Meadows publishes his 'Charlie's Picks' for 2026 runoff election

Historically one of the highly anticipated "picks" of each election cycle by grassroots conservatives, former Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee chairman (and recent Logan County Commissioner) Charlie Meadows has published his thoughts on the 2026 runoff election. Meadows, who long opined on Oklahoma politics when he was chairman of OCPAC in his famous email newsletters, now has a new podcast, The ABCs of Politics and Culture. Without further ado, here are Charlie's Picks:

Charlie’s Picks 2026 Runoff Election

Based upon my research I have come up with the candidates that I believe should be elected. Folks reading this may have information about a particular candidate of which I am unaware and therefore have a different opinion which is understandable.  Please share this with others. Should you want to contact me my email address is charliemeadows7@gmail.com. Look on the bottom of your voter ID card sent to you from your county election board if you are unsure of the State House, Senate or US Representative districts in which you live. I have done interviews with all of the Statewide candidates on our ABCs of Politics and Culture Podcast which can be found on Facebook, YouTube, X and Rumble. By watching those interviews it may help you make up your mind and understand why I have endorsed them.

Governor:  MIKE MAZZEI  This is the most important race on the ballot for a state wide race.

Mazzei is a numbers man which is vital for determining how to cut taxes and still fund the proper functions of government. Drummond is far more liberal than Mazzie and can’t hold a candle to him as far as integrity or independence from special interest groups. Sometimes President Trump is wrong with his endorsements such as his new choice, State Representative Mark Tedford (53 lifetime conservative index score makes him one of the most liberal in the State House) for US Representative district 1. But Trump is on the mark with Mike Mazzei. Drummond contributed to Joe Biden as well as thousands of dollars to many other Democrats candidates running against Republicans such as Tom Coburn, Jim Inhoff, Jim Bridenstine and a Queer Democrat running for  District Judge. Drummond is a RINO, Mazzei is a conservative Republican.

State School Superintendent:  Dr. JAMES TAYLOR  Dr. Taylor has developed and proven over several years a method to inspire teachers and parents to inspire students to want to learn. He also has a plan to reduce the number of emergency certified teachers in such a way it would actually save tax dollars for the citizens of Oklahoma. Dr. Franklin is a highly certified educator and administrator that represents everything that the education establishment has done over the past 40 to 50 year which has driven up the cost of education only to see the academic performance of students decline. If Dr. Taylor doesn't win, the teacher union bosses will have put forth a Republican or Democrat candidate to choose from. What a bad idea for the children of Oklahoma.

State Labor Commissioner:  KEVIN WEST  If Kevin is elected he will seek to work with Mike Rowe and his foundation to advance Oklahoma’s workforce development. Kevin has a lifetime conservative index score of a 79 and John Pfeiffer's score is a paltry 58. We need a conservative in that position not a RINO like my fellow Logan County friend John Pfeiffer.

State Insurance Commissioner:  MARTY QUINN  Marty has been in the insurance industry over twice as long as his opponent. Marty understands the various reasons insurance rates, particularly on homeowners, have been rising so much in recent years. More importantly, he knows what needs to be done to make insurance affordable again. His opponent will outspend him thanks to the many contributions from the trial lawyers.

STATE SENATE

Senate District 17 (Shawnee area):  JUSTIN WOOD  Justin is running for Shane Jett’s senate seat and is endorsed by Shane. He almost won in the primary and will win if his supporters will turn out. I doubt he will be as conservative as Shane, but close.

Senate District 18 (Yukon area):  JACK STEWART  Jack was a County Commissioner for at least 2 terms. When he decided to run for the Senate his pay was cut almost in half so he obviously wants to serve people. I know him well and he is always accessible and tries to do what is good for the citizens of his district and of Oklahoma. He has been endorsed by the primary opponent that didn’t make the runoff. 

Senate District 24 (South OKC and Moore):  JOHN PAINTER  I have had an extensive conversation with Jon and believe he will be a good Senator. He is working hard knocking doors while his very wealthy opponent is paying people to knock doors for him. I have talked with both of them and believe John would be the better Senator.

Senate District 32: (Lawton, Elgin area):  JEAN HAUSHEER  Many were disappointed when Senator Dusty Deevers was defeated. However, the reason Jean decided to run was she didn’t believe Dusty had done enough to reduce spending and cut taxes which tells me she will also be very conservative. I have had a very lengthy discussion with her and she is knocking doors with a purpose. Her opponent is supported by the very wealthy Hilliary family that very much wanted to see Deevers defeated.

Senate District 34 (Owasso area):  DANA PRIETO  Senator Prieto is one of the most conservative Senators in the state. His 89 lifetime score on the Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper’s Conservative Index is only exceeded by Shane Jett’s 97 for those that have been in office longer than 4 years. He is a member of the Freedom Caucus which is trying to lead Republicans to govern like the conservatives they say they are when they want our vote. There are plenty of big government Republicans that want to see this conservative defeated, which would be a shame.

STATE HOUSE

House District 1 (LeFlore & McCurtain Counties)  CHRIS WHITE  This is an open seat and Chris was my choice to win in the Primary election as I believe him to be the more conservative of the 2 that made the runoff.

HD District 18 (Southeast Oklahoma)  DAVID SMITH  Again, Representative Smith has a lifetime conservative score of over 70 and thus I will endorse him as I did for the primary election.

House District 19 (Southeast Oklahoma)  MICHAEL BRITTINGHAM  This is the former seat held by J.J. Humphrey and Michael garnered 49.1 percent of the vote to his opponents 25.74 so this should be an easy victory for Michael. He was also picked by MOHA, OK2A and me in the primary election.

House District 38 (Northern Logan county to Kansas):  MADISON BOLAY  We have had both Madison and his opponent Danielle on our podcast each for an hour. While I like both of them personally, I believe Madison will be the more conservative Representative. Watch both of them on our podcast and see if you agree with me.

House District 47 (Canadian County):  KEVAN GENTRY  This was Brian Hill’s seat and while I picked Kevan it was a very close primary with each getting a little over 30% of the vote. This runoff race could go either way.

House District 81 (West Central Edmond):  TROY TALLEY  I attended a forum a few weeks back and heard both candidates talk and clearly Troy is the more conservative candidate. As I told him, should he win he may be the only true conservative legislator to represent Edmond. Really sad as 15 years ago or so when I used to write a column twice a month for the Edmond Sun, Edmond no longer has a newspaper, it was a much more conservative community.

House District 91 (Southwest Central OKC):  YOUR CHOICE  I couldn’t find out any information about either candidate nor would they fill out our surveys for OK2A or MOHO.  In my opinion whichever of them win, he or she won’t likely be worse than Representative Kannady with a lifetime conservative score of a 51, only Kevin Norwood of Owasso is more liberal with a 50. I was so happy when the legislature adjourned until next year knowing Kannady will never again cast a vote at the legislature. Sadly he probably won’t go away as he will probably become a lobbyist. 

STATE QUESTIONS 

State Question #844:  YES  This one is a little hard to understand which is why so many people have asked me what I thought. Currently our state constitution guarantees that the state will reimburse schools, career tech centers, junior colleges, cities, towns, county government health departments, emergency medical services districts and libraries for revenues lost when manufacturing businesses build in a location and are exempted from paying property taxes for a 5 year period of time. In 2024 the total amount for reimbursements was $93 million dollars. 

If 844 passes, businesses would still be guaranteed to receive their 5 year exemption, however these various government institutions would no longer be guaranteed to receive the full amount of reimbursements. This is very important should the next time we have revenue shortfalls legislators will have options to cut here, other expenditures or raise tax rates.

State Question #846:  YES  Currently the law says voters must show proper identification before you vote. At some time in the future the legislature could change the law. If 846 passes the Oklahoma Constitution will require voters to show proper identification and it would be much more difficult to change the Constitutional requirement rather than changing a legislative law.