By a major margin, Oklahoma voters rejected State Question 832, which would have gradually raised the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour, ending a years-long effort to align the state’s payment floor with neighboring states that have approved increases in recent years.
With more than 93 percent of precincts reporting, more than 56 percent of voters opposed SQ 832 — the only item on Oklahoma ballots Tuesday for which independent or Libertarian voters could cast ballots. All election results are unofficial until certified by the Oklahoma State Election Board.
Had it passed, SQ 832 would have raised the minimum wage gradually — to $12 in 2027, then by $1.50 each year before topping out at $15 per hour in 2029, more than double the current rate of $7.25. After reaching $15 per hour, the rate would have continued to increase in smaller increments over time. Beginning in 2030, the state’s minimum wage would have increased annually based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index.
Voters in Arkansas and Missouri have raised their state’s minimum wage in the last decade. Missouri’s jumped to $15 in January, up $1.25 from 2025. Approved in 2024, that increase followed smaller amounts over the last 10 years. In Arkansas, a 2018 citizen-led initiative passed with 68.5 percent voter support to raise the minimum wage from $8.50 to $11 by 2021. It hasn’t increased since then.
But in Oklahoma, opponents focused on what they believed was the potential for a higher minimum wage to undermine job growth and raise prices for consumers. SQ 832 was opposed by Gov. Kevin Stitt and much of the Republican Party establishment, as well as groups like the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs and the State Chamber of Oklahoma.
State Chamber President and CEO Chad Warmington called SQ 832’s defeat a win for Oklahomans concerned about jobs and prices.
“The State Chamber applauds Oklahoma voters for rejecting SQ 832,” Warmington said in a statement. “Tonight, voters chose to protect Oklahoma’s economic momentum and one of our greatest competitive advantages: affordability. The reality is wages in Oklahoma are already being driven up by a strong labor market not government mandates. Oklahoma businesses are competing for talent, investing in their people, and helping move our state forward. Oklahomans sent a clear message: We can grow our economy, create opportunities, and keep life affordable without one-size-fits-all mandates that make it harder for businesses to hire and grow.”
California and the rest of the West Coast became a foil for opponents throughout the SQ 832 election, which Stitt intentionally put on the 2026 primary ballot instead of the 2024 general election.
“Terrible policy,” Stitt told KOCO-TV. “Government doesn’t need to get involved in private business and say, ‘Hey, you need to pay him this and this. The bigger issue with the state question is that it also mandatorily climbs. It goes up every single year. If you look out over 10 years, we’re going to have a higher mandatory minimum wage than they have in California. That is going to destroy some of the small businesses, right?”
SQ 832 supporters unsuccessfully argued it was well past time for Oklahoma to raise its minimum wage because hourly workers were falling behind amid a shaky economy with rising inflation.
“A full-time worker earning minimum wage today has far less buying power than they did nearly two decades ago,” Oklahoma Policy Institute executive director Shiloh Kantz said in an April League of Women Voters forum in Stillwater. “For many families, that means hard work alone isn’t going to make it happen. One in four jobs in Oklahoma pays a median wage below the poverty line for a family of four, which is $33,000. One in six of our kids lives in poverty. A minimum-wage worker has to work 93 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment rental in Oklahoma. These are the economic realities Oklahoma parents and caregivers are living with.”
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Matt Patterson has spent 20 years in Oklahoma journalism covering a variety of topics for The Oklahoman, The Edmond Sun and Lawton Constitution. He joined NonDoc in 2019. Email story tips and ideas to [email protected].
Matt Patterson has spent 20 years in Oklahoma journalism covering a variety of topics for The Oklahoman, The Edmond Sun and Lawton Constitution. He joined NonDoc in 2019. Email story tips and ideas to [email protected].
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