Oklahoma
Oklahoma open primary proposal gets mixed reaction • Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY – A proposal to open Oklahoma primaries is drawing criticism.
Earlier this week, supporters announced State Question 835 that seeks to obtain 172,993 signatures to get the issue on the November 2026 ballot.
Under the proposal, Oklahoma primaries would be open to all voters with the top two vote getters advancing to the general election.
Supporters said they expect a challenge to the measure.
Gov. Kevin Stitt on social media voiced his opposition.
“Oklahomans made decisions at the polls that these third party groups don’t like – so now they want to upend the way we run our elections,” Stitt said. “Open primaries are a hard no in Oklahoma.”
Likewise, Lt. Gov Matt Pinnell, former Oklahoma Republican Party chairman, opposes the proposal.
“At best, the push to mandate open primaries is a solution in search of a problem, and at worst, it is a thinly veiled attempt to weaken Republican voters in choosing the nominees to represent our party,” Pinnell said. “Oklahoma is a conservative state, and Republicans hold all the statewide and federally elected positions and super majorities in the Legislature for a simple reason: our values and principles represent the will of our state voters.”
But not all Republicans have panned the idea.
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, a former Republican state senator, embraced it.
He said the system in which a mayor is elected allows all residents to vote.
“Our voters get to see all the candidates and our candidates have to face all voters,” Holt said. “As a result, our leadership delivers unity and consensus outcomes that are clearly moving us forward.”
The state question is being backed by Oklahoma United, a nonpartisan organization that says the change will increase voter participation, reduce polarization and force candidates to be responsive to all voters. It will also benefit independent voters, who can’t vote in Republican or Libertarian primaries. Democrats currently allow independents to vote in their primaries.
The idea is not new.
In 2017, the Oklahoma Academy recommended a top-two election system. Its report said a top-two system could increase turnout, reduce partisanship and “eliminate fringe special interest involvement in campaigns because candidates would be forced to respond to more moderate, general voters rather than play to the extremes of either party.”
The Oklahoma Academy is a nonpartisan group that works to educate Oklahomans about public policy.
Republican political consultant Fount Holland said he doubted Oklahoma voters would approve the proposal should it make the ballot.
“At the end of the day, it is about moderating the Republican primary,” Holland said.
He said the Republican Party takes things to the extreme, which is not the best way to govern.
Holland said no one enters the Republican primary as a moderate or very few can survive campaigning as a moderate.
“They might be moderate, but they don’t campaign that way,” Holland said.
He said he tells his clients to run to win.
If approved, the measure would be advantageous to Democrats or people who want a more moderate group of elected officials, Holland said.
Republican Superintendent Ryan Walters is considered by many to be ultra-conservative, while his predecessor Joy Hofmeister was considered a moderate member of the GOP, said Holland, who worked on her two successful races for superintendent.
Walters has focussed on putting Bibles in the classroom and removing some books from schools, while Hofmeister prioritized across-the-board teacher pay increases and boosting counseling services in schools.
Hofmeister ultimately switched parties and made an unsuccessful run as a Democrat for governor.
“If you hate politics the way they are, then you need to be on our team, because we want to change it and we want to make it better,” said Margaret Kobos, Oklahoma United CEO and Founder.
She was asked about the partisan reaction to the proposal.
She said it misses the point because the issue is about people and not political parties.
Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Del City, supports the measure, saying it takes power away from the political parties and gives it to the people.
“Every voter. Every election,” he said. “That is the way democracy is supposed to work.”
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Oklahoma
Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: February 23
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This week on the Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz, Dean Blevins, John Holcomb and Toby Rowland begin the show with their opening takes.
Sunday, February 23rd 2025, 11:14 pm
By:
News 9,
News On 6
OKLAHOMA CITY –
This week on the Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz, Dean Blevins, John Holcomb, and Toby Rowland begin the show with their opening takes.
Toby’s Top 3
Thunder Report: Thunder Vs Timberwolves
OSU Wrestling recap
OU, OSU, TU, ORU Basketball recap
Viewer Question
OSU, OU, ORU, TU Baseball and Softball update
Play The Percentages
Oklahoma
No. 2 Softball Tops Tulsa in Home Opener, 8-0 – University of Oklahoma
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OU has won five straight games in run-rule fashion, while earning its 30th straight win in home openers.
Oklahoma clawed away in the second inning, pushing across three two-out runs to take a 3-0 advantage. Isabela Emerling walked, Gabbie Garcia singled up the middle on an eight-pitch at-bat and Abigale Dayton walked on five pitches. After getting down 1-2, Ella Parker rolled a grounder over the first base bag that went by Tulsa’s Paige Knight, scoring three.
OU added one more in the third. Pickering one-hopped the wall with a double and Ailana Agbayani scored her with a nice piece of hitting, roping an RBI single through the left side.
The Sooners got to eight in the fourth, starting with a Garcia double, who scored after a groundout and wild pitch. Parker started the rally again, finding space in left field for a double before Cydney Sanders walked. Pickering hit a three-run home run to dead center to make it 8-0.
Isabella Smith spun a scoreless fifth to continue her scoreless inning streak to 16.2 innings.
OU 8, Tulsa 0 (5 inn.)
Pitchers of Record
Win: Kierston Deal (2-0)
Loss: Maura Moore (4-3)
Statistical Snapshot
- The official attendance was 4,261, good for a program record for attendance in home games in February
- OU has won five-straight games via run-rule
- The Sooners picked up their 25th win at Love’s Field
- The last time OU won by five consecutive run rules was in March of 2022
- OU is 49-10 against Tulsa
- Parker is on an 11-game hitting streak this season and a 15-game hitting streak dating back to June of last season
- OU has won 30 consecutive home openers
- OU has won via run rule in two of the last four home openers
Up Next
No. 2 Oklahoma continues its home-opening tournament tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. against Wichita State.
Oklahoma
Oregon State Baseball Set To Face Oklahoma
Oregon State and Oklahoma are meeting for the 10th time and first since 2015. The Sooners hold a 6-3 advantage and the teams are playing their fourth neutral-site game in the series.
– The win over Virginia marked Oregon State’s 24th over a top-25 team in the Mitch Canham era. It was the fifth versus a top-10 club.
– All nine Beaver starters recorded at least one hit versus the Cavaliers.
– The Beavers and Sooners are two of the remaining 42 teams to be unbeaten nationally this season.
– Oregon State’s scoring margin of plus-8.8 is tied for 12th nationally. The Beavers have scored 55 runs to opponents’ 11.
– OSU has yet to allow a run in the first, fourth or sixth innings.
– Just three of the 25 hits allowed by OSU’s pitching staff this season have gone for extra bases.
– All five wins this season have come by five or more runs.
– The Beavers have tallied 10 or more hits in the last four games and have 64 on the season. That’s an average of 12.8 per game.
– Aiva Arquette, Trent Caraway and Tyce Peterson all carry five-game hit streaks into Saturday’s matchup. Wilson Weber has also hit safely in every game he’s played this season, at four games.
– Dax Whitney, Saturday’s probable starter, is the reigning Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Week. He struck out eight in five scoreless innings in his collegiate debut versus UNLV in Surprise last week.
– OSU is in the midst of a now 10-game road trip to open the 2025 season. It was shortened from 11 to 10 games after Wednesday’s game versus Houston was canceled.
– Oregon State is 98-35 when not committing an error under Mitch Canham. OSU is 3-0 this season.
– OSU is 121-37 when scoring first during Canham’s tenure.
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