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Joy Hofmeister
Joy Hofmeister (Democratic Party) was the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction. She assumed office on January 12, 2015. She left office on January 9, 2023.
Hofmeister (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of Oklahoma. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Hofmeister registered as a Democrat on October 7, 2021, when she announced her 2022 bid for governor of Oklahoma. She was previously registered with the Republican Party.[1]
Biography
Hofmeister's career experience includes owning Kumon Math & Reading Centers and working as a public school teacher.[2][3] She has served as the chair of Oklahoma's CareerTech board.[4]
Political career
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction (2015-2023)
Hofmeister was first elected Oklahoma superintendent of public instruction in the 2014 election. She took office on January 12, 2015.
Elections
2022
See also: Oklahoma gubernatorial election, 2022
General election
General election for Governor of Oklahoma
Incumbent Kevin Stitt defeated Joy Hofmeister, Natalie Bruno, and Ervin Yen in the general election for Governor of Oklahoma on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kevin Stitt (R) | 55.4 | 639,484 |
 | Joy Hofmeister (D) | 41.8 | 481,904 | |
 | Natalie Bruno (L)  | 1.4 | 16,243 | |
 | Ervin Yen (Independent) | 1.4 | 15,653 | |
| Total votes: 1,153,284 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Paul Tay (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Oklahoma
Joy Hofmeister defeated Constance Johnson in the Democratic primary for Governor of Oklahoma on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joy Hofmeister | 60.7 | 101,913 |
 | Constance Johnson | 39.3 | 65,894 | |
| Total votes: 167,807 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Oklahoma
Incumbent Kevin Stitt defeated Joel Kintsel, Mark Sherwood, and Moira McCabe in the Republican primary for Governor of Oklahoma on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kevin Stitt | 69.1 | 248,525 |
 | Joel Kintsel | 14.3 | 51,587 | |
 | Mark Sherwood | 13.3 | 47,713 | |
 | Moira McCabe | 3.3 | 12,046 | |
| Total votes: 359,871 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ervin Yen (R)
Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Natalie Bruno advanced from the Libertarian primary for Governor of Oklahoma.
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. | ||||
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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. | ||||
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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. | ||||
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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. | ||||
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2014
Hofmeister ran for election as Oklahoma superintendent of public instruction. Hofmeister won the Republican nomination in the June 2014 primary, defeating incumbent Janet Barresi.[5][6] The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Results
Primary election
| Oklahoma Superintendent, Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Joy Hofmeister |
57.6% | 151,124 | ||
| Brian S. Kelly | 21.4% | 56,060 | ||
| Janet Barresi | 21% | 55,048 | ||
| Total Votes | 262,232 | |||
| Election results via Oklahoma State Election Board. | ||||
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.[7]
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.[8][9] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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 Republican primary for Oklahoma Superintendent | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Janet Costello Barresi | Joy Hofmeister | Brian S. Kelly | Unsure | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Sooner Poll May 5-10, 2014 | 16.4% | 17.1% | 14.3% | 52.1% | +/-4.07 | 580 | |||||||||||||
| 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
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joy Hofmeister 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.
Noteworthy events
Campaign finance charges dismissed, 2017
On November 3, 2016, Hofmeister was charged with two counts of violating campaign finance law and two counts of conspiracy. All four charges were considered to be felony offenses. Prosecutors alleged that Hofmeister had violated the law by colluding with an outside political group, Oklahomans for Public School Excellence, during the 2014 campaign. Outside political groups are not required to disclose their donors but are forbidden from coordinating with candidates or their campaigns.[12] Citing emails and text messages that they claimed had been sent by Hofmeister, prosecutors accused her of instructing the outside group to run a series of negative campaign ads against her opponent, incumbent Janet Barresi.[13] All charges against Hofmeister were dismissed on August 1, 2017.[14]
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Governor of Oklahoma |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Tulsa World, "Watch Now: Joy Hofmeister to flip parties, challenge Kevin Stitt for governor in 2022," October 7, 2021
- ↑ Oklahoma State Department of Education, "State Superintendent of Public Instruction," accessed July 22, 2022
- ↑ Rep. Jason Nelson, "Fallin announces appointment of Joy Hofmeister to the State Board of Education," January 13, 2012
- ↑ Joy For Oklahoma, "Meet Joy," accessed July 22, 2022
- ↑ Tulsa World, "State Board of Education member resigns, considers run for state superintendent," April 24, 2013
- ↑ The Ada News, "Hofmeister announces candidacy for state school superintendent," June 5, 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
- ↑ NewsOK, "Oklahoma state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister charged with campaign violations, conspiracy," November 3, 2016
- ↑ Oklahoma Watch, "Hofmeister Charged with Campaign Violations, Felony Conspiracy," November 3, 2016
- ↑ KFOR, "Criminal charges dismissed against Oklahoma State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister," August 1, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Janet Barresi (R) |
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction 2015-2023 |
Succeeded by Ryan Walters (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Oklahoma State Board of Education 2012-2013 |
Succeeded by - |
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State of Oklahoma Oklahoma City (capital) |
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