Oklahoma voters will have a variety of options on this November's ballot.
The midterm elections bring a slew of races to the state, spanning from local to federal offices, as well as ballot questions.
KOSU has compiled a guide for key competitions to help you make your choices.
Governor
Polls show the race for Oklahoma's next governor is tightening as election day approaches.As the candidates press on, their track records as lawmakers can offer a glimpse of how they may govern.
From 2004 to 2016, then-State Senator Mazzei and Senate Finance Chair stuck to a fiscally conservative playbook, as he promises to do as governor. He authored measures to lower taxes and create business growth incentives. Among Mazzei's top legislative wins is 2009's Senate Bill 315, which enabled future cuts to the state income tax rate by removing certain revenue triggers that had prevented them. At the time, the state's top income rate was 5.5%; Mazzei's bill cleared the way for a quarter-percent cut to 5.25% by the 2010 fiscal year.
On the campaign trail, Mazzei has promised to reduce the income tax rate to zero, consistent with his push a decade ago. But this time he also proposes eliminating property taxes for seniors.
His website mentions goals of protecting Oklahoma land from foreign adversaries (which many have scrutinized after he changed his initial skepticism and gave his support to a United Arab Emirates-backed aluminum smelter in Inola favored by President Trump), protecting state abortion bans, and increasing high-paying jobs in Oklahoma.
Munson, whose tenure in the House ran from 2015 to this year and culminated with her serving as the chamber's Minority Leader, focused on improving public health, increasing healthcare access for vulnerable populations, criminal justice reform and lowering the cost of living.
Among her successful efforts was last year's House Bill 2235, which increased compensation for wrongfully convicted Oklahomans based on how many years they were incarcerated without cause.
Munson opposed the state income tax cuts that passed last year in House Bill 2764, but supported the bipartisan effort to cut the state sales tax on groceries in 2024.
She has promised to continue that work on the campaign trail. Munson's website says she wants to prioritize tax relief for "everyday Oklahomans," not large corporations and wealthy individuals, by increasing funding for existing tax breaks for working families.
She also touts her plan to enact a day-one moratorium on new data centers in Oklahoma until the legislature writes laws forcing transparency and accountability from companies about their energy demands, environmental impacts and other effects on the local communities.
State Superintendent
Longtime educator Robert Franklin and former Tulsa Public Schools board member Jennettie Marshall are squaring off to become Oklahoma's next state superintendent.
Franklin, the Republican nominee, has served as a special education teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, a Career Tech associate superintendent and is currently an instructor at OU-Tulsa.
The former Sand Springs educator also served as the chair of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, the predecessor of the Statewide Charter School Board. In that role, he was one of two members who voted against what would have been the country's first publicly funded religious school — a case that went to the Supreme Court.
Franklin also co-founded a camp for special needs children called Make Promises Happen. During his campaign for state superintendent, Franklin has come under fire for alleged abuse against a child with disabilities at the camp. The child's mother went public on social media with apparent scratches she alleges Franklin made under the child's ears.
Franklin told StateImpact he put his hands on the child's face to tell him to stop hitting others with rocks. He said the child yanked back and Franklin's nails scratched him.
The Oklahoma Hall of Fame educator would be a sharp departure from the last elected superintendent, Ryan Walters. Franklin is running on a platform of depoliticizing the office and disavows Walters for his polarizing leadership.
A registered Democrat until 2022, critics have questioned Franklin's conservative bona fides as the Republican nominee.
Marshall is the Democratic nominee for state superintendent. She served eight years on the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education. In 2018, she helped establish the North Tulsa Community Education Task Force, which aided in several upgrades for Tulsa Public Schools students.
Marshall is the founding pastor of Living Sanctuary Evangelistic Ministries and has served as a chaplain for the Tulsa Police Department. She spent 17 years as a probation and parole officer for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and three years as a child welfare investigator with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
As a school board member, Marshall was a longtime proponent of an audit of TPS. Marshall received criticism for speaking at a City Elders event in March 2025 about the audit. She told StateImpact she wasn't aware the group had political leanings when they invited her to speak.
She said she would refuse an endorsement by the group, whose mission is to "establish a divine order in spiritual and civil governance."
She and former board member E'lena Ashley also previously alleged TPS subverted the state's open meetings law during its hiring process for a new superintendent in 2023. Their lawsuit is now before the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Marshall told StateImpact she believes Walters damaged the office of the state superintendent, leaving a trail of "fear and uncertainty" at the department. She said she hopes to regain trust by reestablishing connections with stakeholders.
A key feature of Marshall's platform is opening regional service centers that would train educators, handle state department complaints and hold monthly meetings with the communities in each region.
Attorney General
Democratic federal litigator Nick Coffey and former Republican state Rep. Jon Echols are vying to be Oklahoma's next attorney general.
Echols served 12 years as a state representative for parts of Oklahoma City. During that time, he also served as the Republican majority leader.
Coffey is a former federal prosecutor in the Western District of Oklahoma's organized crime division, serving from 2019 to 2025.
They share some viewpoints; both hope to target illegal marijuana grows and challenge the Inola smelter project, continuing legal battles brought forward by current Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
But Echols said he supports religious charter schools, such as the contentious Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School. Coffey said taxpayer dollars shouldn't fund such projects, calling them unconstitutional.
They also differ in their views on the attorney general's role in managing federal conflict and abortion.
Echols said he's a proven conservative who will best represent Oklahoma in legal matters.
"I'm a conservative Republican, but I'm going to represent everybody, and we're going to use that office to make sure state government follows the law," Echols said.
Coffey argues his litigation experience and work against Mexican cartels make him suited to the state's top legal role.
"If you want accountability, elect a prosecutor," Coffey said. "And that's what Oklahoma needs right now is accountability."
Lieutenant Governor
The Oklahoma lieutenant governor has a handful of duties, including acting as governor when the person who holds the role is out of state.
Republican voters picked banker and former state legislator T.W. Shannon as their nominee in a crowded primary. Trump endorsed Shannon earlier this year.
Shannon was the first Black or Chickasaw person to be speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, served as a senior adviser in the Trump administration and as an Oklahoma Transportation Commissioner.
His priorities include growing the state economy, supporting business, attracting jobs, cutting government red tape, promoting Oklahoma and defending freedoms,according to his website.
Shannon will face Democrat and political newcomer Kelly Forbes, who was the only candidate in his party's primary.
Forbes is an educator who has worked as a teacher, a school administrator and an adjunct professor.
He is the former president of the Oklahoma Association for Bilingual Education and is currently on the board of directors of Palomar, an Oklahoma City-based nonprofit providing services for survivors of abuse and violence,according to his website.
His priorities include building a stronger state economy, investing in public education, expanding healthcare access and affordability, fighting corruption and promoting tourism.
State Treasurer
Republican Cindy Byrd and Libertarian Kiefer Perry are both running for Oklahoma's next treasurer, who oversees banking services for the state. No Democratic candidates filed for the position.
Byrd is finishing up her second term as State Auditor and Inspector. She received nearly 62% of votes in the Republican primary against incumbent Treasurer Todd Russ.
Byrd is a certified public accountant from Coalgate. Her platform includes investing in tourism and the arts, increasing transparency in education spending and reducing reliance on federal funding.
President Trump endorsed Byrd in the treasurer race, calling her "highly respected and very popular" in a social media post.
Her opponent, Perry, lives in Broken Arrow and currently serves as the vice chair of the Oklahoma Libertarian Party.
On his campaign website, Perry said he is inspired by the Austrian school of economics and plans to employ "radical transparency" and a conservative investment strategy to support the free market.
Corporation Commissioner
Either Republican Brad Boles or Democrat Rhonda Eastman will win a seat on the commission that oversees Oklahoma's utility rates and energy industries.
Boles represents his hometown of Marlow in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where he's chaired the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee for the past five years.
On his campaign website, Boles says his priorities include defending Oklahoma's oil, gas and renewable energy industries from "federal overreach and radical environmental policies."
Democrat Rhonda Eastman describes herself as a protestor-turned-politician. Her campaign website outlines her concerns about orphan wells, data centers and the aluminum smelter planned for Inola.
Commissioners serve staggered six-year terms, with one seat on the ballot every two years. This year, voters will choose a commissioner to fill the seat currently occupied by term-limited and scandal-plagued Todd Hiett. The new commissioner will join Kim David and Brian Bingman, who are both in their first term.
Commissioner of Labor
Voters can choose from three candidates for the next Oklahoma Commissioner of Labor.
The candidates come from each state-recognized political party: Republican Kevin West, Libertarian Mike Hall and Democrat Kevin Dawson.
The labor commissioner oversees enforcement of state labor laws covering wages, child labor and workplace safety. The current commissioner, Leslie Osborne, is term-limited.
Kevin West has served as an Oklahoma State Representative since 2016. Before joining the legislature, West spent several years working in cabinet shops and opened his own business in Oklahoma City.
West said he would simplify "outdated rules and regulations" as commissioner and focus the agency on promoting safety through "partnership, not punishment." West also hopes to expand CareerTech programs to connect more young people with apprenticeships and skilled-trade jobs. He won the Republican nomination in the August midterm.
Mike Hall is an engineer and project manager for a construction materials firm and describes himself as a political newcomer. Hall's campaign priorities include protecting individual liberty, economic freedom and small, accountable government.
He believes labor unions and professional associations should be voluntary organizations and his website says no Oklahoman "should be forced to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment." Hall opposes a state-mandated minimum wage, arguing it ignores cost-of-living differences between rural and metropolitan areas and hurts entry-level workers.
Kevin Dawson says Oklahoma's labor system should be "faster, clearer and more transparent," according to his website. His top priorities as commissioner would include protecting workers from wage theft, ensuring safe and lawful workplaces and enforcing strong child labor protections. He believes labor laws should be enforced "fairly, predictably, and without favoritism," and he pushes back against the idea that the Department of Labor should reduce its regulatory oversight.
Insurance Commissioner
On average, Oklahomans pay more than $5,500 a year for home premiums. That is 120% over the national average and the highest average in the nation, according to a recent Lending Tree study.
Both candidates, Republican Bob Sullivan and Democrat Craig MacIntyre, say lowering those rates is their top priority.
Sullivan's plan focuses on helping Oklahomans improve their homes and increasing competition in the insurance provider market.
"We need a more healthy, competitive marketplace, and in my mind, that means more carriers, more competition in that market," Sullivan said. "I had the honor of working with multiple insurance companies throughout my career that do not write in the state of Oklahoma. It's my mission to recruit them and attract them to the state."
MacIntyre's plan focuses on leveraging a law passed this year, House Bill 3781, to better review rate proposals and deny especially high increases.
"HB 3781…changes the way that property and casualty rates are filed in the state of Oklahoma to what is known as a file and use system," MacIntyre said. "It means insurance companies must file their rates at least 30 days ahead of time. And the department can evaluate those rates using actuarial data. And if the rates are too high or too low or they're unfairly discriminatory, they can reject the rate."
He said the new law will be a key tool for the next insurance commissioner to regulate insurance companies proposing excessive rates, but he's worried it won't last long. It's meant to take effect on July 1 next year, which MacIntyre said might give insurance company lobbyists enough time to sway a new legislature into repealing it.
"By making it go into effect on July 1st, the insurance lobby gave themselves an opportunity to go back to the next legislature and say, 'look, we didn't raise rates, so this bill is unnecessary,'" MacIntyre said.
Sullivan said the law will help but "it isn't a silver bullet."
Congressional District 5
Voters in Oklahoma's fifth congressional district will elect their next representative. Their options are Republican incumbent Stephanie Bice, Democratic nominee Jena Nelson and independents Robert Henri and Austin Nieves.
The fifth congressional district encompasses six counties in central Oklahoma, including all of Lincoln, Pottawatomie and Seminole Counties, as well as parts of Oklahoma, Canadian and Logan Counties.
Stephanie Bice has served as the fifth district's Representative since 2021.
Bice's campaign team said in a statement that she is focused on "cleaning up Congress" and promoting policies like paid family leave. According to the Federal Election Commission, she has spent $1.8 million on this campaign.
Jena Nelson became the Democratic nominee for the district after earning about 57% of the vote in the primary. She previously ran for state superintendent in 2022, but lost to Ryan Walters. At that time, Nelson garnered about 43% of the statewide vote and won in district 5.
In an interview, Nelson said her top priority is lowering the cost of living and ensuring people's voices are heard, whether they are Republicans or Democrats. According to the Federal Election Commission, she has spent nearly $700,000 on her campaign.
Robert Henri is an independent candidate running for CD 5. According to his campaign website, his priorities include setting term limits in Congress, banning congressional stock trading and restricting Congress from voting on bills members haven't read.
Henri's campaign finance report in August shows his campaign has spent about $5,000.
Austin Nieves is an independent candidate running for Oklahoma's fifth congressional district. He has occasionally posted campaign objectives on his LinkedIn, writing "campaign financing shall not exceed the salary of the office position to be elected."
Nieves does not appear to have filed campaign finance information with the Federal Election Commission.
U.S. Senate
Oklahoma voters will choose from five candidates on Nov. 3 for the an open United States Senate seat. The ballot includes one Republican, one Democrat, one Libertarian and two independents.
Republican Rep. Kevin Hern serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means and sits on the Health Subcommittee. He took office in 2018, and his current term ends in January 2027.
Throughout his time in office, Hern has co-sponsored pro-life legislation, bills aimed at limiting girls' and women's sports to those born as females, and measures to allow tax-exempt non-profits to make political statements.
Hern has been endorsed by Trump and aims to advance his Make America Great Again agenda.
Democratic candidate N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas has no former political experience. Instead, she has a background in nursing and community health advocacy.
Thomas is a self-identified democratic socialist, though she told NBC she is "not yet" a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and disagrees with parts of the DSA's platform.
She says the first policies she'd focus on if elected senator are related to funding hospitals and their research.
The ballot will also feature Libertarian candidate Sevier White, and independents Ron Meinhardt and Curtis Stinnett.
State Question 845
Oklahoma voters will decide whether to adjust the judicial selection committee this election cycle.
Currently, a 15-member Judicial Nominating Commission nominates judges to the state's Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, Court of Civil Appeals, District and Associate District Judgeships. From a shortlist the JNC produces, the governor selects the individual who will ultimately serve.
Right now, the JNC has 15 members. The governor appoints six, the Oklahoma Bar Association elects another six, and three are at-large members.
Several restrictions on JNC member eligibility would be eliminated by State Question 845.
One of the first restrictions is on party membership. Currently, of the six members appointed by the governor, no more than three can be members of the same party. For the three at-large members, it's no more than two. Members elected by the Bar Association are done so in a nonpartisan fashion.
Gubernatorial appointees and at-large members also cannot be lawyers or have immediate family members who are lawyers. In addition, JNC members cannot serve consecutive terms.
Those in favor of State Question 845, like Republican state Rep. Anthony Moore of Clinton, say allowing more lawyers in the group and letting them serve longer will create a more effective committee. He also argues that removing party restrictions is an act of transparency, as new members can simply change their party affiliation to independent to circumvent the rule. Gov. Kevin Stitt's appointees include three Republicans and three independents.
Opponents, like the Oklahoma Policy Institute, argue the approval of the question would eliminate safeguards against conflicts of interest. Cole Allen, an analyst with the organization, said that removing party limits, combined with allowing consecutive terms, could lead members to make decisions based on what they think is likely to get them reappointed, not what is in the best interest of the state.
In addition, Allen worries allowing lawyers to make up a majority of the board means decisions could be influenced by the desired outcomes of their own cases. The JNC's website currently says that members are expected to recuse themselves in decisions that could involve conflicts of interest.
State Question 847
If approved, State Question 847 would decrease the cap on property tax growth per year.
Oklahoma law limits that growth separately for different types of properties. Homestead and agricultural properties are currently capped at 3%, whereas real property is capped at 5%.
SQ 847 proposes decreasing those caps by more than 1% each, beginning next year. Homestead and agricultural property tax could only grow 1.75% per year. Real property could only grow 4%.
As a result, property tax values would grow more slowly. The measure's language states that the potential economic impact is unknown.
Supporters, like the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, argue that it means lower taxes. The bureau writes that farmers could lose money managing their land because of drought or other factors, while their taxes increase.
State Republican officials who introduced the measure argue it would alleviate rising costs on residents.
But opponents say the measure will reduce funding for public services over time.
In Oklahoma, property taxes fund a major share of public schools. The Oklahoma State School Boards Association writes that local entities, including school districts, could lose nearly $45.78 million. It estimates this could reach $500 million within ten years.
Oklahoma County sales tax
Voters in Oklahoma County will consider a proposed sales tax measure to fund the construction and operational costs of a new county jail. If approved, the four-tenths-of-a-cent sales tax would last for 25 years, beginning on April 1, 2027, and ending on March 1, 2051.
The current detention center is notorious for poor conditions, and it failed its twelfth consecutive health inspection in July. The upcoming ballot measure isn't the first time voters have weighed the facility's costs.
In 2022, voters approved a $260 million bond to construct a new jail. The project's price tag ballooned, and it now costs an estimated $860 million. According to a written plan, revenue generated by the new sales tax would prioritize the jail's construction, but it would also fund facility operations, diversion programs, mental health facilities and supporting infrastructure.
The county has already begun construction on the new facility, and some officials have urged residents to vote "yes" on the proposal. They say without it, operations at the current jail and public safety in Oklahoma County would be "a true disaster."
"We're paying for it one way or another. You're paying for it right now. With every death in the Oklahoma County jail, you are paying for the lawsuits that follow," said Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna.
Home Base — a community-run research and information hub — says residents should vote "no." They compare the 2026 sales tax campaign to the 2022 bond campaign.
"We're not facing a building problem. We're facing a system problem," a spokesperson for Home Base said in a social post. "The jail population has been increasing for years because of the DA and judges shift away from diversion programs."
Mayor of Yukon
The city's current mayor faces a rare recall election after people strongly criticized a data center project.
In the election, Yukon residents could vote to keep or remove Mayor Brian Pillmore from office.
An initiative petition to recall Pillmore was approved in August. There are more than 25,000 residents, and petitioners collected about 1,400 valid signatures.
Residents have been upset with Pillmore and other city leaders over the sale of city land to a data center developer.
The mayor has said the data center would generate revenue, but at city council meetings, people have expressed concerns about the project's use of resources.
Pillmore will face Joe Phillips for his city council seat.
If Phillips gets more votes than Pillmore, he will serve out the remainder of the term. Under the city's charter, no recalled official can hold a government office or position within a year of removal.
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