Oklahoma gubernatorial election, 2002

Oklahoma gubernatorial election, 2002

Nominee Brad Henry Steve Largent Gary Richardson Party Democratic Republican Independent Popular vote 448,143 441,277 146,200 Percentage 43.3% 42.6% 14.1%

County Results

Governor before election Frank Keating Republican Elected Governor Brad Henry Democratic

The Oklahoma gubernatorial election of 2002 was held on November 5, 2002, and was a race for the Governor of Oklahoma. Democrat Brad Henry won the election with 43 percent of the vote, beating Republican Steve Largent and conservative independent Gary Richardson.

Henry's narrow win has been attributed to Richardson and Largent's split of the conservative vote^[1] and the inclusion of a cockfighting ban on the ballot, an issue which brought cockfighting supporters from Southeastern Oklahoma, a region that largely supported Henry, out to vote.^[1][2][3]

Background

Though Democrats had dominated state politics for most of Oklahoma's history, the Oklahoma Republican Party had made historic gains, including five of the state's six Congressional seats.^[4]

Results

This election was extremely close, with Henry prevailing by just 6,866 votes or 0.6%. Under Oklahoma Law if the margin victory is less than one percent but greater than half a percent the losing candidate can request a recount that their campaign has to pay for. Largest ultimately decided against it, considering that because Henry won by 6,866 votes the possibility of him prevailing were extremely difficult. On November 23 Larget officially conceded defeat. Two days later on November 25, the Secretary of State of Oklahoma, Kay Dudley certified the results, declaring Henry the governor elect.

2002 gubernatorial election, Oklahoma

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Brad Henry	448,143	43.3
	Republican	Steve Largent	441,277	42.6
	Independent	Gary Richardson	146,200	14.1
Majority			6,866	0.6%
Turnout			1,035,620
	Democratic hold		Swing

References

1. Averill, David, "Eyeing another campaign: Richardson had impact on 2002 governor's race", Tulsa World, March 22, 2009.
2. "Henry upsets Steve Largent in governor's race", AP at USA Today, November 5, 2002.
3. John M. Broder, "The 2002 Elections: Governors; Bright Spots, Amid Dim Ones, for Democrats", New York Times, November 7, 2009.
4. Gaddie, Ronald Keith, "Oklahoma Republican Party", Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture Archived May 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. (accessed May 31, 2010).