Election Name: | 1998 Oklahoma gubernatorial election |
Country: | Oklahoma |
Flag Year: | 1988 |
Type: | presidential |
Ongoing: | no |
Previous Election: | 1994 Oklahoma gubernatorial election |
Previous Year: | 1994 |
Next Election: | 2002 Oklahoma gubernatorial election |
Next Year: | 2002 |
Election Date: | November 3, 1998 |
Image1: | File:Frank Keating at a conference, Oct 20, 2001 - cropped.jpg |
Nominee1: | Frank Keating |
Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
Popular Vote1: | 505,498 |
Percentage1: | 57.9% |
Nominee2: | Laura Boyd |
Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
Popular Vote2: | 357,552 |
Percentage2: | 40.9% |
Map Size: | 300px |
Governor | |
Before Election: | Frank Keating |
Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
After Election: | Frank Keating |
After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
The 1998 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, and was a race for Governor of Oklahoma.
Incumbent Republican Frank Keating won re-election in a landslide against Democratic State Representative Laura Boyd. The Reform Party, the first alternative party to be able to run a candidate for governor in the state since 1970, had Hoppy Heidelberg as its candidate.[1] Heidelberg was removed from a gubernatorial debate that he disrupted after not being allowed to be a participant.[2]
This was the first occasion since Oklahoma statehood that Bryan County, Carter County, Cotton County, Garvin County, Greer County, Harmon County, Jefferson County, Kiowa County, Love County, Murray County, and Pontotoc County voted for a Republican for Governor, although several of these counties backed Independent candidate Wes Watkins four years earlier.
This election marked the first time a woman received the nomination for governor from a major party in Oklahoma. It was also the first time a Republican was elected to a consecutive term (Henry Bellmon was the first Republican to serve two terms, though not consecutive).