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New poll finds Kevin Stitt has narrow lead on Joy Hofmeister in race for Oklahoma Governor

Incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt (left) and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister (right) are vying to take Oklahoma's highest office in November.
Incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt (left) and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister (right) are vying to take Oklahoma's highest office in November.

A poll from Amber Integrated shows Gov. Kevin Stitt has a narrow lead on his Democratic opponent state schools superintendent Joy Hofmeister.

It’s the second poll this month that shows a narrow lead for Stitt.

Overall, he’s up three points on his Democratic opponent, with 47% of those surveyed saying they prefer Stitt compared to Hofmeister’s 44%. Libertarian Natalie Bruno is polling at 2% and Independent Ervin Yen is polling at 1%.

Stitt’s lead is within the margin of error for the poll commissioned by local TV station KOCO 5.

Stitt has a big advantage when it comes to men, white people and voters outside the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas. Plus, he’s winning most Republicans.

But Hofmeister is taking away some of those Republican votes, and Stitt is winning over very few Democrats.

The incumbent Republican is missing out on a small chunk of likely GOP voters who say they prefer his Democratic challenger, while practically no surveyed Dems say they’d vote for Stitt.

Hofmeister switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party earlier this year in her bid to challenge Stitt.

The results back up a poll from Sooner Poll earlier this month that found Hofmeister within one point of Stitt.

The tight race is similar to another — the election for State Superintendent — which showed a modern Oklahoma rarity: Democrat Jena Nelson has a slight edge on her Republican opponent State Secretary of Education Ryan Walters.

Democrats in a tight statewide race are a rarity in Oklahoma. Fivethirtyeight forecasts Stitt will likely win in a blowout.

Robby Korth
Robby Korth joined StateImpact Oklahoma in October 2019, focusing on education reporting.