2022 Oklahoma Attorney General election

The 2022 Oklahoma Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next attorney general of Oklahoma. The primary election was scheduled for Tuesday, June 28, 2022.^[1] The candidate filing deadline was April 15, 2022.^[2]

2022 Oklahoma Attorney General election

← 2018 November 8, 2022 (2022-11-08) 2026 →

Nominee Gentner Drummond Lynda Steele Party Republican Libertarian Popular vote 792,466 281,923 Percentage 73.76% 26.24%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Drummond:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Steele:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      50%      No votes

Attorney General before election John O'Connor Republican Elected Attorney General Gentner Drummond Republican

Appointed incumbent Republican Attorney General John O'Connor sought election to a full term, but lost his party's nomination to Gentner Drummond. No Democratic candidates filed to run for the position. Lynda Steele was the Libertarian nominee. Drummond won the November general election.^[3]

Republican primary

John M. O'Connor was the incumbent attorney general after being appointed by Governor Kevin Stitt.^[4] The seat had been vacated after Michael J. Hunter resigned due to an infidelity scandal.^[5] Gentner Drummond, who had narrowly lost to Hunter in 2018, challenged O'Connor in the Republican primary. Drummond campaigned as being independent of Governor Stitt.^[6] The aftermath of McGirt v. Oklahoma was a dominant issue in the campaign.^[7] O'Connor argued that litigation to overturn or winnow the ruling in McGirt was warranted, whereas Drummond advocated compacting and negotiating with tribal nations. The candidates also differed in their opinions on whether Congress should disestablish certain reservations at issue, with Drummond opposing such action. During the June 16 Republican primary debate, O'Connor called Drummond a "Democrat in Republican clothing."^[8] O'Connor ran ads attacking Drummond for a donation of $1,000 by Drummond to the Joe Biden Presidential campaign in 2020 as well as Drummond's history of giving to Democratic candidates. Drummond claimed that the donation to Biden's campaign was made by his wife and provided receipts showing the donation was later refunded. The Tulsa World reported that Drummond's last donation to a non-Republican candidate for federal office was to Matt Silverstein's 2014 United States Senate campaign.^[9] In the final month of the primary, over $1 million in dark money was spent on ads opposing O'Connor's candidacy.^[10] Drummond defeated O'Connor in the primary with 50.9% of the vote.^[11]

Candidates

Nominee

• Gentner Drummond, attorney, former staffer for U.S. Senator David Boren, and candidate for attorney general in 2018^[12]

Eliminated in primary

• John O'Connor, appointed incumbent Attorney General of Oklahoma (2021–present)^[13]

Endorsements

John O'Connor

U.S. House Representatives

• Barry Goldwater Jr., U.S. Representative from California (1969–1983)^[14]

Statewide officials

• Ben Robinson, former Oklahoma Secretary of Military and Veterans Affairs^[15]
• Kevin Stitt, Governor of Oklahoma (2019–present)^[16]

County officials

• Damon Devereaux, Logan County sheriff^[15]
• Corey Rink, Garfield County sheriff^[15]
• Tim Turner, Haskell County sheriff^[15]
• Scott Walton, Rogers County sheriff^[15]
• Chris West, Canadian County sheriff^[15]

Individuals

• Jackson Lahmeyer, candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2022 United States Senate election in Oklahoma^[17]

Newspapers

• The Oklahoma City Sentinel^[18]
• Tulsa Beacon^[19]

Organizations

• American Conservative Union^[20]
• American Farmers and Ranchers^[21]
• National Right to Life Committee^[14]
• Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association^[21]
• Oklahoma Farm Bureau^[21]
• Oklahoma Second Amendment Association^[22]
• Oklahomans for Health & Parental Rights^[23]
• Susan B. Anthony List^[24]

Gentner Drummond

City officials

• Mick Cornett, former mayor of Oklahoma City^[25]
• Kirk Humphreys, former mayor of Oklahoma City^[25]

Newspapers

• Tulsa World^[26]

Organizations

• Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police^[27]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Gentner Drummond	John M. O'Connor	Other	Undecided
SoonerPoll[28]	June 13–21, 2022	350 (LV)	± 5.2%	47%	18%	–	35%
Amber Integrated (R)[29]	June 6–9, 2022	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	41%	28%	–	30%
SoonerPoll[30]	April 25 – May 11, 2022	306 (LV)	± 5.6%	41%	23%	–	36%
Amber Integrated (R)[31]	March 24–27, 2022	455 (LV)	± 4.6%	37%	16%	–	47%
Amber Integrated (R)[32]	December 15–19, 2021	253 (RV)	± 6.2%	16%	24%	4%	56%
Amber Integrated (R)[33]	September 29 – October 3, 2021	253 (RV)	± 6.2%	16%	33%	8%	43%

Debate

2022 Republican primary debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Participants
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Non-invitee   I  Invitee  W  Withdrawn
					Gentner Drummond	John O'Connor
1	June 16, 2022	Nondoc/New 9/The Frontier	Tres Savage & Storme Jones	Debate	I	I

Results

Results by county

  Drummond

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  O'Connor

•   50–60%

Republican primary results^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gentner Drummond	180,338	50.9
	Republican	John O'Connor (incumbent)	174,125	49.1
Total votes			354,463	100.00

General election

Candidates

• Gentner Drummond (Republican)
• Lynda Steele (Libertarian)

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[35]	Safe R	September 14, 2022
Elections Daily[36]	Safe R	November 1, 2022

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Gentner Drummond	Lynda Steele	Undecided
–(L)[A]	September 15–18, 2022	2,989 (LV)	± 3.2%	52%	27%	21%

Results

2022 Oklahoma Attorney General election^[37][38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Gentner Drummond	792,466	73.76%	+9.7%
	Libertarian	Lynda Steele	281,923	26.24%	N/A
Total votes			1,074,389	100.00%
Turnout			1,074,389	46.80%
Registered electors			2,295,906
	Republican hold

By congressional district

Drummond won all five congressional districts.^[39]

District	Drummond	Steele	Representative
1st	71%	29%	Kevin Hern
2nd	81%	19%	Markwayne Mullin (117th Congress)
			Josh Brecheen (118th Congress)
3rd	77%	23%	Frank Lucas
4th	72%	28%	Tom Cole
5th	68%	32%	Stephanie Bice

See also

• Oklahoma Attorney General

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Partisan clients

1. This poll was conducted in-house by and for Bruno's campaign