Here's what you need to know about the judges on Oklahoma's 2026 ballot

It's almost voting time, and you're likely here because you don't want to be surprised when you see nine justices and judges on your ballot whom you know nothing about. Thanks for dropping by!

If you've ever done the frustrating task of searching for information on these courts and judges, I feel your pain. As I mentioned in previous election years, finding information on the justices and judges on the retention ballot can be a difficult task for the average voter, so I've tried to do the work for you.

In this post, I'll cover the following justices and judges who are on every Oklahoma voter's ballot:

• Supreme Court - M. John Kane IV
• Supreme Court - Travis V. Jett
• Supreme Court - Dana Kuehn
• Supreme Court - Richard B. Darby
• Court of Criminal Appeals - Robert L. Hudson
• Court of Civil Appeals - Stacie L. Hixon
• Court of Civil Appeals - Deborah B. Barnes
• Court of Civil Appeals - Jane P. Wiseman
• Court of Civil Appeals - James R. Huber
  

A quick explainer before we move to the judges themselves. From CourtFacts.org:

Oklahoma Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals and Court of Civil Appeals are called "appellate courts," because they hear cases that have been appealed, and judges on these courts are thus called "appellate judges."

Appellate judges are first appointed by the governor from a list of three names of qualified individuals prepared by the Judicial Nominating Commission. At the end of their terms, appellate judges wishing to remain in office must declare their candidacy for retention. When a judge seeks retention, the judge's name is placed on the ballot at the next general election. Then Oklahoma voters can select "yes" to vote to retain that judge, or "no" to vote to not retain that judge. The Oklahoma Constitution provides that if an appellate judge does not receive a majority of "yes" votes, the office becomes vacant and the governor appoints a replacement.

If the judge does not file for retention or is not retained by voters, the governor appoints a new judge. 

Since Oklahoma went to this system in the 1960s, only one judge has ever lost a retention vote - Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger in 2024. Each of these court seats carries a six-year term, so keep that in mind as you consider each of these judges and justices.

What's very important to remember is that the governor appoints judges and justices to these courts, so ultimately, the governor's political beliefs and party platform influence whom they select to serve on the bench. If lightning strikes again and one of the four justices or five judges on the ballot this year becomes the second in history to lose a retention vote, Oklahoma's new governor would get to appoint a replacement in early 2027.

The party affiliation of the governor who appointed each of these judges is a contributing factor for you to consider. Do you agree more with the Republican Party platform, or with the Democratic Party platform? When appointing justices and judges, Democratic and Republican governors tend to favor individuals whose judicial philosophies generally align with their respective party platforms. This isn't always the case, but it is a general tendency.

After giving what useful information I was able to find online, I will conclude each section by listing how I will be voting, along with suggestions (when published) from conservative bloggers/activists like Michael Bates of Tulsa and Steve Fair of the Duncan area, both being sources that I trust. iVoterGuide is set to release their ratings on October 21st; I'll update this post with their information when available (their guide is always good). The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) has a judicial scorecard that I will also reference (but I will admit to having some skepticism about OCPA now as they have - shockingly - opposed several strongly conservative candidates and communities in the past few election cycles). I will also include picks by Make Oklahoma Health Again PAC (formerly known as Oklahomans for Health & Parental Rights).

Many thanks also to the Oklahoma Bar Association for their helpful CourtFacts.org website, which gives a lot of nonpartisan information about Oklahoma's judicial system and officers.

Supreme Court (6 year term)

• Supreme Court (District 1) - M. John Kane IV
• Supreme Court (District 4) - Travis V. Jett
• Supreme Court (District 6) - Dana Kuehn
• Supreme Court (District 9) - Richard B. Darby

Justice M. John Kane IV (64) was appointed by Republican Governor Kevin Stitt in 2019.

Kane is a former district judge who served for 14 years. He is a homeschool dad and a Roman Catholic. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, Kane had also served as the Presiding Judge on the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary - the body that actually judges other judges. His great-grandfather (and namesake) was on the original Oklahoma Supreme Court, serving from 1907 to 1923.

In the cases related to abortion since he joined the Court, Justice Kane has consistently dissented from the pro-abortion rulings.

I will be voting 'Yes' (do retain) on Justice Kane. In 2020, conservative bloggers Steve Fair and Michael Bates (who knows Kane personally and speaks very highly of him) likewise recommended voting Yes. MOHA PAC recommends a Yes vote.

• Ballotpedia gave him a 'Mild Republican' score in 2020.
• OCPA gave him a 79% conservative rating.
• His most recent public voter registration was Republican.

Justice Travis V. Jett (41) was appointed by Republican Governor Kevin Stitt in 2025 after voters ousted Justice Yvonne Kauger (the first to ever lose a retention race).

Jett is a native of Slapout and graduated from Laverne High School. He was elected National FFA President in 2005. Jett graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2008 (Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness), and earned his Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2011. He was a law clerk at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, returning to Oklahoma to practice law. He and his wife live in Woodward and are active members of Woodward First Methodist Church (a Global Methodist congregation, not the more liberal United Methodist Church).

I will be voting 'Yes' (do retain) on Justice Jett. MOHA PAC recommends a Yes vote.

• OCPA gave him an 84% conservative rating.
• His most recent public voter registration was Republican.

Justice Dana Kuehn (55) was appointed by Republican Governor Kevin Stitt in 2021. Prior to that, she had been appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals by Republican Governor Mary Fallin in 2017. 

A native of Tulsa, she attended OSU, receiving a bachelor’s degree in political science. She received her J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1996. After graduating from law school, Justice Kuehn was a felony prosecutor for 10 years with the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office. She headed the Crimes Against Children Unit and served as chief of the Juvenile Division. In 2006, Justice Kuehn was elected associate district judge of Tulsa County. She served as chief of the Civil Division at Tulsa County from 2010 through 2012. She teaches the Evidence Workshop at the TU College of Law. She and her husband are members of First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa.

I will be voting 'Yes' (do retain) on Justice Kuehn. In 2022, Bates and Fair concurred with a 'yes' vote. MOHA PAC recommends a Yes vote.

• In 2022, iVoterGuide rated Justice Kuehn as a conservative/originalist justice. 
• OCPA gave her an 83% conservative rating.
• Ballotpedia gave her a 'Mild Republican' score in 2020.
• Her most recent public voter registration was Republican.

Justice Richard Darby (68) was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court by Republican Governor Mary Fallin in 2018.

Darby served as a district judge for 23 years before his appointment to the Supreme Court. Before that, he served for four years as a Special Judge, and another four years as Associate District Judge. His wife was the longtime superintendent of Altus Christian Academy before retiring a few years ago.

When Darby joined the Court, most of the justices routinely made pro-abortion rulings, while he took the pro-life side. 

I will be voting 'Yes' (do retain) on Justice Darby. In 2020, Fair concurred, while Bates was slightly more cautious with his Yes. Of the Supreme Court justices on the retention ballot this year, Darby would be the one I'd be most open to voting to not retain, in order to give new Governor Mike Mazzei an early judicial appointment. MOHA PAC recommends a No vote.

• Ballotpedia gave him a 'Mild Republican' score in 2020.
• OCPA gave him a 52% conservative rating.
• His most recent public voter registration was Republican.

Court of Criminal Appeals (6 year term)

• Court of Criminal Appeals (District 2) - Robert L. Hudson

Judge Robert Hudson (69) was appointed by Republican Governor Mary Fallin in 2015.

Hudson is a former district attorney of 16 years, with 13 years of private law practice before that. He served as First Assistant Attorney General for a year and then spent two years as a Special Judge before joining the Court of Criminal Appeals. Hudson is a deacon and longtime Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church of Guthrie (more on his testimony as a believer here) and runs a wheat and cow-calf operation near Guthrie.

I will be voting 'Yes' (do retain) on Judge Hudson. In 2020, Fair concurred with a Yes, while Bates argued for a 'no' vote in light of Hudson's ruling on the Daniel Holtzclaw case. MOHA PAC recommends a Yes vote.

• Ballotpedia gave him a 'Mild Republican' score in 2020.
• His most recent public voter registration was Republican.

Court of Civil Appeals (6 year term)

• Court of Civil Appeals (District 1, Office 1) - Stacie L. Hixon
• Court of Civil Appeals (District 1, Office 2) - Deborah B. Barnes
• Court of Civil Appeals (District 2, Office 1) - Jane P. Wiseman
• Court of Civil Appeals (District 2, Office 2) - James R. Huber

Judge Stacie L. Hixon (52) was appointed by Republican Governor Kevin Stitt in 2020. Prior to her appointment, she was a partner at Steidley & Neal PLLC, which has offices in Tulsa and McAlester; her boss, Gil Steidley, attended my church until he and his wife died several years ago in a tragic car accident. She and her husband are members of Tulsa's Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS, a more conservative Lutheran denomination).

I will be voting 'Yes' (do retain) on Judge Hixon. In 2022, Bates and Fair agreed with a Yes. MOHA PAC recommends a Yes vote.

• Her most recent public voter registration was Republican.

Judge Deborah Barnes (72) was appointed by Democratic Governor Brad Henry in 2008.

Barnes was in private sector legal and oil/gas work before being tapped by Gov. Henry. She does not appear to have had any prior judicial experience, unlike most of the judges and justices on these courts. She and her husband are members of Harvard Avenue Christian Church in Tulsa (a very liberal denomination).

I will be voting 'No' (do not retain) on Judge Barnes. In 2020, Fair and Bates likewise called for 'no' votes. MOHA PAC recommends a No vote.

• Her most recent public voter registration was Democratic.

Judge Jane Wiseman (79) was appointed by Democratic Governor Brad Henry (D) in 2005.

Wiseman worked in the private legal field before being appointed a special district judge, and then district judge in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She officiated the first homosexual marriage in Oklahoma in direct defiance of the 2004 state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, calling it a “joyous occasion” (featured prominently in reporting by the Tulsa World). Wiseman is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, which is affiliated with the very liberal Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination.

I will be emphatically voting 'NO' (do not retain) on Judge Wiseman. In 2020, Fair and Bates also urged 'No' votes, with Bates pointing out particularly egregious and contradictory rulings she made in Tulsa County before her elevation to the Court of Civil Appeals. MOHA PAC recommends a No vote.

• Her most recent public voter registration was Democratic.

Judge James R. Huber (58) was appointed by Republican Governor Kevin Stitt in 2023.

Huber earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law. He worked in the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office before entering private practice in 1994. In 2019, Judge Huber was appointed as a special judge by the Tulsa County District Judges. He was appointed as a District Judge in Tulsa County in October 2020, where he served as Chief Judge of the Family Division. 

He and his wife, Julie, have been married since 1993 and have five children.

I will be voting 'Yes' (do retain) on Judge Huber. In 2024, Bates, Fair, and the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus also recommended a 'yes' vote. MOHA PAC recommends a Yes vote.

• His most recent public voter registration was Republican.

As a quick recap, here are the justices and judges and my personal voting recommendations:

• Supreme Court - M. John Kane IV (Yes)
• Supreme Court - Travis V. Jett (Yes)
• Supreme Court - Dana Kuehn (Yes)
• Supreme Court - Richard B. Darby (Yes)
• Court of Criminal Appeals - Robert L. Hudson (Yes)
• Court of Civil Appeals - Stacie L. Hixon (Yes)
• Court of Civil Appeals - Deborah B. Barnes (No)
• Court of Civil Appeals - Jane P. Wiseman (NO)
• Court of Civil Appeals - James R. Huber (Yes)

I hope this information has been helpful to you. Pass it along to any voter you know who needs this information before they cast their ballot! 

You can help support the work here at MuskogeePolitico.com by indulging me with this quick pitch. While you're here, let me quickly introduce you to Upside, an easy way to save on fuel. 

Upside is a mobile app that gives you cash back on fuel purchases. You can redeem your earnings for gift cards or deposit them to your PayPal or bank account. Gift cards include retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Apple, Google Play, Lowe's, Target, Starbucks, Chili's, and more. Participating gas stations are listed with the amount of cash back you can earn per gallon. 

Below is a screenshot of some areas here in Oklahoma showing retailers that participate with Upside (prices were valid on the evening of October 12th). And yes, some of those stations are offering over 15¢ back per gallon (I've gotten as much as 25¢ per gallon before):

In my experience, most Casey's, Murphy USA (Walmart), Maverik, and E-Z Mart stations in Oklahoma participate, along with quite a few Valero, Shell, and Sinclair stations. On road trips through states like Kansas and Tennessee, BP and Shell seem to be pretty common. Restaurants and convenience stores have been added (including national chains like Domino's, Taco Bueno, Five Guys), though these tend to be more concentrated in urban areas. Reasor's is one of the grocery store chains that participates in Upside. 

There are hundreds of locations in Oklahoma where you can use Upside, and over 100,000 nationwide.

I've used Upside for seven years and have saved over $1,200 on fuel so far. Use my promo code by signing up at this link. Your first purchase of $10+ will get you $10 in extra cash back! 

You can view a few other money-saving apps I use, along with promo codes to get you started, at this page. 

Thanks for humoring me and reading to the very end! I hope all of the information in this post is helpful to you.