OKLAHOMA CITY – State Representative Todd Russ and former state Senator Clark Jolley will meet in a runoff Aug. 23 to select the Republican nominee to succeed Randy McDaniel as State Treasurer.
Russ received a plurality, but not a majority, of the 338,653 votes cast in the statewide primary Tuesday. Russ garnered 48.5% of those votes, and Jolley got 33.87%. Former Oklahoma County Clerk David Benjamin Hooten was the spoiler, receiving 17.62% of the votes.
Russ, 61, of Cordell, was elected to six consecutive two-year terms in the Oklahoma House of Representatives; he terms out in November.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in international finance at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Russ’ 30+-year career as a banker started at State Bank of Rocky, in Washita County, in 1983. He subsequently served as an executive at banks in Chickasha, Oklahoma City, and Burns Flat. He sold the majority of his bank stock and began management consulting with banks and businesses in 2008.
Jolley, 51, of Edmond, served in the Legislature from November 2004 to November 2016, when he termed out after 12 years.
Before his election to the Legislature, Jolley served as an administrative law judge for the state Labor Department. He served as State Secretary of Finance in 2018-19, and was an Oklahoma Tax Commissioner for a little over four and a half years, from March 29, 2017, to Nov. 1, 2021.
Hooten, 59, a Duncan native who lives in Nichols Hills, defeated a five-term incumbent in 2016 to become the Oklahoma County Clerk. He resigned on June 17 rather than fight an attempt to oust him from office over allegations of sexual harassment.
The professional trumpet player filed as a Democrat for a state House of Representatives seat in 2004, but a challenge got him removed from the ballot. A decade later Hooten filed as a Republican for a state Senate seat in 2014, but placed fourth among six candidates.
Also vying to replace McDaniel as Treasurer are Democrat Charles De Coune, 50, of Oklahoma City, and Libertarian Gregory J. Sadler, 49, of Newalla. Their names will appear on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.