United States presidential elections in Oklahoma

Presidential elections in Oklahoma
Map of the United States with Oklahoma highlighted
Number of elections30
Voted Democratic10
Voted Republican20
Voted other0
Voted for winning candidate21
Voted for losing candidate9

Oklahoma is a state in the South Central region of the United States.[1] Since it first joined the United States in 1907,[2] Oklahoma has participated in 29 presidential elections. It was initially granted seven electoral votes,[3] gaining three following the 1910 census.[4] It was given an additional vote in the 1930 census,[5] which it later lost in the 1940 census.[5] The state's electoral votes were reduced to eight votes in the 1950 census[6] before returning to its original seven following the 2000 census.[7]

In the 1960 election, Republican candidates Richard Nixon and Henry C. Lodge won Oklahoma.[8] However, elector Henry D. Irwin decided to cast a faithless vote for Harry F. Byrd and Barry Goldwater. The state later passed a law that would invalidate any votes cast by, and issue a fine to, faithless electors.[9]

Oklahoma initially vacillated between voting Democrat and Republican, but it has recently come to be considered a safely red state. Republicans having won every single Oklahoma county since the 2004 presidential election.[10] The last Democrat to win the state was Lyndon B. Johnson in his 1964 landslide victory.[11][12] Oklahoma was last considered a swing state during the presidential campaigns of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.[13]

Republicans have won the White House without winning Oklahoma only twice: William H. Taft in 1908 and Calvin Coolidge in 1924. Democrats have won without the state eight times, the most recent in Joe Biden's election in 2020.

  1. ^ "Census Regions and Divisions of the United States" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  2. ^ "Oklahoma Statehood, November 16, 1907". National Archives. August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  3. ^ Leip, David. "1908 Presidential General Election Results – Oklahoma". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Done was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference first? was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Leip, David. "1948 Presidential General Election Results – Oklahoma". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  7. ^ "Distribution of Electoral Votes". Maryland.gov. Archived from the original on September 22, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  8. ^ Agrawal, Nina (December 8, 2016). "All the times in U.S. history that members of the electoral college voted their own way". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  9. ^ Averill, Dave (June 7, 1992). "Tale of Oklahoma's Bolting Presidential Elector". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  10. ^ "Oklahoma 2020 election results". CNN. November 24, 2020. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Levy, Micheal (August 9, 2024). "United States presidential election of 1964". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference renamed_from_2024_on_20241105210424 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Who will win Oklahoma?". The Hill. October 2, 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-03.