John Cox (Oklahoma)
John Cox (Republican Party) is running for election for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Biography
Cox has served as superintendent of Peggs School District in Cherokee County.[1] An educator for 28 years and School Superintendent for 20 years, Cox also has served as adjunct professor of education at Northeastern State University.[2]
Education
- Doctorate (ED.D) in educational administration, Oklahoma State University
- Educational Specialist (ED.S), Oklahoma State University
- Master's Degree in counseling, Northeastern State University
- Bachelor's Degree in mathematics education, Northeastern State University
Elections
2026
See also: Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
Jennettie Marshall, John Cox, Ana Landsaw, Rob Miller, and Jerry Griffin are running in the general election for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Jennettie Marshall (D) | ||
 | John Cox (R) | |
| Ana Landsaw (R) | ||
 | Rob Miller (R) | |
| Jerry Griffin (Independent) | ||
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Riley Williams (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2022
See also: Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2022
General election
General election for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
Ryan Walters defeated Jena Nelson in the general election for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ryan Walters (R) | 56.8 | 650,310 |
 | Jena Nelson (D) | 43.2 | 495,031 | |
| Total votes: 1,145,341 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
Ryan Walters defeated April Grace in the Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 23, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ryan Walters | 53.4 | 149,147 |
 | April Grace | 46.6 | 130,168 | |
| Total votes: 279,315 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Jena Nelson advanced from the Democratic primary for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
Ryan Walters and April Grace advanced to a runoff. They defeated John Cox and William Crozier in the Republican primary for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ryan Walters | 41.5 | 142,630 |
| ✔ | | April Grace | 30.6 | 105,372 |
| John Cox | 24.1 | 83,065 | |
| William Crozier | 3.8 | 12,950 | ||
| Total votes: 344,017 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent Joy Hofmeister defeated John Cox and Larry Huff in the general election for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Joy Hofmeister (R) | 58.5 | 687,468 |
| John Cox (D) | 33.8 | 396,901 | |
| Larry Huff (Independent) | 7.7 | 90,510 | ||
| Total votes: 1,174,879 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent Joy Hofmeister defeated Linda Murphy in the Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joy Hofmeister | 56.7 | 167,117 |
| Linda Murphy | 43.3 | 127,732 | ||
| Total votes: 294,849 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
John Cox advanced from the Democratic primary for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | John Cox |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent Joy Hofmeister and Linda Murphy advanced to a runoff. They defeated Will Farrell in the Republican primary for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joy Hofmeister | 46.8 | 200,961 |
| ✔ | Linda Murphy | 31.0 | 133,230 | |
 | Will Farrell | 22.1 | 94,899 | |
| Total votes: 429,090 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2014
Cox ran for election to the office of Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction. Cox came in first in the Democratic primary and won the runoff with Freda Deskin on August 26.[1] The general election takes place on November 4, 2014.
Results
Primary election
| Oklahoma Superintendent, Democratic Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 John Cox |
41% | 68,889 | ||
| Freda Deskin |
38.2% | 64,135 | ||
| Jack Herron | 13.3% | 22,335 | ||
| Ivan Holmes | 7.4% | 12,504 | ||
| Total Votes | 167,863 | |||
| Election results via Oklahoma State Election Board. | ||||
Primary runoff
| Oklahoma Superintendent, Democratic Primary Runoff, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| John Cox |
62.9% | 60,370 | ||
| Freda Deskin | 37.1% | 35,621 | ||
| Total Votes | 95,991 | |||
| Election results via Oklahoma State Board of Elections. | ||||
General election
| Oklahoma Superintendent, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Joy Hofmeister |
55.8% | 457,053 | |
| Democratic | John Cox | 44.2% | 361,878 | |
| Total Votes | 818,931 | |||
| Election results via Oklahoma State Election Board | ||||
Race background
As in other superintendent races across the country, the national debate over the Common Core educational standards motivated several candidates to enter the race to challenge the incumbent, Republican Janet Barresi. The issue drew additional attention when Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed a law repealing the Common Core standards in Oklahoma, making it one of the first states to do so.[3]
Barresi faced a strong primary challenge from educator Joy Hofmeister. Hofmeister raised nearly $1.5 million by the primary election, while Barresi kept pace in part by loaning over $1.25 million to her own campaign.[4][5] Both Barresi and Hofmeister, along with most other candidates in the race, opposed Common Core and featured that stance in campaign advertising, sometimes criticizing one another for their roles in the standards’ implementation.[6] During a June 17 debate that included Hofmeister and the Democratic candidates, all participants voiced opposition to Common Core and advocated for broader changes in education policy and culture.[7] In total, three Republicans and four Democrats contested the superintendent primaries on June 24.
Hofmeister defeated Barresi in the Republican primary, receiving enough votes to avoid a runoff, and faced Democratic candidate John Cox in the general election.
Primary polling
| 2014 Democratic primary for Oklahoma Superintendent | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Jack C. Herron Jr. | John Cox | Freda Deskin | Ivan Holmes | Unsure | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||
| Sooner Poll May 5-10, 2014 | 3.5% | 10.6% | 14.0% | 8.3% | 63.5% | +/-3.90 | 631 | ||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
John Cox has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to John Cox asking him to fill out the survey. If you are John Cox, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 22,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask John Cox to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing info@coxforok.com.
2022
John Cox did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Ada News, "Cox: ‘Cookie-cutter’ approach doesn’t work in education," August 8, 2013 (dead link) (dead link)
- ↑ OK Education, "About," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ NewsOn6, "Governor Fallin Signs Bill To Repeal, Replace Common Core Standards," June 5, 2014
- ↑ The Oklahoman, "Challenger for Oklahoma schools superintendent position out-raises opponent in campaign funds," November 2, 2013
- ↑ NewsOK, "Oklahoma state schools superintendent loans campaign almost $1 million in last month," June 18, 2014
- ↑ The Oklahoman, "Barresi campaign says rival would deprive Oklahoma children with special needs of education opportunities," June 5, 2014
- ↑ Tulsa World, "State superintendent candidates, minus Barresi, meet in Owasso forum," June 18, 2014
