A Look At State Superintendent, Gubernatorial Candidate Joy Hofmeister’s Political Journey

State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister’s background running a private tutoring company led her to get into politics. She ran against an unpopular, incumbent state school superintendent and won.

In 2014, the race for Oklahoma’s Superintendent of Public Instruction centered on an increasingly controversial incumbent Republican and Joy Hofmeister, at that time a political newcomer who won favor with educators. Much of the advertising before the election focused on “Common Core” and whether the state should directly dictate what local schools should teach.

Hofmeister unseated Janet Barresi in the Republican primary, and then won general election against a Democrat. She won a second term and cannot run for the same office again due to term limits.

Hofmeister’s terms included a teacher walkout over classroom funding and teacher pay; a campaign finance investigation that led to criminal charges that were eventually dismissed, and in the last year, increasing conflict with the Governor over spending and mandates of the pandemic.

Hofmeister has called the pandemic “one of the greatest challenges for educators in modern history.”

In her gubernatorial candidacy announcement video, Hofmeister announced she will be switching to the democratic party to run.

“I’ve handled challenges before. I’ve faced down extremism, partisanship, ineffective leadership, and Governor Stitt,” Hofmeister said in the video.

Related Story: State Superintendent Hofmeister Announces Gubernatorial Run As A Democrat

“Educators have been blowing up my phone ever since it came out publicly, just beyond excited,” said Shawna Mott-Wright, who said her party affiliation switch wouldn’t diminish her support among educators. “She's not for Democrats, for Republicans, she's for Oklahomans, and people have recognized that.”

"I don't think you will find many Republicans that are surprised by this move or disappointed that she will no longer be registered Republican," Ronda Vuillemont-Smith, the President of the Tulsa County Republican Party, said. "She doesn't stand a snowball's chance of winning."

In 2022, Hofmeister will again be trying to unseat an incumbent Republican, this time by running as a Democrat. In her campaign announcement, Hofmeister said "I can work with people, what we're doing is trying to restore some common sense."