	Republican	Senate District 6
Eddie Fields	Republican	Senate District 10
John Sparks	Democratic	Senate District 16
AJ Griffin	Republican	Senate District 20
Anthony Sykes	Republican	Senate District 24
David Holt	Republican	Senate District 30
Randy Bass	Democratic	Senate District 32
Bill Brown	Republican	Senate District 36
Mike Schulz	Republican	Senate District 38
Jack Fry	Republican	Senate District 42
Anastasia Pittman	Democratic	Senate District 48

Process to become a candidate

See also:Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Oklahoma

See statutes:Title 26, Chapter 5 of the Oklahoma Code

Filing

Each candidate must file a declaration of candidacy with theOklahoma State Election Board to place his or her name on the ballot. The declaration must be filed during the candidate filing period, which begins on the first Wednesday in April and ends on the following Friday. The declaration of candidacy must be signed and notarized and include the following:^[5][6][7]

• the name of the candidate
• the candidate's address
• the office the candidate seeks
• the candidate's date of birth
• the candidate's political party affiliation
• the precinct and county where the candidate is a registered voter
• a sworn oath affirming that the candidate is qualified to become a candidate for the office being sought and to hold that office if elected

A partisan candidate must be a registered voter of the political party with which he or she wishes to run for at least six months immediately preceding the first day of the candidate filing period. An independent candidate must be registered as an independent voter for at least six months before filing as a candidate. A candidate of a new political party that has not been officially recognized for six months must be registered with that party within 15 days following its recognition.^[8]

A candidate may file for only one office per election. There is no process for candidates to run as write-ins as write-in voting isnot permitted inOklahoma.^[9]

Fees

Each candidate must pay a filing fee to theOklahoma State Election Board or else file a petition signed by 4 percent of registered voters who will be eligible to vote for the candidate in the election (this figure is determined by using the latest January 15 voter registration report).^[10]

Filing fees vary according to the office being sought by the candidate and are described in the table below.^[10]

Challenges

Any candidate may challenge another candidate’s candidacy by filing a written petition of contest with theOklahoma State Election Board. If there is only one candidate running for office, any registered voter who is eligible to vote for that candidate may file a contesting petition. This must be done by 5 p.m. on the second business day after the close of the candidate filing period. The contesting petition must be accompanied by a deposit of $250, which will be returned to the challenger if he or she successfully proves that the candidate does not fulfill all requirements to be a candidate for that office.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Qualifications

See also:State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article 5, Section 17 of theOklahoma Constitution states: "Members of the Senate shall be at least twenty-five years of age, and members of the House of Representatives twenty-one years of age at the time of their election. They shall be qualified electors in their respective counties or districts and shall reside in their respective counties or districts during their term of office."

Salaries and per diem

See also:Comparison of state legislative salaries

When sworn in

See also:When state legislators assume office after a general election

Oklahoma legislators assume office 15 days following the general election.^[16][17]

Oklahoma political history

See also:Partisan composition of state senates andState government trifectas

Party control

2018

In the 2018 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the Oklahoma State Senate from 38-8 to 39-9.

2016

In the2016 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the Oklahoma State Senate from 39-9 to 42-6.

Trifectas

Astate government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Republicans in Oklahoma gained astate government trifecta as a result of the 2010 elections by taking control of the governor's office.

Impact of term limits

See also:Impact of term limits on state senate elections in 2018 andImpact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2018

TheOklahoma State Senate has been a term-limited state Senate since Oklahoma voters approvedState Question 632 in 1990, as aninitiated constitutional amendment. This amendment became part ofSection 17A of Article V of theOklahoma Constitution and limits the amount of time that anOklahoma State Senator can serve to a cumulative total of 12 years in either or both chambers of theOklahoma State Legislature.

A total of 24 out of 48 seats in theOklahoma State Senate were up for election in 2018. In the 2018 elections, six senators were ineligible to run because of term limits. The following state senators were term-limited in 2018:

Democratic: (3)

• Randy Bass
• John Sparks
• Anastasia Pittman

Republicans (3):

• Anthony Sykes
• Bill Brown
• Mike Schulz

Of the 87 state legislative chambers that held elections in 2018, 24 of them—12 senate chambers and 12 house chambers—included incumbents who were unable to run for re-election due toterm limits.^[18] In the 24 chambers affected by term limits in 2018, 1,463 seats were up for election.^[19] The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate are impacted by term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

A total of 271 state legislators—96 state senators and 175 state representatives—were ineligible to run in the 2018 elections because of term limits. This represented 4 percent of the 6,066 total seats up for election in November 2018.^[20][21] Republicans had twice as many state legislators term-limited in 2018 than Democrats. A total of 86 Democrats were term-limited, while 177 Republicans were term-limited.

Wave election analysis

See also:Wave elections (1918-2016)

The termwave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makessignificant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from PresidentWoodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 toDonald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016.We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition tostate legislative elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose494 seats for 2018 to qualify as awave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 10 state legislative waves from 1918 to 2016.Click here to read the full report.

Competitiveness

Every year, Ballotpedia uses official candidate lists from each state to examine the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country. Nationally, there has been a steady decline in electoral competitiveness since 2010. Most notable is that the number of districts with general election competition has dropped by more than 10 percent.

Results from 2016

Click here to read the full study »

Historical context

See also:Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections: 1972-2014

Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.

Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.

Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia'scompetitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.

Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.

Redistricting in Oklahoma

See also:Redistricting in Oklahoma

Because state senators in Oklahoma serve four-year terms, winning candidates in this election served through 2022 and played a role inOklahoma's redistricting process. In Oklahoma, congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. If the legislature is unable to approve a state legislative redistricting plan, a backup commission must draw new lines.

State legislature districts in the 2010-2012 redistricting process

On May 16, 2011, the state legislature passed a state legislative redistricting plan, which was signed into law by the governor on May 20, 2011. The newly approved Senate district boundaries were challenged in state court, but all challenges were ultimately dismissed.^[25]

Pivot Counties

See also:Pivot Counties by state

There are no Pivot Counties in Oklahoma. Pivot Counties are counties that voted forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and forDonald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election,Donald Trump (R) won Oklahoma with 65.3 percent of the vote.Hillary Clinton (D) received 28.9 percent. In presidential elections between 1904 and 2016, Oklahoma voted for the winning presidential candidate 72.4 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Oklahoma supported Republican candidates for president more often than Democratic candidates, 65.5 to 34.5 percent. The state favored Republicans in every presidential election between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Senate districts in Oklahoma. Click[show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled byDaily Kos.^[26][27]

See also

• Oklahoma State Senate
• Oklahoma State Legislature
• State legislative elections, 2018
• Oklahoma state legislative Democratic primaries, 2018
• Oklahoma state legislative Republican primaries, 2018

External links

Suggest a link

• Oklahoma State Legislature

Footnotes

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