OKLAHOMA CITY (January 22, 2026)—Today, Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton and Oklahoma House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, along with 110 of their fellow members of the Oklahoma Legislature, issued an open letter to the people of Oklahoma, urging them to be wary of signing the initiative petition to place State Question 836 on the statewide ballot.
The letter can be read here [PDF].
All totaled, the letter represents over 75 percent of the membership of Oklahoma’s two legislative chambers.
SQ 836, if adopted by Oklahoma voters, would remove Oklahoma’s current election system and replace it with a top-two jungle primary election system for federal, state, and county offices. At present, California and Washington are the only two U.S. states that utilize the same top-two jungle primary system as SQ 836.
The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs promotes the flourishing of the people of Oklahoma by advancing principles and policies that support free enterprise, limited government, personal responsibility, individual initiative, and strong families.
The letter:
January 22, 2026
To the People of Oklahoma,
Under Oklahoma’s primary election system today, Democratic voters pick Democratic nominees in party primaries, Republican voters pick Republican nominees in party primaries, and Libertarian voters pick Libertarian nominees in party primaries. The three parties’ candidates then face off in the November general election along with any Independent candidates who file.
But State Question 836 would end this system. Instead, all Oklahoma candidates for an office—Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents—would be placed on a single “jungle primary” ballot. All voters would participate in that single election, and the two candidates receiving the most votes, regardless of party, would proceed to the general-election ballot.
That would mirror California elections.
We, the undersigned, strongly oppose that proposal.
First, SQ 836 is not what its proponents claim. This is not an “open primary” where you get to pick which party primary you participate in each cycle. Further, SQ 836 will likely reduce voter participation in Oklahoma. Average voter turnout in California’s primary elections is actually lower today than it was before the adoption of that state’s chaotic SQ 836-style system. Finally, the system does not produce “moderate” candidates but instead helps candidates advance to the November ballot by appealing to fringe voters during the multi-candidate first round of voting, as can be seen by the results of California elections.
Second, the practical effect of SQ 836 is to limit voter choices. Under SQ 836, there is virtually no chance any Libertarian or Independent candidates will ever be placed on a November general-election ballot in a competitive race. And, in many cases, SQ 836 would limit voter choice in November to two members of the same political party, as happens routinely in California in state and federal elections.
Third, SQ 836 will produce absurd outcomes in defiance of voter preferences. Had SQ 836 been in place in 2018, Oklahomans would have had to choose between two Democrats for governor that November, because the Republican vote was split among 10 candidates in the primary.
Thus, even though 452,606 Oklahomans cast a vote for a Republican gubernatorial candidate compared to just 395,494 for a Democrat, the 2018 general election would have involved only two Democratic candidates.
SQ 836 is bad policy and bad for Oklahoma. When asked to sign a petition to place SQ 836 on the ballot, we urge voters to say, “No!”
Respectfully submitted by the undersigned members of the Oklahoma Legislature:
Representative Kyle Hilbert
Oklahoma Speaker of the House
Senator Lonnie Paxton
Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore
Oklahoma House of Representatives:
- Representative Eddy Dempsey - District 1
- Representative Jim Olsen - District 2
- Representative Bob Culver - District 4
- Representative Josh West - District 5
- Representative Rusty Cornwell - District 6
- Representative Steve Bashore - District 7
- Representative Mark Lepak - District 9
- Representative John Kane - District 11
- Representative Mark Chapman - District 12
- Representative Neil Hays - District 13
- Representative Chris Sneed - District 14
- Representative Tim Turner - District 15
- Representative Scott Fetgatter - District 16
- Representative Jim Grego - District 17
- Representative David Smith - District 18
- Representative Justin Humphrey - District 19
- Representative Jonathan Wilk - District 20
- Representative Cody Maynard - District 21
- Representative Ryan Eaves - District 22
- Representative Derrick Hildebrant - District 23
- Representative Chris Banning - District 24
- Representative Ronny Johns - District 25
- Representative Dell Kerbs - District 26
- Representative Danny Sterling - District 27
- Representative Danny Williams - District 28
- Representative Kyle Hilbert - District 29
- Representative Mark Lawson - District 30
- Representative Collin Duel - District 31
- Representative Jim Shaw - District 32
- Representative Molly Jenkins - District 33
- Representative John George - District 36
- Representative Ken Luttrell - District 37
- Representative John Pfeiffer - District 38
- Representative Erick Harris - District 39
- Representative Chad Caldwell - District 40
- Representative Denise Crosswhite Hader - District 41
- Representative Cynthia Roe - District 42
- Representative Jay Steagall - District 43
- Representative Brian Hill - District 47
- Representative Tammy Townley - District 48
- Representative Josh Cantrell - District 49
- Representative Stacy Jo Adams - District 50
- Representative Brad Boles - District 51
- Representative Gerrid Kendrix - District 52
- Representative Jason Blair - District 53
- Representative Kevin West - District 54
- Representative Nick Archer - District 55
- Representative Dick Lowe - District 56
- Representative Anthony Moore - District 57
- Representative Carl Newton - District 58
- Representative Mike Dobrinski - District 59
- Representative Mike Kelley - District 60
- Representative Kenton Patzkowsky - District 61
- Representative Trey Caldwell - District 63
- Representative Toni Hasenbeck - District 65
- Representative Clay Staires - District 66
- Representative Rob Hall - District 67
- Representative Mike Lay - District 68
- Representative Mark Tedford - District 69
- Representative Kevin Norwood - District 74
- Representative T.J. Marti - District 75
- Representative Ross Ford - District 76
- Representative Stan May - District 80
- Representative Mike Osburn - District 81
- Representative Nicole Miller - District 82
- Representative Eric Roberts - District 83
- Representative Tammy West - District 84
- Representative David Hardin - District 86
- Representative Emily Gise - District 90
- Representative Max Wolfley - District 95
- Representative Preston Stinson - District 96
- Representative Gabe Woolley - District 98
- Representative Marilyn Stark - District 100
- Representative Robert Manger - District 101
Oklahoma Senate:
- Senator Micheal Bergstrom - District 1
- Senator Ally Seifried - District 2
- Senator Julie McIntosh - District 3
- Senator Tom Woods - District 4
- Senator George Burns - District 5
- Senator David Bullard - District 6
- Senator Warren Hamilton - District 7
- Senator Bryan Logan - District 8
- Senator Avery Frix - District 9
- Senator Bill Coleman - District 10
- Senator Todd Gollihare - District 12
- Senator Jonathan Wingard - District 13
- Senator Jerry Alvord - District 14
- Senator Lisa Standridge - District 15
- Senator Shane Jett - District 17
- Senator Jack Stewart - District 18
- Senator Roland Pederson - District 19
- Senator Chuck Hall - District 20
- Senator Randy Grellner - District 21
- Senator Kristen Thompson - District 22
- Senator Lonnie Paxton - District 23
- Senator Darrell Weaver - District 24
- Senator Brian Guthrie - District 25
- Senator Casey Murdock - District 27
- Senator Grant Green - District 28
- Senator Julie Daniels - District 29
- Senator Spencer Kern - District 31
- Senator Dusty Deevers - District 32
- Senator Christi Gillespie - District 33
- Senator Dana Prieto - District 34
- Senator John Haste - District 36
- Senator Aaron Reinhardt - District 37
- Senator Brent Howard - District 38
- Senator Dave Rader - District 39
- Senator Adam Pugh - District 41
- Senator Brenda Stanley - District 42
- Senator Kendal Sacchieri - District 43
- Senator Kelly Hines - District 47
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