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Politics of Oklahoma

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Politics of Oklahoma
Seal of Oklahoma.svg
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Elections
Divisions
Congressional delegation
This article is about political groups and tendencies in Oklahoma. For the political and administrative structures, see Government of Oklahoma.
United States presidential election results for Oklahoma[1]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 1,020,280 65.37% 503,890 32.29% 36,529 2.34%
2016 949,136 65.32% 420,375 28.93% 83,481 5.75%
2012 891,325 66.77% 443,547 33.23% 0 0.00%
2008 960,165 65.65% 502,496 34.35% 0 0.00%
2004 959,792 65.57% 503,966 34.43% 0 0.00%
2000 744,337 60.31% 474,276 38.43% 15,616 1.27%
1996 582,315 48.26% 488,105 40.45% 136,293 11.29%
1992 592,929 42.65% 473,066 34.02% 324,364 23.33%
1988 678,367 57.93% 483,423 41.28% 9,246 0.79%
1984 861,530 68.61% 385,080 30.67% 9,066 0.72%
1980 695,570 60.50% 402,026 34.97% 52,112 4.53%
1976 545,708 49.96% 532,442 48.75% 14,101 1.29%
1972 759,025 73.70% 247,147 24.00% 23,728 2.30%
1968 449,697 47.68% 301,658 31.99% 191,731 20.33%
1964 412,665 44.25% 519,834 55.75% 0 0.00%
1960 533,039 59.02% 370,111 40.98% 0 0.00%
1956 473,769 55.13% 385,581 44.87% 0 0.00%
1952 518,045 54.59% 430,939 45.41% 0 0.00%
1948 268,817 37.25% 452,782 62.75% 0 0.00%
1944 319,424 44.20% 401,549 55.57% 1,663 0.23%
1940 348,872 42.23% 474,313 57.41% 3,027 0.37%
1936 245,122 32.69% 501,069 66.83% 3,549 0.47%
1932 188,165 26.70% 516,468 73.30% 0 0.00%
1928 394,046 63.72% 219,174 35.44% 5,207 0.84%
1924 226,242 42.82% 255,798 48.41% 46,375 8.78%
1920 243,831 50.11% 217,053 44.61% 25,726 5.29%
1916 97,233 33.25% 148,113 50.65% 47,070 16.10%
1912 90,786 35.77% 119,156 46.95% 43,859 17.28%
1908 110,474 43.33% 122,363 47.99% 22,146 8.69%

The politics of Oklahoma exists in a framework of a presidential republic modeled after the United States. The governor of Oklahoma is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform two-party system. Executive power is exercised by the governor and the government. Legislative power is vested in the governor and the bicameral Oklahoma Legislature. Judicial power is vested in the judiciary of Oklahoma. The political system is laid out in the 1907 Oklahoma Constitution.

Oklahoma is currently categorized politically as conservative. The state has a history of Democratic state government dominance. Oklahoma came into being as a state at the height of the era of Jim Crow Laws and had a Ku Klux Klan presence in the 1920s. Race politics gave way to Democratic political infighting over the New Deal in the 1930s and 1940s and the gradual growth of the Oklahoma Republican Party's power. As a result, Oklahoma has voted for Republican candidates all but once since 1952 (in 1964), with the Democratic candidate having failed to pick up a single county in the state in all elections since 2004. Today all of Oklahoma's federal offices, and all statewide offices, are held by the Republican Party, which also holds supermajorities in both chambers of the state Legislature.

Until 1964, Oklahoma was considered a "swing state" in American politics, shifting back and forth in its support for the two major parties. This was in part due to Oklahoma's situation both as a part of the Great Plains states, which tended to be reliably Republican, and the South, which was heavily Democratic at that time. Between statehood and 1964, the state voted for the losing candidate just three times, in 1908, 1924, and 1960. However, Oklahoma voters would split their political allegiances by electing Democrats for local government, but Republicans for national office. In general, Oklahoma can be characterized as a politically conservative state.

Discover more about Politics of Oklahoma related topics

Governor of Oklahoma

Governor of Oklahoma

The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the ex officio commander-in-chief of the Oklahoma National Guard when not called into federal use. Despite being an executive branch official, the governor also holds legislative and judicial powers. The governor's responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the Oklahoma Legislature, submitting the annual state budget, ensuring that state laws are enforced, and that the peace is preserved. The governor's term is four years in length.

Head of state

Head of state

A head of state is the public persona who officially embodies a state in its unity and legitimacy. Depending on the country's form of government and separation of powers, the head of state may be a ceremonial figurehead or concurrently the head of government and more.

Head of government

Head of government

The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a group of ministers or secretaries who lead executive departments. In diplomacy, "head of government" is differentiated from "head of state" although in some countries, for example the United States, they are the same person.

Oklahoma Legislature

Oklahoma Legislature

The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 state representatives, each serving a two-year term, and 48 state senators, who serve four-year terms that are staggered so only half of the Oklahoma Senate districts are eligible in each election cycle. Legislators are elected directly by the people from single member districts of equal population. The Oklahoma Legislature meets annually in the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City.

Judiciary of Oklahoma

Judiciary of Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Court System is the judicial system for the U.S. State of Oklahoma. Based in Oklahoma City, the court system is a unified state court system that functions under the Chief Justice of Oklahoma who is its administrator-in-chief.

Conservatism

Conservatism

Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in which it appears. In Western culture, depending on the particular nation, conservatives seek to promote a range of social institutions such as the nuclear family, organized religion, the military, property rights, and monarchy. Conservatives tend to favor institutions and practices that guarantee stability and evolved gradually. Adherents of conservatism often oppose certain aspects of modernity and seek a return to traditional values, though different groups of conservatives may choose different traditional values to preserve.

Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan, commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, in recent decades is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Catholics, as well as immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, Muslims, atheists, and abortion providers.

Oklahoma Republican Party

Oklahoma Republican Party

The Oklahoma Republican Party is the Oklahoma state affiliate of the Republican Party (GOP). Along with the Oklahoma Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties in the state.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New Mexico on the west, and Colorado on the northwest. Partially in the western extreme of the Upland South, it is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States. Its residents are known as Oklahomans and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.

Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains, sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. It is the southern and main part of the Interior Plains, which also include the tallgrass prairie between the Great Lakes and Appalachian Plateau, and the Taiga Plains and Boreal Plains ecozones in Northern Canada. The term Western Plains is used to describe the ecoregion of the Great Plains, or alternatively the western portion of the Great Plains.

Democratic Party (United States)

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled politicians in every state behind war hero Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party. Its main political rival has been the Republican Party since the 1850s, with both parties being big tents of competing and often opposing viewpoints. Modern American liberalism — a variant of social liberalism — is the party's majority ideology. The party also has notable centrist, social democratic, and left-libertarian factions.

Local government in the United States

Local government in the United States

Local government in the United States refers to governmental jurisdictions below the level of the state. Most states and territories have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities. Louisiana uses the term parish and Alaska uses the term borough for what the U.S. Census Bureau terms county equivalents in those states. Civil townships or towns are used as subdivisions of a county in 20 states, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest.

History

Early history

Oklahoma politics from statehood through World War I was dominated by the Democratic Party, with the Republican Party and the Socialist Party vying to challenge the Democratic Party's dominance. The 2nd Oklahoma Legislature included Oklahoma's first black member, Republican A. C. Hamlin, but passed legislation that made it nearly impossible for African-Americans to seek elective office, which limited him to one term.[2] In the 1910s, the Oklahoma Legislature included Socialists, but the only bill they sponsored that became law involved hunting.[3] Socialists were also elected to local office and received the nation's highest vote count per capita for the party's candidate, Eugene V. Debs in 1916. The Jim Crow Law in Oklahoma was struck down by the United States Supreme Court, but a special session was called by the Democratic governor and focused on voting laws that limited black voter participation.[3] The Ku Klux Klan and the civil rights struggles of the World War I era came to Oklahoma in the 1920s, leading to the Tulsa race massacre, lynchings and other violence.[4] Following the practical destruction of the Socialist party in the aftermath of the Green Corn Rebellion, state politics became a two-party system that continued to exclude black voters.

New Deal coalition

At the U.S. Presidential level, Oklahoma's electoral college vote was a reliable part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" coalition (which began in the U.S. election of 1932). Oklahoma did support President Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, but then returned to supporting the Democrats in 1964 (Oklahoma split its electoral college vote Nixon–Byrd 7–1, due to a maverick elector, commonly referred to as a faithless elector, in 1960).

During this same period, Oklahoma's Governors, legislature, and delegation to Congress continued to be dominated by the Democratic Party. However, there was political infighting over deficit spending in the late 1930s, leading to a successful bipartisan push for a 1941 constitutional amendment requiring legislators to pass a balanced budget.[5] Leon C. Phillips, who opposed New Deal programs, rose to prominence, first as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and later as governor.[6]

Southern strategy

Oklahoma State Capitol in 1963.
Oklahoma State Capitol in 1963.

During the presidential campaign in 1968, Oklahoma was targeted by the Republican Party to be included in what was called the Southern Strategy. Beginning with the second Presidential campaign of Richard Nixon (who appealed to Oklahoma voters on the issue of law and order), Oklahoma gradually changed in its voting pattern in national elections to become an increasingly reliable Republican state for presidential tickets. President George W. Bush carried Oklahoma twice (by a wide margin), in 2000 and 2004, for example. Starting with the 2004 election results, every county in Oklahoma has gone to the Republican candidate. In 2008, Oklahoma was the only state in which every county was carried by John McCain.

Gradually, the success of the Republican Party began to translate into Congressional, legislative, and other local political races.

21st century

Party registration by county (January 2018): .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}  Democratic >= 40%   Democratic >= 50%   Democratic >= 60%   Democratic >= 70%   Republican >= 40%   Republican >= 50%   Republican >= 60%   Republican >= 70% [needs update]
Party registration by county (January 2018):
  Democratic >= 40%
  Democratic >= 50%
  Democratic >= 60%
  Democratic >= 70%
  Republican >= 40%
  Republican >= 50%
  Republican >= 60%
  Republican >= 70%

By the start of the 21st century, conservative Republicans increased their strength in Oklahoma on the statewide level, but Democrats were still a major factor in statewide politics. This began to change in 2004, when the Republicans took control of the state House for only the second time ever, and the first time since 1922. In 2006, incumbent Democratic governor Brad Henry won re-election to a second term in a landslide, taking 66% of the vote against former Republican Congressman Ernest Istook, and carrying every county except the three in the strongly Republican Oklahoma Panhandle. Despite this landslide Democratic victory, the Republicans gained two seats in the State Senate (resulting in a 24–24 tie, although the Democratic Party held the tie-breaking Lieutenant Governor's vote) and increased their lead in the House to 57–44.

In 2008, the Republicans gained two state senate seats, taking control 26–22 of that chamber for the first time in state history, while increasing their membership in the state House to a 61–40 advantage. The Republicans thus had complete control of the state legislature for the first time ever. In addition, Oklahoma was the only state where John McCain carried every county (even though Democrats still had a majority of registered voters).[7]

The 2010 statewide election saw a historic sweep, as for the first time in Oklahoma history, the GOP won every statewide office up for election that year. In 2010, the GOP increased its majority in the House by six seats and in the Senate by five seats.[8] (One seat, State Senate District 47, was vacant, as incumbent Todd Lamb was elected Lieutenant Governor, and was filled by special election in January 2011.) The Republicans thus had complete control of state government for the first time ever. On the Congressional front, Tom Coburn held his U.S. Senate seat and the GOP maintained control of the four House seats it held, and came within 6 points of taking Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district, the only Oklahoman Congressional seat not held by the GOP. No Democrat has won a statewide election in Oklahoma since, although incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, who was elected twice as a Republican, switched her affiliation to Democratic in 2021 and retired in 2023.

In the 2012 statewide election, the GOP captured the 2nd District seat, and thus held every statewide office as well as the entire Congressional delegation. The GOP also increased its majorities in the Oklahoma Legislature by four seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives for a total of 71 seats and one in the Oklahoma Senate for a total of 32 seats. In both cases, the GOP gained a supermajority. The 2014 statewide election saw the GOP maintain its hold of all the statewide and Congressional seats (all five House seats and, due to both James Inhofe's seat being up for re-election and Tom Coburn resigning his seat mid-term, both Senate seats), its hold of its 71 seats in the House, and increase its Senate bloc to 39 seats. However, in 2018, Republican Representative Steve Russell from the 5th congressional district was defeated in his second reelection bid by Democratic nominee Kendra Horn, marking the first time a Democrat had been elected to the seat since 1974. This result reflected a growing shift in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas to the Democratic Party, as although Republicans won the district back in 2020 and carried it in the presidential election, Democrats won the area in the 2022 elections.

Discover more about History related topics

Socialist Party of America

Socialist Party of America

The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America who had split from the main organization in 1899.

2nd Oklahoma Legislature

2nd Oklahoma Legislature

The Second Oklahoma Legislature was a meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Oklahoma, composed of the Oklahoma Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives, during the only term of Governor Charles Haskell. State legislators elected in 1908 met in the Guthrie City Hall Building from January 5 to March 12, 1909. The state legislature also met in special session from January 20 to March 19, 1910.

A. C. Hamlin

A. C. Hamlin

Albert Comstock Hamlin was the first African American elected to the Oklahoma Legislature. He lost his re-election bid as a direct result of a constitutional amendment that prevented many black Oklahomans from voting.

Oklahoma Legislature

Oklahoma Legislature

The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 state representatives, each serving a two-year term, and 48 state senators, who serve four-year terms that are staggered so only half of the Oklahoma Senate districts are eligible in each election cycle. Legislators are elected directly by the people from single member districts of equal population. The Oklahoma Legislature meets annually in the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City.

Eugene V. Debs

Eugene V. Debs

Eugene Victor Debs was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States. Through his presidential candidacies as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States.

Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan, commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, in recent decades is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Catholics, as well as immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, Muslims, atheists, and abortion providers.

Green Corn Rebellion

Green Corn Rebellion

The Green Corn Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in rural Oklahoma on August 2 and 3, 1917. The uprising was a reaction by European-Americans, tenant farmers, Seminoles, Muscogee Creeks, and African-Americans to an attempt to enforce the Selective Draft Act of 1917. The name "Green Corn Rebellion" was a reference to the purported plans of the rebels to march across the country and to eat "green corn" on the way for sustenance.

President of the United States

President of the United States

The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. He previously served as the 44th governor of New York from 1929 to 1933, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1913 to 1920, and a member of the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913.

New Deal

New Deal

The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs and agencies included the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Farm Security Administration (FSA), the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). They provided support for farmers, the unemployed, youth, and the elderly. The New Deal included new constraints and safeguards on the banking industry and efforts to re-inflate the economy after prices had fallen sharply. New Deal programs included both laws passed by Congress as well as presidential executive orders during the first term of the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

New Deal coalition

New Deal coalition

The New Deal coalition was an American political coalition that supported the Democratic Party beginning in 1932. The coalition is named after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs, and the follow-up Democratic presidents. It was composed of voting blocs who supported them. The coalition included labor unions, blue-collar workers, racial and religious minorities, rural white Southerners, and intellectuals. Besides voters the coalition included powerful interest groups: Democratic party organizations in most states, city machines, labor unions, some third parties, universities, and foundations. It was largely opposed by the Republican Party, the business community, and rich Protestants. In creating his coalition, Roosevelt was at first eager to include liberal Republicans and some radical third parties, even if it meant downplaying the "Democratic" name. By the 1940s, the Republican and third-party allies had mostly been defeated. In 1948, the Democratic Party stood alone and survived the splits that created two splinter parties.

1932 United States presidential election

1932 United States presidential election

The 1932 United States presidential election was the 37th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 1932. The election took place against the backdrop of the Great Depression. The incumbent Republican President Herbert Hoover was defeated in a landslide by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, the governor of New York and the vice presidential nominee of the 1920 presidential election. Roosevelt was the first Democrat in 80 years to simultaneously win an outright majority of the electoral college and popular vote, a feat last accomplished by Franklin Pierce in 1852, as well as the first Democrat in 50 years to win a majority of the popular vote, which was last done by Samuel J. Tilden in 1876. Hoover was the last incumbent president to lose an election to another term until Gerald Ford lost 44 years later. The election marked the effective end of the Fourth Party System, which had been dominated by Republicans. It was the first time since 1916 that a Democrat was elected president.

Political institutions

As in the national government of the United States, power in Oklahoma is divided into three main branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

Executive

The capital of the state is Oklahoma City and the Governor of Oklahoma is Kevin Stitt, a Republican. His first term began on January 14, 2019. The current Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma is Republican Matt Pinnell. Pinnell concurrently serves, by virtue of his office as lieutenant governor, as the president of the Oklahoma Senate. The offices of the governor and lieutenant governor have four-year terms. The Governor is assisted by a Cabinet consisting of the assembled heads of the various executive departments called Secretaries. Of the Secretaries, the highest in rank is Secretary of State, currently Michael Rogers, a Republican, who is the only appointed executive officer under the Oklahoma Constitution.

Other statewide executive offices are contested in elections and serving four-year terms that run concurrent with that of the Governor, with the exception of the three members of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Those members serve staggered six-year terms, with one member's term up for election every two years.

See also: Governor of Oklahoma

Current executive branch

Office Current Officer Since Party
Governor of Oklahoma Kevin Stitt January 14, 2019 Republican
Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell January 14, 2019 Republican
Secretary of State Brian Bingman January 14, 2019 Republican
State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd January 14, 2019 Republican
Attorney General Gentner Drummond January 9, 2023 Republican
State Treasurer Todd Russ January 9, 2023 Republican
State School Superintendent Ryan Walters January 9, 2023 Republican
Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn January 14, 2019 Republican
Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready January 14, 2019 Republican
Corporation Commissioner (by length of tenure) Bob Anthony January 9, 1989 Republican
Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy January 12, 2009 Republican
Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett January 12, 2015 Republican

Legislative

Main article: Oklahoma Legislature
Chamber of the Oklahoma Senate
Chamber of the Oklahoma Senate

The state legislature is a bicameral body consisting of the Oklahoma Senate and Oklahoma House of Representatives, with members elected directly by the people. There are 48 state senators, each serving a staggered four-year term and 101 members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, each serving a two-year term. Members of both houses are elected from single member districts of equal population.

The state has term limits for their legislature that restrict any one person to a total of twelve years service in both the House and Senate.

The state legislature convenes in regular session at noon each odd-numbered year on the first Monday in February.[9] However, in the odd-numbered years following an election, the state legislature must meet on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January for the sole purpose of determining the outcome of the statewide elections. The state constitution limits the state legislature to meeting 160 legislative days during each biennium.[10] In addition, the legislature may not meet in regular session after the last Friday in May of each year.[9]

Current composition

In the 58th Legislature, the Republicans control both houses with an 81-20 majority in the House and a 40-8 majority in the Senate.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives

Affiliation Members
Republican Party 81
Democratic Party 20
Seat Vacant 0
 Total 101

The Oklahoma Senate

Affiliation Members
Republican Party 40
Democratic Party 8
Seat Vacant 0
Total 48

Current leadership

The Oklahoma House of Representatives

Main office-holders
Office Name Party Since
Speaker of the Oklahoma House Charles McCall Republican January 3, 2017
Speaker Pro Tempore of the House Kyle Hilbert Republican
Majority Leader Jon Echols Republican
Minority Leader Emily Virgin Democratic

The Oklahoma Senate

Main office-holders
Office Name Party Since
President of the Senate and Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell Republican January 14, 2019
President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate Greg Treat Republican
Republican Floor Leader Greg McCortney Republican
Democratic Floor Leader Kay Floyd Democratic

[11][12]

Judicial

The Judiciary of Oklahoma has six levels. Most cases start in the district courts, which are courts of general jurisdiction. The lowest level courts are the Municipal Courts which exist to oversee the administration of justice within cities and have jurisdiction only over the violation of city ordinances. Appeals from Municipal Courts are heard by District Courts. There are 77 District Courts, with each having either a single or multiple District Judges with at least one Associate District Judge to administer justice. Appeals from the District Courts and challenges to certain governmental decisions are heard by either the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals for civil appeals or the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal appeals. The Court of Civil Appeals has twelve judges who sit in two-judge divisions and the Court of Criminal Appeals has five judges.

Two specialized courts within administrative agencies have been established, the Court of Tax Review hears disputes involving illegal taxes levied by county and city governments, and the Workers’ Compensation Court.

The nine-justice Oklahoma Supreme Court is the court of last resort for all civil appeals. The Court has appellate jurisdiction on all civil issues, the Court of Civil Appeals, the Court of Tax Review and the Worker's Compensation Court. The Court only has original jurisdiction when new first impression issues, or important issues of law, or matters of great public interest are at stake.

Within the Oklahoma court system there are two independent courts: the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary which monitors the actions of all judges and justices and the Oklahoma Court of Impeachment, which is the Oklahoma Senate sitting, which acts serves as the only court that can remove the highest levels of state government officials from their offices.

Federal court cases are heard in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma based in Muskogee, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma based in Tulsa, and the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma based in Oklahoma City. Appeals are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit based in Denver, Colorado.

Discover more about Political institutions related topics

Governor of Oklahoma

Governor of Oklahoma

The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the ex officio commander-in-chief of the Oklahoma National Guard when not called into federal use. Despite being an executive branch official, the governor also holds legislative and judicial powers. The governor's responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the Oklahoma Legislature, submitting the annual state budget, ensuring that state laws are enforced, and that the peace is preserved. The governor's term is four years in length.

Kevin Stitt

Kevin Stitt

John Kevin Stitt is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2018, defeating Democrat and former state Attorney General Drew Edmondson with 54.3% of the vote. Stitt was reelected to a second term in 2022, defeating Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, a Republican turned Democrat, with 55.4% of the vote. A member of the Cherokee Nation, Stitt is the second governor of Native descent after former Oklahoma governor Johnston Murray.

Republican Party (United States)

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed for the potential expansion of chattel slavery into the western territories. It has been the main political rival of the Democratic Party since the mid-1850s. Like them, the Republican Party is a big tent of competing and often opposing ideologies. Presently, the Republican Party contains prominent conservative, centrist, populist, and right-libertarian factions.

Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma

Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma

The lieutenant governor of Oklahoma is the second-highest executive official of the state government of Oklahoma. As first in the gubernatorial line of succession, the lieutenant governor becomes the new governor of Oklahoma upon the death, resignation, or removal of the governor. The lieutenant governor also serves as the president of the Oklahoma Senate, and may cast a vote to break ties in that chamber.

Matt Pinnell

Matt Pinnell

Philip Matthew Pinnell is an American politician serving as the 17th lieutenant governor of Oklahoma, since 2019. Pinnell is also serving as the first Oklahoma Secretary of Tourism & Branding. Pinnell is a member of the Republican Party.

Oklahoma Senate

Oklahoma Senate

The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.

Michael Rogers (Oklahoma politician)

Michael Rogers (Oklahoma politician)

Michael Wayne Rogers is an American politician from the state of Oklahoma. He served as Oklahoma's 35th Secretary of State.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission

Oklahoma Corporation Commission

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is the public utilities commission of the U.S state of Oklahoma run by three statewide elected commissioners. Authorized to employ more than 400 employees, it regulates oil and gas drilling, utilities and telephone companies.

Federal representation

Map of Oklahoma showing all five congressional districts
Map of Oklahoma showing all five congressional districts
U.S. Senator James Lankford
U.S. Senator James Lankford
U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin
U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin

Oklahoma's two U.S. Senators, Republicans James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin, are elected at-large, serving since 2015 and 2023, respectively.

Oklahoma is currently represented by five congressional districts in the United States House of Representatives. At one point, Oklahoma had as many as eight congressional districts and as many as three at-large districts, but the state's sluggish population growth resulted in the state losing its seventh and eighth districts in 1953 and its sixth district in 2003.

Oklahoma's 1st congressional district is based in Tulsa and covers the northeastern corner of the state and it borders Kansas to the north. It is represented by Kevin Hern, a Republican.

Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district covers (approximately) the eastern one-fourth of the state, bordering Kansas to the north, Missouri and Arkansas to the east, and Texas along the Red River to the south. It is represented by Josh Brecheen, a Republican.

Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district covers western Oklahoma, from the Panhandle to the Tulsa suburbs, and borders New Mexico to the west, Colorado and Kansas to the north, and the Texas panhandle to the south. It is represented by Frank Lucas, a Republican.

Oklahoma's 4th congressional district covers south-central Oklahoma and borders Texas along the Red River to the south. It is represented by Tom Cole, a Republican.

Oklahoma's 5th congressional district, centered in Oklahoma City, covers central Oklahoma and borders all of the other congressional districts except District 1. It is represented by Stephanie Bice, a Republican.

Oklahoma is part of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the Denver-based United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

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James Lankford

James Lankford

James Paul Lankford is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district from 2011 to 2015. He resigned from the House after winning a special election for the U.S. Senate in 2014.

Markwayne Mullin

Markwayne Mullin

Mark Wayne "Markwayne" Mullin is an American businessman and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Oklahoma since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in a special election in 2022 to serve the remainder of Jim Inhofe's term. Mullin is the first Native American U.S. senator since Ben Nighthorse Campbell retired in 2005. He is also the second Cherokee Nation citizen elected to the Senate; the first, Robert Latham Owen, retired in 1925. Before being elected to the Senate, Mullin served as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2023.

Oklahoma's 1st congressional district

Oklahoma's 1st congressional district

Oklahoma's 1st congressional district is in the northeastern corner of the state and borders Kansas. Anchored by Tulsa, it is largely coextensive with the Tulsa metropolitan area. It includes all of Tulsa, Washington and Wagoner counties, and parts of Rogers and Creek counties. Although it has long been reckoned as the Tulsa district, a small portion of Tulsa itself is located in the 3rd district.

Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native Americans who lived along its banks. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the (south) wind" although this was probably not the term's original meaning. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison.

Kevin Hern

Kevin Hern

Kevin Ray Hern is an American businessman and politician from Oklahoma. A Republican, he is a member of the United States House of Representatives for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district. The chair of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative Republicans in the House, Hern was first elected in 2018. In the 2023 Speaker of the House of Representatives election, Hern was nominated for Speaker of the House as a protest candidate against Kevin McCarthy.

Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district

Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district

Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district is one of five United States congressional districts in Oklahoma and covers approximately one-fourth of the state in the east. The district borders Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas and includes a total of 24 counties.

Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states : Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska to the west. In the south are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center into the Mississippi River, which makes up the eastern border. With more than six million residents, it is the 19th-most populous state of the country. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia; the capital is Jefferson City.

Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage language, a Dhegiha Siouan language, and referred to their relatives, the Quapaw people. The state's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the densely forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta.

Josh Brecheen

Josh Brecheen

Joshua Chad Brecheen is an American politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma who has served as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district since 2023. He represented the 6th district in the Oklahoma Senate from 2010 to 2018. He is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation.

Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district

Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district

Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district is the largest congressional district in the state, covering an area of 34,088.49 square miles, over 48 percent the state's land mass. The district is bordered by New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and the Texas panhandle. Altogether, the district includes a total of 32 counties, and covers more territory than the state's other four districts combined. It is one of the largest districts in the nation that does not cover an entire state.

New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region of the western U.S. with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, and bordering Texas to the east and southeast, Oklahoma to the northeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south. New Mexico's largest city is Albuquerque, and its state capital is Santa Fe, which is the oldest state capital in the U.S., having been founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain.

Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is the eighth most extensive and 21st most populous U.S. state. The 2020 United States census enumerated the population of Colorado at 5,773,714, an increase of 14.80% since the 2010 census.

Source: "Politics of Oklahoma", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 25th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Oklahoma.

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Further Reading

Politics of Texas

Politics of West Virginia

South Carolina Republican Party

Oklahoma Democratic Party

Politics of Louisiana

Oklahoma Senate

Elections in New York (state)

Oklahoma Republican Party

Illinois Republican Party

Politics of Pennsylvania

Alabama Republican Party

Politics of Virginia

2004 United States elections

Government of Mississippi

Elections in Virginia

2016 United States elections
See also
Notes
References
  1. ^ Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison—Oklahoma". US Election Atlas. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
  2. ^ Bruce, Michael L. "Hamlin, Albert Comstock (1881-1912) Archived 2012-11-19 at the Wayback Machine," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society. (accessed April 17, 2013)
  3. ^ a b A Century to Remember Archived 2012-09-10 at the Wayback Machine (accessed August 9, 2013)
  4. ^ O'Dell, Larry. Ku Klux Klan Archived 2008-10-09 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. (accessed August 9, 2013)
  5. ^ Everett, Dianna. Budget-Balancing Amendment Archived 2012-11-19 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (accessed August 9, 2013)
  6. ^ Scales, James R. and Danny Goble (1982). Oklahoma Politics: A History. University of Oklahoma Press.
  7. ^ OKGOP "Reddest State" Christmas Card, YouTube (accessed September 3, 2013)
  8. ^ McGuigan, Patrick B. "Fond dreams come true for Oklahoma Republicans, Democrats wake up to a nightmare," CapitolBeatOK.com. (accessed September 3, 2013)
  9. ^ a b Article V, Section 26, Oklahoma Constitution (accessed August 9, 2013)
  10. ^ Article V, Section 25, Oklahoma Constitution (accessed May 27, 2013)
  11. ^ "House Leadership". okhouse.gov. Oklahoma State Legislature. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Leadership". oksenate.gov. Oklahoma Senate. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
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