Oklahoma Senate to convene for special session Monday, elect next Pro Tem

Oklahoma senators pray before commencing a special session on June 12 at the state Capitol. The Senate will reconvene for another special session Monday. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma senators will return to the Capitol Monday for another special session to elect the next Republican Senate leader and to approve a nomination to the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents. 

Senators will convene for a vote on Jennifer Callahan’s nomination at 10 a.m., followed by a 1 p.m. Republican Caucus meeting. 

Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, will not be returning to the Senate after November, when his term-limited expires. Sen. Greg McCortney, R-Ada, had been elected as the next Senate leader in February, but he lost his June primary race, forcing a new vote. 

The selection takes place behind closed doors and is generally a secretive process. A final vote is expected after the Nov. 5 general election when newly elected Republican senators are sworn into office. 

A Treat spokesperson would not say Thursday who was expected to run for the post.

But Don Spencer, president of the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association, said he believes Sens. David Bullard, R-Durant, and Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, are vying for the post. 

Spencer said he’s thrown his support behind Bullard because he’s a “staunch Republican” and has an “A plus plus voting record” for conservative issues supported by his organization and others. 

Bullard is the majority caucus vice chair for the Senate Republicans and this past session he proposed legislation to place a controversial Ten Commandments monument back at the Capitol.

Paxton, who currently serves as assistant majority floor leader, is viewed as a more moderate option compared to Bullard. 

In 2022, he called for Spencer’s removal as president of the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association over what Paxton said were incendiary comments that could invoke violence against lawmakers or candidates running for election.

Neither Paxton nor Bullard returned messages seeking comment.

Before the Senate leader election, the Senate Education Committee will meet to consider approving Jennifer Callahan, a nominee from Gov. Kevin Stitt, to the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents. Should the committee approve the nomination, the full Senate is then expected to vote on it. 

Callahan works as an attorney for McAfee and Taft, an Oklahoma City-based law firm. She serves on the firm’s board of directors and co-chairs their Agriculture and Equine Industry Group. She is also the widow of Jarod Callahan, who served on the board before his death in December. 

The board supervises and manages five higher education institutions, including Oklahoma State University. 

It marks the third attempt from Stitt’s office to fill the post. Stitt’s previous nominees were Mike Holder, former OSU athletic director, and Susan Bergen, CEO of Bergen Enterprises. 

Stitt called senators to a special session June 12 to confirm Holder, but Treat said the selection faced opposition from some OSU alumni and agricultural groups because of concerns about Holder’s qualifications. The Senate adjourned without taking any action on Holder’s nomination. Stitt withdrew Holder’s nomination and named Callahan. 

If approved, Callahan would serve an eight-year term as a regent and replace Regent Rick Davis at the conclusion of his term.