1994 Oklahoma gubernatorial election

The Oklahoma gubernatorial election of 1994 was held on November 8, 1994, and was a race for the Governor of Oklahoma. Former United States Associate Attorney General Frank Keating pulled an upset in the three-way race to become only the third Republican governor in Oklahoma history. This can largely be attributed to the split Democratic vote between Lieutenant Governor Jack Mildren and former Democratic congressman Wes Watkins. By winning 24% of the vote and carrying numerous counties (by wide margins in some cases), Watkins turned in one of the more notable performances by an independent candidate in modern U.S. history. His 233,000 votes far exceeded Keating's 171,000-vote margin over Mildren.

1994 Oklahoma gubernatorial election
November 8, 1994
 
Nominee Frank Keating Jack Mildren Wes Watkins
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Popular vote 466,740 294,936 233,336
Percentage 46.9% 29.6% 23.5%
Results by county
Governor before election

David Walters
Democratic

 Elected Governor

Frank Keating
Republican

Elections in Oklahoma
Government

Candidates

Democrat
  • Jack Mildren, Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
  • Danny Williams
  • Bernice Shedrick
  • Joe Vickers

Republican

Independent

Democratic primary

Lt. Governor Jack Mildren and Bernice Shedrick advanced to the runoff where both candidates received vote totals similar to the first primary, securing the win for Mildren.

Results
Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jack Mildren 214,765 48.6
Democratic Bernice Shedrick 165,066 37.3
Democratic Danny Williams 46,571 10.6
Democratic Joe Vickers 15,821 3.6
Total votes 442,223 100.00
Democratic runoff primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jack Mildren 223,861 58.8
Democratic Bernice Shedrick 156,749 41.2
Total votes 380,610 100.00

Republican primary

Frank Keating, a former assistant attorney general and member of the Reagan and Bush administrations, defeated four other Republicans to win the GOP nomination.

Results
Republican primary results [3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Frank Keating 117,265 56.9
Republican Jerry Pierce 60,280 29.3
Republican Virginia Hale 15,229 7.4
Republican Thomas H. Lay 7,744 3.8
Republican Jerry Kobyluk 5,429 2.6
Total votes 205,947 100.00

General Election

Polling
Source Date Keating (R) Mildren (D) Watkins (I)
KSWO-TV Nov. 4, 1994 40% 39% 15%
Tulsa World Nov. 1, 1994 28% 29% 21%

Results
1994 gubernatorial election, Oklahoma
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Frank Keating 466,740 46.9
Democratic Jack Mildren 294,936 29.6
Independent Wes Watkins 233,336 23.5
Majority
Turnout
Republican gain from Democratic Swing

See also

Source:

References
  1. https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/1994_Primary_Results.pdf
  2. https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/1994_Runoff_Results.pdf
  3. https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/1994_Primary_Results.pdf



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