Oklahoma Senate to hold special session to consider Stitt nomination

The Oklahoma Senate will reconvene a special session called earlier this year to consider the governor’s nomination to the Oklahoma State University board of trustees, Sen. pro tempore Greg Treat said this week.

The Senate Republican caucus will also meet the same day to choose a new leader.

Treat said the Senate Education Committee will meet at 10 a.m. July 15 to hear the nomination of Jennifer Callahan to the OSU Board of Trustees. After the floor vote on Callahan’s nomination, Treat said the Senate Republican caucus would hold an internal meeting to vote for the pro tempore delegate position.

Callahan is the governor’s third nominee for the position. Previously, Stitt appointed former OSU athletic director and golf coach Mike Holder to fill a vacancy on the board of trustees, which oversees OSU and four other public schools. But Senate leaders have raised questions about Holder’s qualifications on the board. Gubernatorial nominees cannot be confirmed without Senate approval.

More: Raises for judges, money for sheriff’s department among bills signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt

Stitt had called the Senate into a special session to consider Holder’s nomination, but then withdrew the nomination and changed the order of his special session to ask lawmakers to confirm Callahan instead.

Callahan is an attorney and board director at the Oklahoma City-based law firm McAfee and Taft, for which she co-chairs the firm’s Agriculture and Equine Industry Group. She is also the widow of Jarold Callahan, who served as regent on the OSU/A&M Board of Trustees until his unexpected death in December.

Treat, the current Senate leader, is forced to retire due to term limits.

The Senate Republican caucus — which controls 40 of the Senate’s 48 seats — had initially chosen Ada Republican Sen. Greg McCortney as its new leader. However, McCortney’s defeat in the June 18 primary election left the leadership position open.