OKC metro area lifts Cornett
Ex-OKC mayor, Stitt set to resume campaigning
Mick Cornett’s finish atop the crowded GOP field for governor on Tuesday came after big wins in three of the four Oklahoma counties with the most registered Republicans.
The three, Oklahoma, Cleveland and Canadian Counties, are Cornett’s home turf — the Oklahoma City media market where his 14 years as mayor followed nearly two decades on local television as a sports reporter and anchor.
Cornett got 46 percent of his statewide total in those three counties. He beat Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt by about 31,000 votes in the three counties and Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb by almost 33,000 votes.
That more than made up for the fact that Lamb won 40 counties to Cornett’s 23 and that Cornett finished out of the top three in nearly 20 counties.
Stitt won Tulsa County and beat Lamb in Oklahoma County; those are the two biggest counties for Republican registration. Stitt won a total of 13 counties, mostly east of Interstate 35, in capturing the second spot in the Aug. 28 runoff.
Cornett and Stitt took a break from the campaign trail on Wednesday. Stitt’s campaign spokeswoman said the mortgage company CEO spent the day calling supporters and other candidates and will make public appearances as soon as Thursday.
Ten candidates were on the ballot in the
Republican gubernatorial primary, but Cornett, Stitt and Lamb accounted for more than three-quarters of the votes cast.
On a tough night for Lamb, the most heartbreaking result may have been from Garfield County, where Lamb grew up, in Enid.
Lamb’s late father was a longtime state senator, his mom a leader in the county women’s Republican club. Lamb finished second to Cornett in Garfield County by 73 votes.
Driven by the state question on medical marijuana, which was overwhelmingly approved, turnout far surpassed the 2014 primaries and even the general election of that year, the last one in which the governor and other statewide offices were on the ballot.
The turnout also exceeded that of the presidential primaries in 2016.
“We hope this level of voter engagement continues in the runoff primary on August 28 and the general election on November 6,” Oklahoma Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said Wednesday.
Turnout for the runoffs, even if it also exceeds recent years, will be much smaller. And, on the Republican side, those who vote are typically older and more conservative than the broader GOP electorate.
Former Oklahoma attorney general Drew Edmondson won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday over former state Sen. Connie Johnson, of Oklahoma City.
On the Libertarian side, Chris Powell, of Bethany, and Rex Lawhorn, of Broken Arrow, will meet in the Aug. 28 runoff.