Saturday, June 20, 2026 • Warm with storm chances. Upper 80s. 🌩️

⚡ Risk for severe weather for parts of Oklahoma over the weekend (KOCO)

Last chance: Make reservations for tomorrow’s OKANA Father’s Day BBQ Fest ‼️

⚾ Sooners play for national title: Oklahoma baseball takes on North Carolina in Game 1 of the Men’s College World Series championship best-of-three. First pitch is at 2 p.m. (moved up due to expected weather), and the game can be seen on ESPN.

Poll results:

We received 100 votes on the Friday poll, “Do the potential economic benefits of the Inola aluminum smelter outweigh concerns about its environmental and infrastructure impacts?”

• 9 said YES
• 75 said NO
• 16 said UNSURE

New poll question at the bottom of today’s newsletter. (You can also suggest a poll question by emailing me at [email protected].)

By Sierra Pfeifer, KOSU
👉 Click here to support this newsroom

Just 26%, or about one in four registered Oklahoma voters, cast a ballot in the race, according to an analysis of the results.

In total, 630,085 people weighed in on a state question to gradually increase the minimum wage. It was the only race open to Democrats, Republicans and independents, who weren't eligible to vote in partisan races.

Democrats have typically opened their closed primaries to include independents, but failed to submit the paperwork for this year’s primaries on time. Some voters expressed frustration with the system on election day.

This year’s polls drew fewer voters than in 2018, the last time there was a similar gubernatorial race without incumbents. The election included a state question to approve medical marijuana, and 44% of registered voters cast ballots.

There are almost 1.3 million registered Republicans in Oklahoma, but the GOP race for governor only garnered about 400,000 ballots. Out of more than 613,000 registered Democrats, only about 172,000 voted in Tuesday’s election.

Even though general elections are usually better attended, Oklahoma’s numbers were also low during the 2024 presidential election. One report from the University of Florida rated Oklahoma’s turnout at the time as the lowest in the nation.

Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.

Here’s what’s happening in Oklahoma today:

• Lahmeyer formally withdraws from US House race, sending Tedford to general election (Tulsa World)*

• Oklahoma lacks bids from childcare providers to run facility for state employees (Oklahoma Voice)

• City councilors concerned about handling of separate emergency management agency (Public Radio Tulsa)

• Gap between wealthy, low-income families in Oklahoma private school tax credit widens even more (KFOR)

• Lahmeyer suspends campaign, State Question 832 fails, GOP governor race runoff and more (KOSU)

• Deadly DUI crash near University of Oklahoma sparks calls for increased police presence (News 9)

• Nearly 50,000 marijuana plants seized in Hughes County bust (KFOR)

• Williams planning major expansion of its downtown headquarters campus (Tulsa World)*

• City announces start of Owen Field Sports Complex expansion project (Guthrie News Page)

• New Oklahoma law disrupts gender-affirming care for transgender adults (StateImpact Oklahoma)

• Two hurt after tractor, semi collide in fiery crash on I-35 (KFOR)

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