State lawmakers urge Oklahomans: Be wary of signing SQ 836 petition

Most - but not all - of the Oklahoma Legislature's Republican members signed the following letter against State Question 836. Some of the missing names are unusual (mostly RINOs with a sprinkling of real conservatives); I'm trying to track down why a few of the 'good guys' aren't on here.

State lawmakers urge Oklahomans: Be wary of signing SQ 836 petition

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.

OK Freedom Caucus opposes SQ836: 'Don't California My Oklahoma'

Sign me up in agreement here with the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus:

Oklahoma Freedom Caucus Opposes State Question 836: Don't California My Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 15th) – The Oklahoma Freedom Caucus strongly opposes State Question 836, the proposed constitutional amendment that would impose California's flawed jungle primary system on Oklahoma. We encourage all Oklahomans to DECLINE TO SIGN the petition.

OK for Life's Lauinger: oppose SQ 836, pro-abortion "gimmick"

Oklahomans for Life: Oppose State Question 836: 

Abortion Supporters Want to Change Elections in Oklahoma to Elect

More Pro-Abortion Candidates; Decline to Sign SQ 836 Initiative Petition

(Oklahomans for Life, Nov. 22nd) – Pro-abortion political operatives have seized upon a new gimmick to try to elect more pro-abortion candidates to public office in Oklahoma. Their strategy is to confuse voters with appeals to “fairness,” and “democracy” and “disenfranchised” voters, while seeking to impose on our state an election process that would result in the election of more pro-abortion candidates.

Their mechanism is State Question 836 (SQ 836), an initiative petition to turn Oklahoma’s voting system on its head. This approach has various labels – open primary, jungle primary, California system. It is a manipulative scheme which games the system and rigs the results in such a way that the consequence would be the election of more pro-abortion candidates.

We urge you to oppose SQ 836 and not sign the initiative petition if someone with a clipboard in a public place asks you to.

State Question 836: California’s own elections chief doesn't like top-2 primary system

Top-two primary proposal draws criticism—from California’s own elections chief

by Ray Carter | November 19th, 2025

An initiative petition, backed by out-of-state activists, is currently circulating to replace Oklahoma’s current primary-election process with a California-style “top two” or “open primary” system. That system can result in two officials from the same political party being the only choices on the November general-election ballot.

The proposed new system has drawn criticism not only from a wide range of Oklahoma conservatives but also from an unexpected source: the Democrat who oversees California’s election system.

“I’ve never liked that system and still don’t,” said California Secretary of State Shirley Webber in an April 2021 interview with the Bipartisan Policy Center. “And let me tell you why: I think it disenfranchises the small parties.”

Op-ed: State Question 836 is not about choice

Here's an op-ed from former Tulsa County GOP Chairman Mike Ford on the dangers of potential  State Question 836, currently gathering signatures across the state to be placed on the ballot:

State Question 836 IS NOT ABOUT CHOICE
by Mike Ford

State Question 836 would replace Oklahoma’s modified closed-primary system with a “top-two” non-partisan primary, placing all candidates on a single ballot and sending only the two highest vote-getters—regardless of party—to the general election ballot.

While we know very little about the cabal bankrolling SQ836, or their true agenda for wanting to hijack one of the best electoral systems in the country, it’s PR and proponents claim this measure “broadens voter participation, especially among Oklahoma’s Independent Voters.”

In reality, the measure alienates Independent voters, as well as Libertarians, along with the respective candidates of both constituencies.

McCall calls on other GOP candidates, voters to reject California-style open primary and 'decline to sign'

GOP gubernatorial candidates Charles McCall (below) and Mike Mazzei have been outspoken against State Question 836 for some time, and I believe Jake Merrick has publicly opposed it as well. A little over a week ago, after weeks of pressure from activists, Gentner Drummond finally issued a tepid statement against the radical leftist proposal, which would institute the same type of open primary system used in California that essentially keeps Republicans off the ballot there.

McCall Slams Radical SQ 836, Challenges GOP Candidates: Prove You’re Republican, Sign the Pledge

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (October 29, 2025) – Charles McCall, Conservative Republican candidate for Governor, is leading the fight against State Question 836, calling on Oklahomans to decline to sign and challenging every Republican candidate in the state to prove they stand with the people of Oklahoma by signing a pledge to oppose it.

SQ 836 would eliminate Oklahoma’s closed primaries and impose a California-style “top-two” system, giving liberal activists and out-of-state donors more power while silencing Republican voters.

Small: Don’t California Oklahoma

Don’t California Oklahoma

By Jonathan Small

A recent decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court effectively provided the green light for an initiative petition that would completely upend Oklahoma elections, replacing our system with the one used in California and Washington states.

Oklahoma’s current election system allows Republican voters to pick Republican nominees in party primaries while Democratic voters do the same. The two parties’ candidates then face off in the November general election along with any independent candidates who file.

But a group calling itself Oklahoma United wants to eliminate that system through State Question 836 and instead require that all candidates – Democrats, Republicans and independents – be placed on a single primary ballot with all voters participating and the “top two” candidates advancing to the general.

In practice, SQ 836’s model can reduce voters’ November choices to two candidates from the same party. This has often been the case in California. Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate in California in a general election that pitted her against another Democrat.

Small: California election system fuels California fires

California election system fuels California fires

By Jonathan Small

A group called Oklahoma United wants to set fire to our state’s primary election system and replace it with the California model, which places all candidates from all parties on a single ballot with all voters casting ballots to winnow the field down to two candidates for the November election.

The California system has produced inane results, such as statewide November races that involve only two candidates from the same political party, but the reality is worse than that. The California system has also produced the types of politicians whose policies have made California a literal tinderbox.

As is well known at this point, wildfires have left a trail of destruction through the Los Angeles area that resembles the aftermath of a nuclear bomb: charred rubble as far as the eye can see.

As I write this, the largest fire has already impacted more than 37 square miles and a second fire has impacted more than 22 square miles. More than 12,000 buildings and structures have been destroyed. More than 190,000 people have been under evacuation orders. And those numbers are expected to increase.

Worse yet, it didn’t have to be this way. Unfortunately, the policies adopted by California politicians made the devastation worse and the fires harder to contain. For years, in the name of “environmentalism,” California officials focused on restricting the use of gasoline-powered cars rather than boosting fire-mitigation efforts. They have dumped huge quantities of rainwater runoff into the ocean rather than build new reservoirs. They have failed to update water infrastructure to provide fire departments with sufficient water pressure to combat large blazes, which are going to happen in an area prone to dry spells and high winds. They have touted “diversity, equity and inclusion” over merit in hiring, including fire department leadership.

The list goes on and on.

Officials with Oklahoma United insist that adopting the California election model will produce more “moderate” elected officeholders and build “consensus.” But the results in California show that is not true. The California system has given that state a political class completely out of touch with the average citizen’s basic needs and indifferent to the consequences of bad policy.

In Oklahoma’s election system, there may be election results that – at least on a case-by-case basis – do not make you happy even though a majority of voters supported that candidate. 

But even if you don’t like the results of various Oklahoma elections, they have not produced a leadership class that literally devastated a state the way California’s politicians have.

As voters consider the proposal to adopt the California election system in Oklahoma, they should ask themselves one simple question: How’s it working for California?

Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.

OCPA: California-style primary (still) a bad idea

OCPA: California-style primary (still) a bad idea

OKLAHOMA CITY (January 6, 2025)—Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs President Jonathan Small issued the following statement after proponents refiled a proposed state question that would eliminate primary elections for most federal, state, and local offices in Oklahoma.

“When Oklahoma United announced in November that they were seeking to impose California-style elections in Oklahoma that prevent Republican voters from choosing their own party nominees, we warned that the proposal was fatally flawed,” Small said. “It’s been less than two months and backers of this insidious idea are now trying to salvage their proposal with revisions.