OKLAHOMA 7 Electoral Votes
Oklahoma went from 8 electoral votes to 7 as a result of the 2000 Census
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Oklahoma State Election Board) 
Total Population, July 1, 2004 est. 3,523,553
Total Registration, Nov. 1, 2004 2,143,978
Dem. 1,101,072 (51.36%)   Rep. 816,933 (38.10%)   Ind. 225,253 (10.51%)   Lib. 689   Ref. 31 
Oklahoma has: 77 counties.
Largest counties: Oklahoma, Tulsa, Cleveland, Comache.
Largest cities: Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norman, Lawton.

Government
Governor: Brad Henry (D) elected Nov. 2002.
State Legislature: Oklahoma Legislature  House: 101 seats  Senate: 48 seats
Local: Communities NACO Counties
U.S. House: 4R ,1D - 1. J. Sullivan (R) | 2. B.Carson (D) | 3. F.Lucas (R) | 4. T.Cole  (R) | 5. E.Istook (R)   *lost 1 seat in 2002 as a result of the 2000 Census.
U.S. Senate: James Inhofe (R) re-elected in 2002, Don Nickles (R) did not seek re-election in 2004. *open seat
Democratic state chair Jay Parmely described 2004 as "a not so good year" for Democrats in Oklahoma.  Democrats had hopes for a pickup in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Nickles, but it was not even close as former Rep. Tom Coburn (R) won with 52.77% of the vote to 41.24% for Rep. Brad Carson (D) and 5.99% for an independent candidate.  The poor performance of the Kerry/Edwards ticket and a same sex marriage question on the ballot hurt Carson's bid.  (State Question No. 711 defining marriage to be between one man and one woman passed with 75.59% of the vote).  Democrats lost the State House for the first time in 82 years; their numbers were reduced to 44 members out of 101.  Dan Boren (D) did retain the 2nd CD seat formerly held by Carson. 

The Sooner State

State of Oklahoma
State Election Board

Green Party of OK
Libertarian Party of OK
OK Democratic Party
OK Republican Party
Constitution Party of OK
Reform Party of OK
 

Daily Oklahoman
Newsp, Radio, TV
Media (Newsp.)
Media (TV)

Politics1-OK
 
General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Every other state had at least three candidates to choose from.  Oklahoma requires 51,781 signatures to secure full party ballot access and 37,027 signatures to place a presidential candidate on the ballot.  Further, the state does not allow write-ins.  The Oklahoma Green, Libertarian, and Constitution parties organized a None of the Above campaign to protest the exclusion of third party and independent candidates.  They encouraged Oklahoma voters to vote in state and local races but leave the presidential ballot line blank.
Results 
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
503,966
(34.43)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
959,792
(65.57)
Total.......1,463,758

 
 
 		 2004 Overview
Oklahoma was the second best state for the  Bush/Cheney ticket as it improved on its 2000 showing, amassing a plurality of 455,826 votes over Kerry/Edwards (a margin of 31.14 percentage points). 

-The Oklahoman, Tulsa World, Enid News & Eagle, and The Shawnee News-Star endorsed Pres. Bush.

-The Muskogee Daily Phoenix & Times-Democrat endorsed Sen. Kerry. 

State Primary July 27, 2004
 
Past Results
1996
Dole (Rep.)..............582,315 (48.26)
Clinton (Dem.).........488,105 (40.45)
Perot (Ref.).............130,788
 (10.84)
Browne (Lib.)..............5,505
(0.46)
Total........1,206,713

1992
Bush (Rep.)............592,929 (42.64)
Clinton (Dem.)........473,066 (34.02)
Perot (Ind.).............319,878
 (23.01)
Marrou (Lib.)..............4,486 
(0.32)
Total........1,390,395

2000
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
744,337
(60.31)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
9,014
(0.73)
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
474,276
(38.43)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
6,602
(0.53)
Total........1,234,229
2000 Overview
Gov. Bush had no trouble winning his neighboring state's eight electoral votes, gaining a plurality of 270,061 votes (21.88 percentage points).
Notes: For ballot access as an independent, Oklahoma requires signatures of 36,202 registered voters, the highest signature requirement, per capita, of any state in the country,   Further, Oklahoma’s signature deadline of July 15 is one of the earliest in the country (only 8 states are earlier).  Additionally, Oklahoma is one of only 7 states that don’t allow write-in votes for U.S. President.  The Nader campaign made a strong effort to achieve the required number of signatures in Oklahoma, but came up a bit short.  On Aug. 11, 2000 the campaign filed suit against the Oklahoma State Election Board in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma citing harassment in its signature gathering effort and seeking to extend the deadline to Sept. 1, 2000 (Nader v Ward, cv-00-1340-R).  Judge David Russell ruled against Nader on Aug. 30.

Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, February 3, 2004
On May 5, 2003 Gov. Brad Henry signed SB 3, a bill introduced by Sen. Keith Leftwich (D-Oklahoma City) and Reps. Dan Boren (D-Seminole) and John Nance (R-Bethany), moving the date of the presidential preference primary from the second Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in February.  SB 358, also passed during the 2003 legislative session, changed the filing dates from January 2004 to December 2003. Democrats
CLARK  DEAN   EDWARDS   LIEBERMAN    KERRY    KUCINICH      former GEPHARDT GRAHAM
ballot
Total Vote Percent
Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. 689 0.23%
John Edwards 89,310 29.54%
Howard Dean 12,734 4.21%
John F. Kerry
81,073
26.81%
Al Sharpton
3,939
1.30%
Joe Lieberman
19,680
6.51%
Dennis J. Kucinich
2,544
0.84%
+Wesley K. Clark
90,526
29.94%
Dick Gephardt w
1,890
0.63%
Total 302,385
>>
Allocation of the 40 Pledged Delegates:
Clark 15   Edwards 13   Kerry 12 		 47 Delegates (40 Pledged, 7 Unpledged) and 8 Alternates
>
Republicans
Total Vote Percent
Bill Wyatt 6,621 10.00%
George W. Bush 59,577 90.00%
Total 66,198
41 Delegates (15District level; 26 At-large), 38 Alternates
 

2000 page>>

Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.