Stitt taps politicos for top staff positions

A former U.S. Senate staffer and former state representative will fill two of the top positions in Gov.-elect Kevin Stitt's new administration, surrounding a first-time governor with a combination of federal, state and even municipal political experience.

Michael Junk, Tulsa's deputy mayor and a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, will serve as chief of staff for Stitt, who officially takes office in January.

Former state Rep. Michael Rogers, a Broken Arrow Republican who was chair of the House education committee, will serve as Stitt's secretary of state.

Sources confirmed the hires on Monday and the Stitt transition office is expected to formally announce Junk and Rogers on Tuesday.

Donelle Harder, a spokeswoman during Stitt's campaign, will also be named deputy secretary of state.

Stitt, the former CEO of a Tulsa mortgage firm he founded, enters the governor's office without any previous political experience, a fact he promoted during the campaign as he told voters Oklahoma needed a true outsider to run state government.

But he said his administration would include a mix of "insiders and outsiders."

"It's about hiring the best, most qualified people at this point, then getting our legislative agenda rolled out," Stitt said earlier this month.

Junk, 34, who graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in political science and public administration, worked for more than four years for former Sen. Tom Coburn in Washington, D.C., before working as a field representative and state policy director for Sen. Jim Inhofe. Coburn and Inhofe are Republicans.

In 2016, Junk ran the mayoral campaign of G.T. Bynum, who defeated incumbent Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr.

As deputy mayor, Junk has been heavily involved in transportation and infrastructure policy.

“As Tulsa's Deputy Mayor, Michael worked hand in hand with me over the last two years to lead Tulsa's turnaround,” Bynum said in a statement. “Now, he can use that experience and knowledge in service to a similar turnaround across the entire State of Oklahoma.”

In a statement released by Stitt's transition office, Inhofe said Junk “can navigate both state and federal government to accomplish the Governor-elect's agenda.”

Rogers, 39, was first elected to the state House in 2014 and served as chairman of the House committee on education.

“I think more than anything (my job) is to just build and maintain a quality relationship between the governor's office and the Legislature,” said Rogers, who did not seek re-election this year.

Rogers' appointment will require Senate confirmation, but Sen. President Pro Tem-elect Greg Treat praised his nomination as secretary of state.

“Michael Rogers is an intelligent and innovative leader and his experience in the Legislature will be an asset to Governor-elect Stitt and his entire team,” Treat, an Oklahoma City Republican, said in a statement.

“I look forward to working with Michael on common-sense, conservative ideas to help make Oklahoma a Top 10 state.”

Harder, 32, who will serve as deputy secretary of state, played a significant role in crafting Stitt's message during the campaign.

Before joining Stitt's campaign in 2017, she worked in Washington, D.C., for Inhofe, running communications for his office and the committees he chaired or served on as ranking member and as spokeswoman for an Oklahoma oil and gas association.

On Monday, Inhofe called her a “strategic mastermind” who “demonstrated an innate understanding of issues that matter to Oklahomans.”

Selections for budget director, secretary of environment and energy, general counsel and director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services are expected in the coming week, according to Stitt's transition office.