The only two incumbent judges on Oklahoma ballots lost their reelection campaigns Tuesday, as did two of the four district attorneys on ballots.
Voters in Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties chose Daniel McClure over District Attorney Adam Panter, and voters in Carter County and its surrounding four counties ousted District Attorney Melissa Handke in favor of James Gilmartin.
In Tulsa County, 59.7 percent of voters reelected Steve Kunzweiler to another term as Tulsa County DA. In Pittsburg and Haskell counties, 65.5 percent of voters elected District Attorney James Green to a full term over former DA J.B. Miller, whose return to the ballot reminded some voters of his 2010 plea agreement on a charge of barratry.
In bench shakeups, 24-year Kay County and Noble County District Court Judge Lee Turner finished third Tuesday in a race headed to a runoff between Rob Davis and Scott Loftis. Similarly, Associate District Judge Loren Angle finished third in a three-way race and will watch as Megan Hickman and Brian Mitchell compete in the Nov. 3 judicial runoff.
On a night that saw few shakeups on the state level — beyond the defeat of hardline Sen. Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin) — Oklahomans’ rejection of incumbent judicial system officials stand out, although each election is likely best explained through local lenses.
All election results are unofficial until they are certified by the Oklahoma State Election Board.
2 incumbent DAs keep seats, 2 ousted
In the largest DA district on Tuesday’s ballot, incumbent Steve Kunzweiler defeated Republican challenger Colleen McCarty by earning 59.71 percent (33,373 total) of the vote.
Kunzweiler has served in the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office since 2002. He was elected DA to succeed Tim Harris in 2014.
In District 18, representing Pittsburg and Haskell counties, acting DA James Green received 65 percent (4,404 total) of the vote to fend off a challenge by former DA Jim Bob Miller.
Green became the acting DA for District 18 after Chuck Sullivan resigned April 3 to join the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Green had served as first assistant DA in Haskell County since May 2022. Since less than a year remained in Sullivan’s term, Green became acting DA without gubernatorial appointment.
“I just want to thank the citizens of Haskell and Pittsburg County for putting their faith and trust in me, and I won’t let them down, Green said in a statement after his victory.
In southern Oklahoma, voters in the five counties of DA District 20 overwhelmingly ousted incumbent Melissa Handke, who was appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt in August 2023.
Challenger James Gilmartin defeated Handke easily, earning 68.86 percent (7,148 total) of the vote.
Gilmartin was a former assistant district attorney for Oklahoma County and District 20 before opening a private practice in Ardmore in 2013.
In the closest district attorney race of the night, voters in DA District 23 picked challenger and McLoud Mayor Daniel McClure over incumbent District Attorney Adam Panter, who was appointed by Gov. Stitt in 2022 following the death of David Hammer, who had been elected to the office days prior.
A former attorney and lobbyist for the Oklahoma Municipal League, McClure earned 52.66 percent support (7,121 votes) to defeat Panter and become the top prosecutor in Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties.
“I am incredibly thankful for the support of the voters across our district. This was a true grassroots movement and we could not have been successful without the huge support of so many volunteers and grassroots advocates,” McClure said in a statement Tuesday night. “I am incredibly thankful to my wonderful wife who carried our home front during this campaign. I want to thank DA Adam Panter for his years of service to our community. I look forward to building a great team and finding justice for victims in our community.”
McClure was elected to the city council of Midwest City in 2014 and started attending the Oklahoma City University School of Law to assist with his ordinance writing. He resigned from the MWC City Council in December 2016. By July 2020, he was serving on the McLoud City Council, where he became mayor in 2023.
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Incumbent judges lose primary races
Of the six judicial races on the ballot across Oklahoma, the only two incumbents failed to make runoffs in the nonpartisan elections. While Drew Cunningham won the Woods County associate district judge position outright, five of the judicial races on Tuesday’s ballot are now heading to the general election in November.
In southwest Oklahoma, the District 5 district judge seat left open after the retirement of former District Judge Emmit Tayloe in February will see familiar faces on the ballot in November.
No candidate secured more than 50 percent of the vote, but Neil West, a public defender for the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, received 40.15 percent (8,182 total) of the vote. Christine Galbraith, a special judge for Comanche County, received 27.72 percent (5,648 total votes).
In northern Oklahoma, the incumbent district judge was eight votes shy of making it to the November ballot.
For District 8 district judge, Rob Davis finished first with 35.81 percent support (3,663 votes). Attorney Scott Loftis finishing second with 32.13 percent support (3,287 votes).
But District Judge Lee Turner, who was first elected in 2018, finished third, with 32.06 percent support (3,279 votes). By state statute, Turner could petition for a recount.
To the east, voters in Tulsa County District Judge Office 4 will see their race head to the November ballot.
Loretta Radford received the most votes with 44.34 percent (7,041 total) of the vote, with Dusten Allen finishing second with 35.76 percent (5,678) of the votes.
Radford currently serves as a special judge for Tulsa County. Allen is a former assistant district attorney and public defender.
The district is one of five judgeships elected by district instead of by a county-wide vote, meaning not every Tulsa County voter will see the nonpartisan judicial election on their ballots in November. The seat was left open for the first time since 2006 after Judge Daman Cantrell did not file for reelection.
In Alfalfa County, only half of the county’s registered voters had a say in the race for associate district judge. When results came in Tuesday night, the incumbent judge did not make the November ballot in the three-way race.
Megan Hickman finished at the top with 46.56 percent (623 total) of the vote, with fellow challenger Brian Mitchell finishing with 27.43 percent (367 total).
Incumbent ADJ Loran Angle finished third with 26.01 percent (348) of the vote.
Hickman, the municipal judge for Cherokee, will face Mitchell, the first assistant DA for District 26, in November.
In northeast Oklahoma, east of Bartlesville and south of Coffeyville, Kansas, the race for Nowata County associate district judge will head to the November ballot. James Pfeffer finished atop the three-way Republican race Tuesday with 39.84 percent (816 total) of the vote, and Linda Branstetter finished second with 35.21 percent support (721 total).
Pfeffer currently serves as the first assistant district attorney in District 11, while Branstetter is a long-time attorney in Nowata County.
On Tuesday, the race to be the next associate district judge in Woods County was the only judicial race to have an outright winner after the incumbent announced their retirement after 24 years.
In the three-way race, Drew Cunningham won Tuesday’s primary with 52.93 percent (1,218 total) of the vote.
Cunningham currently serves as the city attorney for Alva and previously worked as a public defender.
The seat was open after incumbent ADJ Mickey Hadwiger announced his retirement from the bench after 24 years.
