Nine candidates are running for the Republican nomination for governor of Oklahoma on June 16, 2026. Four have led in media attention: Gentner Drummond (R), Chip Keating (R), Mike Mazzei (R), and Charles McCall (R). Incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) is term-limited and retiring from public office.
The Oklahoman's Alex Gladden wrote, "In Oklahoma, a highly conservative state, the Republican primary often determines who will be the next governor." In 2024, Donald Trump (R) received 66.2% of the vote, and it was Trump's fifth-best performance in any state that year. In 2022, Gov. Stitt was re-elected with 55% of the vote. The last Democrat elected governor was Brad Henry (D) in 2006.
Oklahoma Watch's Keaton Ross wrote, "[A]t a moment when no one knows exactly what the post-Trump Republican Party will look like nationwide in 2028 and beyond, the June 16 primary in this reddest of states has become an under-the-radar test case. Is it possible, as Drummond seems to be betting, that Republicans’ appetite for hardcore culture-war politics has finally begun to wane? ... Or are McCall and his fellow social conservatives correct that waging an all-out culture war remains the surest path to the hearts of the Republican base?"
