Judicial Reform
Jonathan Small | April 15, 2024
60 percent of JNC members are not Republicans
Jonathan Small
The Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) determines who can be appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Only six members of the JNC can be attorneys—and 83 percent of them are currently Democrats, including attorneys with a history of campaign contributions to Democratic candidates ranging from state legislative races to Joe Biden. That partisan ratio is typical of the JNC’s attorney members through the years.
How many Republicans serve on the 15-member JNC? Only six current members are Republicans. Five are non-attorneys. That means 60 percent of current JNC members are not Republicans in a state where a majority of voters are registered Republicans and just 28 percent are registered Democrats.
It’s often asked how a red state like Oklahoma could wind up with a blue judiciary. The Judicial Nominating Commission’s strong Democratic slant is a major reason why.
Jonathan Small
President
Jonathan Small, C.P.A., serves as President and joined the staff in December of 2010. Previously, Jonathan served as a budget analyst for the Oklahoma Office of State Finance, as a fiscal policy analyst and research analyst for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and as director of government affairs for the Oklahoma Insurance Department. Small’s work includes co-authoring “Economics 101” with Dr. Arthur Laffer and Dr. Wayne Winegarden, and his policy expertise has been referenced by The Oklahoman, the Tulsa World, National Review, the L.A. Times, The Hill, the Wall Street Journal and the Huffington Post. His weekly column “Free Market Friday” is published by the Journal Record and syndicated in 27 markets. A recipient of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s prestigious Private Sector Member of the Year award, Small is nationally recognized for his work to promote free markets, limited government and innovative public policy reforms. Jonathan holds a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma and is a Certified Public Accountant.