# 1994 Oklahoma gubernatorial election

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The 1994 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994, and was a race for Governor of Oklahoma. Former United States Associate Attorney General Frank Keating pulled an upset in the three-way race to become only the third Republican governor in Oklahoma history.
The Democratic vote was split between Lieutenant Governor Jack Mildren, an Oklahoma Sooners star quarterback from 1969 to 1971, and former Democratic congressman Wes Watkins, who ran as an independent. Watkins won 24% of the vote and carried numerous counties (by wide margins in some cases); his 233,000 votes far exceeded Keating's 171,000-vote winning margin over Mildren.
This was the first time since Oklahoma statehood that Jackson County, Stephens County, and Grady County voted Republican in a gubernatorial election, and the first time since 1914 that Comanche County voted Republican.

## Candidates
### Democrat

* Jack Mildren, Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
* Danny Williams
* Bernice Shedrick, state senator
* Joe Vickers

### Republican

* Frank Keating- Assistant Attorney General, General Counsel member, and Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George H. W. Bush; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and United States Associate Attorney General under President Ronald Reagan
* Jerry Pierce, state senator
* Virginia Hale
* Thomas H. Lay
* Jerry Kobyluk

### Independent

* Wes Watkins- former U.S. Congressman

## Democratic primary

Lt. Governor Jack Mildren and Bernice Shedrick advanced to the runoff where both candidates received vote totals similar to the first primary, securing the win for Mildren.

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Jack Mildren | 214,765 | 48.6 |
| | Democratic | Bernice Shedrick | 165,066 | 37.3 |
| | Democratic | Danny Williams | 46,571 | 10.6 |
| | Democratic | Joe Vickers | 15,821 | 3.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 442,223 | 100.00 |
Democratic runoff primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Jack Mildren | 223,861 | 58.8 |
| | Democratic | Bernice Shedrick | 156,749 | 41.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 380,610 | 100.00 |

## Republican primary

Frank Keating, a former assistant attorney general and member of the Reagan and Bush administrations, defeated four other Republicans to win the GOP nomination.

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Frank Keating | 117,265 | 56.9 |
| | Republican | Jerry Pierce | 60,280 | 29.3 |
| | Republican | Virginia Hale | 15,229 | 7.4 |
| | Republican | Thomas H. Lay | 7,744 | 3.8 |
| | Republican | Jerry Kobyluk | 5,429 | 2.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 205,947 | 100.00 |

## General election
### Polling

| Source | Date | Keating (R) | Mildren (D) | Watkins (I) |
| KSWO-TV | Nov. 4, 1994 | 40% | 39% | 15% |
| Tulsa World | Nov. 1, 1994 | 28% | 29% | 21% |

### Results

1994 gubernatorial election, Oklahoma :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Frank Keating | 466,740 | 46.9 | +14.2% |
| | Democratic | Jack Mildren | 294,936 | 29.6 | −27.8% |
| | Independent | Wes Watkins | 233,336 | 23.5 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | | |