Oklahoma City Mayor: Our Partisan Politics Is a Consequence of Partisan Primary Elections

I voted stickers
Photo by visuals on Unsplash
Shawn GriffithsShawn Griffiths
Published: 21 Jan, 2025
2 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt sat down with former RNC chair and MSNBC commentator Michael Steele to talk about the difference between the partisan politics in DC versus the more pragmatic outcomes at the local level.

Mayor Holt said the most consequential difference is simple and yet immensely impactful: If voters want to see better, more responsive representation, elections need to look more like they do for mayor in many cities.

In other words, elections need to be nonpartisan:

"They way that most mayors are elected is in a nonpartisan format or a top-two format, and the bottom line is all voters see all the candidates and all the candidates have to face all the voters -- and you don't go through a closed partisan primary."

Holt said that when anyone talks about party politics or partisan politics the first thing that comes to mind is when he faces Oklahoma City voters, he faces Republicans, Democrats, and independents from the start. This changes things.

Due to the nonpartisan nature of the elections, the political environment incentivizes coalition-building across the political spectrum or -- as Holt puts it -- "the 70% of normal people in the middle."

There are many issues that Americans agree on, but nothing ever gets done on these issues because a partisan primary system incentivizes putting party interests and self-interests first.

The top two system Holt mentions is used at the state level in California and Washington. Alaska also uses a nonpartisan primary system that advances the top 4 candidates, regardless of party.

IVP Donate

Voters then use ranked choice voting to determine a majority winner.

Alaska Republican state Senate President Cathy Giessel credits the Top 4 system with not only getting her seat back after being primaried for working across the aisle but also ensuring a bipartisan governing majority in the Alaska Legislature.

“We decided we’re going to stay on the ideas that we can find agreement on—which is the economy, public safety, education and a balanced budget. It’s just been delightful,” Giessel said.

It worth noting that she originally opposed reform when it was on the ballot in 2020, but her experiences changed her mind -- the type of experiences that Holt says exist at the local level because of nonpartisan elections.

"It's a totally different incentive structure than those who are running for most congressional seats and governors' offices, and to be president," he said.

Oklahoma voters may have a chance to reform their elections to a nonpartisan system. The nonprofit group, Oklahoma United, filed a constitutional amendment in November for a Top Two system.

The amendment could appear on the 2026 ballot.

 

Let Us Vote : Sign Now!

The video above is courtesy of Open Primaries.

In this article

You Might Also Like

Nevada Dems Block Independent Redistricting from Going before Voters – Again!
Nevada Dems Block Independent Redistricting from Going before Voters – Again!
With deep frustration, Vote Nevada PAC announced it is withdrawing its ballot initiative to create an independent redistricting commission -- a proposal meant to bring openness, accountability, and fairness to how Nevada’s political maps are drawn....
03 Oct, 2025
-
5 min read
court gavel.
Virtual Discussion: The Fight for Equal Independent Voting Rights Makes it to SCOTUS
Every major voting rights movement in U.S. history – whether successful or not – has intertwined with landmark litigation. This was the case for women’s suffrage. It was the case for civil rights. And it is the case in the ongoing effort to protect the right of all voters to have equal participation in taxpayer-funded elections – something millions of independent voters are denied across the U.S....
29 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read
Supreme Court building
SCOTUS Considers Challenge to Closed Primaries -- Here's Why It Is Such a Big Deal
In a dramatic step forward for litigation challenging closed primaries, the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated they are going to conference to discuss whether to grant a writ of certiorari to Polelle v. Florida Secretary of State; a case challenging Florida's closed primaries that Open Primaries has supported since its inception....
26 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read
Proposition 50 voter guide
California Prop 50: Partisan Power Play or Necessary Counterpunch?
November 4 marks a special election for what has become the most controversial ballot measure in California in recent memory: Proposition 50, which would circumvent congressional districts drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission for a legislative-drawn map....
01 Oct, 2025
-
9 min read
court gavel.
Virtual Discussion: The Fight for Equal Independent Voting Rights Makes it to SCOTUS
Every major voting rights movement in U.S. history – whether successful or not – has intertwined with landmark litigation. This was the case for women’s suffrage. It was the case for civil rights. And it is the case in the ongoing effort to protect the right of all voters to have equal participation in taxpayer-funded elections – something millions of independent voters are denied across the U.S....
29 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read
Supreme Court building
SCOTUS Considers Challenge to Closed Primaries -- Here's Why It Is Such a Big Deal
In a dramatic step forward for litigation challenging closed primaries, the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated they are going to conference to discuss whether to grant a writ of certiorari to Polelle v. Florida Secretary of State; a case challenging Florida's closed primaries that Open Primaries has supported since its inception....
26 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read