Oklahoma
Oklahoma election today: What’s on the ballot? Primary runoffs, hotel tax and more
Oklahoma convention delegates cast 36 votes for Harris, Walz at DNC
Oklahoma convention delegates cast 36 votes for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night in Chicago.
Oklahomans head to the voting booth Tuesday to decide local issues like taxes, school bonds and legislative seats.
Polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The EMBARK bus, RAPID and OKC Streetcar services will be free on all routes to help registered voters make it to the polls.
What’s on Tuesday’s ballot? Here’s what to know about Oklahoma’s Aug. 27 election:
When are elections taking place this year?
The next scheduled election in Oklahoma is the Aug. 27 primary runoff for federal, county and state offices. The deadline to register to vote in this election was Aug. 2.
The general election will be Tuesday, Nov. 5.
What do I need to take to the polls?
You will need to prove your identity to cast a regular ballot.
This can be done with a valid photo ID or the voter registration card you received from your County Election Board when you registered to vote.
Valid IDs must be issued by either the federal government, the state or a tribal nation, and the expiration date must be past the election date. If you don’t present a valid ID, poll workers will allow you to vote using a “provisional” ballot if you sign a sworn affidavit.
What’s on the ballot? See sample ballot in Oklahoma
To see who will be on your ballot, visit the state election board’s election list.
Elections of note:
Oklahoma City will vote on a hotel tax
Oklahoma City voters will decide Tuesday whether to increase the local hotel occupancy tax.
The tax is paid by those staying in the city’s hotels, and the funds are used to promote the city’s tourism industry. If passed, the tax would increase from its current rate of 5.50% to 9.25%, effective Oct. 1. The tax increase would also be charged to people renting home-sharing properties, such as Airbnbs, in Oklahoma City.
The last time OKC’s hotel tax appeared on the ballot, nearly 90% of voters approved the rate.
More: The growing Guthrie Public Schools district among those seeking passage of bond proposals
Metro communities voting on fire protection, schools, roads
In the cities and communities around Oklahoma City, there are several propositions that would increase taxes or allow the sale of bonds.
Deer Creek Fire Protection District is asking residents within its borders to increase their allocation to 10 mills from the current 7 or 7.3 mills. A mill is equal to $1 in tax for every $1,000 in a property’s taxable value. The district noted it hasn’t asked for an increase in 28 years.
McLoud Public Schools proposed bonds worth $30 million for new construction and another $1.1 million to acquire transportation equipment.
Piedmont residents’ ballots will include 25-year bond proposals that would raise over $10 million for streets, nearly $4.7 million for sports and recreation facilities, and $1.9 million for municipal facility construction.
Shawnee will elect a new mayor. Residents will decide between incumbent Mayor Ed Bolt and challenger Eric Stephens. The ballot will also include a contest for Ward 2 council seat between Greta Madson and Sydnie Davidson.
Further down the turnpike, Tulsa will select a new mayor.
Legislative primary runoffs
Ten legislative races will appear on ballots across the state as Republicans make their final choices for November. Each of these candidates were forced into a runoff when no candidate had a majority of votes in their partisan primary.
More: Four legislative races to be decided in primary runoff elections on Tuesday
Several of these primary runoff contests are for seats in the Oklahoma City area.
- North OKC’s Senate District 47 is currently held by term-limited Senate leader Greg Treat. The Republican primary runoff will see Kelly E. Hines face Jenny Schmitt.
- In Cleveland County, Lisa Standridge will face Robert C. Keyes for the GOP nomination in Senate District 15.
- House District 20 covers the cities of Newcastle and Goldsby. Republicans Mike Whaley and Jonathan Wilk will be on the ballot there.
- Moore’s state representative in District 53 will be Jason Blair or Nick Pokorny. Because there are no other candidates, the winner will become the district’s next representative.
- In Canadian County, the House District 60 GOP runoff features Mike Kelley and Ron Lynch. No other parties fielded a candidate.
- Northeast of Oklahoma City in Lincoln County is House District 32, currently held by House Appropriation and Budget Committee Chair Kevin Wallace. His challenger in the contentious election is fellow Republican Jim Shaw.
- Further afield in Oklahoma, several other races will be decided on Tuesday. In the Duncan area, retiring District 50 state Rep. Marcus McEntire will be replaced by either Stacy Jo Adams and Andrew Aldridge. Both are Republicans.
- A Republican state senator in eastern Oklahoma near Tahlequah is trying to hold onto his seat. Blake Cowboy Stephens faces a primary challenge from Julie McIntosh in Senate District 3.
- Senate District 33 features a race between Republicans Christi Gillespie and Shelley Gwartney in Broken Arrow.
- Another contest in Broken Arrow pits state Rep. Dean Davis against Gabe Woolley. Davis made headlines last year when he was arrested for public intoxication. The winner in the House District 98 GOP primary runoff will face the Democratic nominee in November.
Kamden Mantooth caps wild week by leading Mustang to 6A baseball title
It was a wild week for Kamden Mantooth, who helped Mustang beat Edmond Santa Fe 5-4 for the 6A baseball title. After being forced to sit in the semifinals due to an ejection in the quarterfinals, he pitched 5 2/3 innings Saturday.
Joe Patterson was hoping it would be different this time.
The Mustang baseball coach is no stranger to state championship games.
But as Mustang headed into its Class 6A title matchup against Edmond Santa Fe in May, a state championship victory remained a goal that hadn’t been fulfilled for Patterson as a player or head coach.
“That was all together — playing and coaching — my (sixth) state championship game, and I was 0-5,” Patterson said.
Patterson can now revise that record to 1-5 as the Broncos beat defending champion Edmond Santa Fe 5-4 at ONEOK Field in Tulsa.
An unforgettable day for Patterson.
An unforgettable season.
After leading Mustang to its third title and a 39-6 record while playing a brutally difficult schedule, Patterson is The Oklahoman’s 2026 All-State Coach of the Year.
“It was one of those years where it felt like I wasn’t working the whole year,” Patterson said. “Just a special group and everybody involved did such an amazing job and the players got along and the senior leadership was just unbelievable.”
A year after going 19-16 and falling at regionals, this season was vastly different for Patterson as Mustang dominated from beginning to end.
The Broncos won 11 of their first 12 games and ended the season the exact same way, claiming victories in 11 of their last 12 matchups.
They thrived in tight games, going 12-3 in matchups decided by two or fewer runs.
“We lost a bunch of close games last year,” Patterson said. “We didn’t have as great a season as we wanted, so we talked about trying to change the team morale and change the culture just a little bit in the fall, and we really focused on that. Just trying to make the place a more positive place for the kids and emphasize them having a little bit more fun but still working.”
Born and raised in Duncan, Patterson’s love of baseball and sports in general go back to those days.
His dad, Bill, was Duncan’s head football coach from 1997-2003 before accepting an assistant position at Owasso and serving as the Rams’ head coach from 2007-2016.
A standout in football and baseball in high school, Joe Patterson was at Duncan as a freshman and sophomore before spending his final two years at Owasso and then playing college baseball from 2007-2010. He went to Oral Roberts for one year, Seminole State for a season and Texas A&M for his final two.
Patterson was named the national junior college player of the year at Seminole State and had a successful stint at Texas A&M, hitting .362 with 21 homers and 100 RBIs with the Aggies.
He’s been at Mustang since the summer of 2019 after coaching at Westmoore.
Former OU shortstop Brandon Zaragoza played for Patterson during his senior year at Westmoore and was a Mustang assistant for the last four seasons before recently being named Westmoore’s new head coach.
Patterson has had a huge impact on Zaragoza, who will take what he’s learned from his former coach into his new gig.
“He just brought pure joy to the game for me, especially with just his ability to, one, obviously coach the game, but two, to allow his players to go out there and perform,” Zaragoza said. “The coolest thing about Pat was his ability to just pick up on player knowledge. Just kind of knowing what he has in terms of personnel and then of course his ability to just game plan, strategize, just get his guys ready to play.”
Patterson always wanted to coach at a one-high school town like Mustang.
He has his wish now, and Zaragoza says it’s a well-oiled machine.
“That’s kind of how I describe it a lot to people,” Zaragoza said. “Just a well-oiled machine in terms of just the coaches that are over there and the attention to detail and the preparation. There’s no loose ends at Mustang. And given how big the school is, you can always get kind of lost in personnel or all that stuff, but just the way that Mustang operates, it’s top tier.”
Mustang didn’t necessarily have big names this season like some teams in the state, but the Broncos had several guys who shined.
Outfielder and Northern Oklahoma College-Enid signee Nate Sutton hit .449 with 15 homers and 70 RBIs.
Fellow senior Kamden Mantooth was second on the team with a .442 batting average. A shortstop, Mantooth started at pitcher in the title game and held Edmond Santa Fe to eight hits and four runs — three earned — over 5 2/3 innings.
“It means everything for us,” Mantooth said after the championship win. “We’ve been working for this since we were in seventh grade. We’ve been working for this, and we finally achieved our goal that we wanted.”
For Patterson, it’ll forever be a special moment as he had his 6-year-old son with him in the dugout and his dad watching from the stands.
Patterson had lost two title games as a player at Owasso and three as a head coach — two at Westmoore and one at Mustang.
The outcome was different this time, and it was well worth the wait.
“It was just a feeling of relief and happiness,” Patterson said.
Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nicksardis. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
Crews responded to a fireworks stand after it caught fire in Broken Arrow Saturday night.
Authorities urged people to avoid E. Kanosha Street near S. 236th E. Avenue as the road is closed and fireworks could spread in the area due to the fire.
Broken Arrow Fire Department released a statement confirming no injuries were sustained as a result of the explosions or fire.
Fire crews quickly controlled the fire in about 20 minutes according to Broken Arrow Fire Department.
The initial cause of the fire is under investigation.
Viewer Leslie Maxey, who lives close to the fireworks stand, sent in video of the ongoing fire.
“We were putting our daughter to bed with a book when we heard an explosion that was gradually getting louder and louder,” Maxey said.
This is a developing story.
What you need to know about Oklahoma ahead of the College World Series
North Carolina will face a dangerous Oklahoma team that is on a roll.
Oklahoma (41-22) has been just as dominant. The Sooners, making their 13th College World Series appearance and first since 2022, surged through the postseason as road warriors. They won the Atlanta Regional by upsetting No. 2 seed and ACC champion Georgia Tech in the final, then swept Big 12 champion and No. 15 seed Kansas by a combined score of 21-3 in the Lawrence Regional.
The Sooners, who are 3-0 in Omaha after beating No. 7 seed Alabama and knocking off No. 3 seed and SEC champion Georgia twice, are seeking their third national championship. Oklahoma won titles in 1951 and 1994 and finished as runner-up to Ole Miss in 2022.
Here are a few things to know about Oklahoma:
Best player: Catcher Deiten LaChance
LaChance is Oklahoma’s most powerful hitter. He is batting .333 with 12 doubles, two triples and team highs of 16 home runs and 65 RBIs.
Throughout the postseason, he is hitting .326 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. In Omaha, he is 5-for-14 (.357) with one home run and five RBIs.
Strengths
Like North Carolina, Oklahoma is a balanced team that is good at a little bit of everything and is built to frustrate opponents.
Oklahoma is a balanced hitting team like UNC, but the Sooners have hit a few more homers with 91, compared to the Tar Heels’ 82. That is largely due to the Sooners smashing 26 home runs in their 10 postseason games. In Omaha, OU has homered eight times, including five homers in its win over Georgia in its previous game.
The Sooners have stolen 129 bases this season. That is good for 24th nationally and second in the SEC.
Pitching-wise, OU is 18th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings and leads the SEC in shutouts.
Weaknesses
The most glaring weakness is the pitching staff, despite its ability to strike out opposing batters and record shutouts.
The Sooners have a 4.98 ERA as a staff. Only one pitcher with 10 or more appearances has an ERA under 3.60.
They also allow 4.51 walks per nine innings, which ranks 138th nationally.
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