OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Supreme Court last Thursday shot down a request by Enid attorney Steven Jones to challenge the special election to fill the seat of outgoing U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe.
The decision denying Jones’ petition gave no reason but note that the vote was unanimous.
The court’s ruling came just a day after it met en banc – in person – to hear arguments in the case. The hearing, held in the court’s ceremonial courtroom at the State Capitol building, drew a capacity crowd and, at times, sparked terse questions from the court’s nine members.
Jones, 87, represented himself. He doubled down on his arguments that Inhofe’s retirement announcement did not create a vacancy in his U.S. Senate seat. He said the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes a particular reference to a vacancy in office and that Inhofe’s yearlong delay didn’t qualify.
“Under any fair reading of the 17th Amendment there is no vacancy,” he said. “This is a needless election.”
On Feb. 28 Inhofe sent a letter to Oklahoma Secretary of State Brian Bingham announcing his plans to resign in January. In his letter, Inhofe also endorsed his chief of staff, Luke Holland, for the seat.
Justice Douglas Combs said Inhofe’s letter didn’t use the word “resignation.”
Because Inhofe doesn’t plan to leave until January 3, 2023, Jones said a special election cannot be held until then. He said Republican Gov. Kevin should make an appointment to fill the seat until the next election.
Jones said appointments were a common practice. “There is nothing un-American about a temporary appointment,” he said.
Justice John Kane IV called Jones’ argument a novel question but added that the timing of the case limits debate and Justice Dustin Rowe asked Jones why he didn’t take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jones answered that he didn’t think the nation’s high court was the appropriate venue.
The court’s newest justice, Dana Kuehn, grilled Jones on whether he had standing to bring the case and asked the attorney repeatedly if he could show harm.
Oklahoma’s Solicitor General Mithun Mansinghani said Inhofe’s announcement of his planned retirement created a vacancy even if that vacancy is in the future. He said Jones’ argument was an attempt to undermine the rights of citizens to vote for a U.S. Senate candidate.
Mansinghani said the practice of announcing a resignation before leaving an elected or appointed seat was a common practice. He said several previous justices on the state’s high court had been named to the court before their successors had left.