The Oklahoma Supreme Court declined to hear Rep. Toni Hasenbeck’s emergency application to declare Sen. Adam Pugh ineligible for the 2026 state superintendent of public instruction election in a 7-2 order published Monday that did not include the justices’ reasoning.
On April 20, Hasenbeck (R-Elgin) filed the application asking the court to declare Pugh (R-Edmond) ineligible for the year’s statewide elections owing to his status as a mid-term senator and statewide offices having their salaries increased effective next year.
Chief Justice Dustin Rowe — who joined Vice Chief Justice Dana Kuehn as the two dissents who seemingly believed the court should have heard the case — scheduled oral presentations in front of a court referee through Microsoft Teams for April 23, owing to the timely nature of the situation related to ballot distribution deadlines. Hasenbeck had challenged the Senate Education Committee chairman’s candidacy in front of the State Election Board on April 16, but that body voted to retain him.
In a statement sent Monday afternoon, Pugh said he is grateful for the court’s decision.
“I am glad this political distraction has been put to rest so we can stay focused on what really matters,” Pugh said. “I am going to keep traveling Oklahoma, listening to parents and sharing my vision for strong leadership that improves education outcomes, puts students first, supports teachers and empowers families.”
Hasenbeck released a statement following the court’s denial of her application.
“In a hearing before the Supreme Court on Thursday, April 23, Sen. Pugh’s lawyers said that I, Toni, was challenging the ‘status quo’ by bringing this case before the court,” Hasenbeck said. “To this statement, I agree. Sen. Adam Pugh is the ‘status quo’ candidate, part of the same system which has failed this state for decades and led us to be ranked 50th in education. If you want someone who will challenge the status quo while respecting the Oklahoma Constitution, I am your candidate. A vote for Toni Hasenbeck is a vote for someone who will use every method and tool available to achieve better educational outcomes for our state and our kids.”
Hasenbeck had contended that Pugh is ineligible to hold the office because the Statewide Official Compensation Commission voted in November to raise the position’s pay from $124,373 to $175,000. Hasenbeck’s petition to the court argued that Article 5, Section 23 of the Oklahoma Constitution made Pugh ineligible for the office because “his legislative term overlaps with the office’s term and election.” The constitutional provision prohibits legislators becoming state officers in the middle of their legislative term if the compensation for such position had increased. Until last year, legislators voted on statewide elected official compensation.
At the election board’s candidacy contest hearing, Pugh’s attorney argued that he is eligible for the office and not eligible for the pay raise because the commission prefaced its motions with provisions prohibiting sitting legislators from receiving the newly enacted salaries if they assume one of the effected offices.
Hasenbeck’s petition argued the preface did not matter because it did not make its way into the official order. Hasenbeck is also a current legislator, but her attorney claimed she would not have been ineligible under the same argument because her two-year House term would end before the raise is implemented — after the general election in November — while Pugh’s four-year Senate term runs until 2028.
Hasenbeck and Pugh are two of seven Republicans running for state superintendent. They are joined in the crowded field by former Peggs Superintendent John Cox, Oklahoma Educator Hall of Fame inductee Robert Franklin, pastor and teacher James Taylor, longtime candidate William Crozier and Debra A. Herlihy, a research assistant at Southern Nazarene University. Whoever emerges from the crowded field — whether in June or following the Aug. 25 runoff — will have an opponent in November. Two Democrats, former El Reno Public Schools Superintendent Craig McVay and former Tulsa Public Schools board member Jennettie Marshall, and Independent Jerry Griffin are mounting campaigns for the position.
NonDoc has scheduled primary debates among Republican candidates June 2 and between Democratic candidates June 3.
(Update: This article was updated at 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, to include comment from Hasenbeck.)
