Kevin Stitt reelected governor of Oklahoma

Kevin Stitt was reelected governor of Oklahoma on Tuesday, beating Republican-turned-Democrat Joy Hofmeister and an onslaught of “dark money”-funded attacks as voters endorsed his first term when he governed as a CEO-minded leader who challenged political norms and aggressively worked to privatize parts of government.

Stitt received 55% of the vote, compared to Hofmeister's 42%, according to the state Election Board. Libertarian Natalie Bruno and independent Ervin Yen each had fewer than 2%.

"Oklahomans stated loud and clear today they are proud of how far we have come," said Stitt Tuesday evening from his watch party in northwest Oklahoma City.

Stitt, 49, was first elected governor four years ago after rising from political obscurity and beating several well-known Oklahoma politicians ​​— a sitting lieutenant governor, a former attorney general and the mayor of the state’s largest city.

His campaign cry was to make Oklahoma a “Top 10” state in virtually every metric, a line he repeated during his reelection bid, although he acknowledged it was more of an aspiration, rather than a specific target.

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On Tuesday he beat another established politician in Hofmeister, who for eight years had served as the state’s superintendent of public instruction.

A Republican her entire political career, Hofmeister defected to the Democratic Party last year, less as an embrace of progressive policies and instead as an easier path to the governor’s office by avoiding a primary where Stitt would no doubt have the advantage.

Hofmeister called for a return to political moderation, rejecting Stitt’s partisan rhetoric that had seemed to intensify in recent years.

Speaking to supporters Tuesday night after she had conceded, Hofmeister repeated her call for bipartisanship.

"We have planted seeds all across this state to get back to a place of civility, back to a place where we unite,” Hofmeister said from inside the Oklahoma History Center.

As he did four years ago, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt campaigned as a political outsider

Oklahoma’s gubernatorial race drew rare national attention in the closing weeks as some polls showed a tight contest, leading multiple election tracking sites to label the state a “toss-up," or at least within striking distance for Hofmeister.

Stitt’s campaign consistently downplayed the close polls, claiming he was leading by a large margin.

However, Stitt appeared to believe the race was tightening as he intensified his travel across the state, loaned his reelection effort $2 million, and welcomed some Republican heavy hitters to come stump on his behalf.

The Republican Governors Association and other national groups also began spending money on pro-Stitt ads, an attempt to counter more than $14 million in "dark-money" attacks the governor faced over the last several months.

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Despite leading for the past four years from squarely inside state government, Stitt maintained he was still a political outsider, highlighting his battles with teachers unions, tribal governments, health care organizations and other special interest groups as the cost of trying to upend the status quo.

Chris Wilson, the CEO of WPA Intelligence, a polling firm that worked for Stitt’s campaign, said the governor was successful in convincing voters he wasn’t a politician, especially compared to Hofmeister.

“I think voters have a real desire, particularly in a governor's race, for candidates who are outside politics,” Wilson said. “The fact that he stayed in office just illustrates the authenticity of who he is as an outsider.”

Stitt weathered accusations of corruption and fallout from the end of Roe v. Wade

While Stitt presented himself as an outsider, Hofmeister accused him of being corrupt and a bully.

She highlighted recent financial scandals under his watch, including no-bid contracts awarded for restaurants at state parks and the use of pandemic relief funds that a federal audit said were improperly managed.

She also rebuked Stitt's public spats with some of Oklahoma's largest tribal governments, first over casino fees and later matters of tribal sovereignty.

In response, several tribal leaders endorsed Hofmeister.

“She wants to unite people, she does not look to divide us," said Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton.

Another consistent attack from Hofmeister was over Stitt's signing of a nearly complete ban on all abortion procedures, tapping into an issue that had energized Democrats this summer after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade.

Voters in Kansas, Oklahoma’s neighbor to the north and another Republican stronghold, voted this year to preserve abortion rights, which sent shockwaves throughout red America.

Some Republican women threw their support behind Hofmeister, claiming Stitt’s rejection of abortion rights had troubled them.

“This has been a very alarming year realizing that my life doesn't matter to a lot of people,” said Brea Mulholland, a lifelong Republican from El Reno who supported Hofmeister because of her stance on abortion rights.

The governor remained largely committed to his anti-abortion pledge during the campaign, but during a debate, he appeared to acknowledge that the recent ban may have gone too far and said if the state Legislature sent him a revised bill that allowed abortions in cases of rape or incest he would sign it.

But those perceived political headwinds did not diminish his electability.

Juan Frausto of Oklahoma City said he voted for Stitt and was proud of him for supporting all anti-abortion laws.

"Life begins at life," Frausto said from Stitt's watch party. "We should value life."

Kevin Stitt plans to continue pushing for school choice policies

Stitt’s reelection will clinch some of his major policy efforts while ensuring continued debate over others.

Earlier this year, the governor successfully pushed through a plan to partially privatize Oklahoma’s Medicaid program, winning approval from a state Legislature that a year before had rejected a similar plan.

While the state is currently in the process of soliciting bids for the management of Medicaid dental benefits, regular medical benefits and specialty plans for children in the custody of the state, Hofmeister vowed to halt the plan if she were to win.

Stitt’s reelection ensures the plan will not only be completed but established as a core aspect of state health policy before his final term ends in early 2027.

Stitt is also likely to continue pushing for school vouchers, an aggressive school choice plan that would allow families to use state tax dollars to pay for private school tuition.

Hofmeister made opposition to vouchers a central part of her campaign, claiming it would be a “rural school killer.”

Even Republican leaders in the state House said they were unsupportive of the idea, and a school voucher bill was narrowly defeated this year in the state Senate.

But while the dynamics in the state Legislature, especially in the House, have not significantly changed, Stitt is likely to use his reelection as a mandate to try again next year.

We are going to "make sure that every child has access to a quality education, regardless of their ZIP code or their financial resources," Stitt said Tuesday. "This means protecting our rural schools and unlocking opportunities for families that are stuck in failing districts."

Stitt’s pro-school choice agenda will also be aided by the election of Ryan Walters as state superintendent of public instruction. Walters, who is the governor's secretary of education and won by a similar margin as Stitt, ran a campaign centered on school choice and ridding classrooms of “liberal indoctrination.”

"The fake news and liberal media told you the governor and I weren't going to win tonight but Oklahomans spoke loud and clear," Walters said from the same watch party as Stitt. "In Oklahoma, we are going to do more than any other state in the country to empower parents."

While the state superintendent cannot establish a school voucher plan on their own, Walters will give Stitt more control over the state Department of Education, an agency he often battled, especially after Hofmeister, the current state superintendent, became his reelection opponent.

The election of Walters also gives Stitt more credibility in claiming voters support his school choice ideas and have deep concerns with the public school system.

Like Walters, Stitt adopted a message of deep partisanship during the campaign, casting most of society’s ills on Democrats and blue states like California and New York.

He also embraced many of the culture war issues that Republicans championed this past year, including bans on transgender women from playing sports and limiting the teaching of race in the classroom.

"In our state, we are going to focus on teaching kids and not indoctrinating them," Stitt said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Kevin Stitt beats Joy Hofmeister in Oklahoma governor race