Oklahoma
Oklahoma Gov. Stitt appoints familiar faces to top state roles: Here’s who they are
The Oklahoman top headlines of the week for Sept. 12, 2025
Here’s a one-minute recap of the all the news you may have missed this week.
Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has named a trio of new appointees to his administration, saying the private-sector picks will help him end his second term with a focus on business.
Stitt tapped consultant Donelle Harder as the next secretary of state, restaurant franchiser David Ostrowe as chief operating officer and communications executive Dustin Hilliary as his senior adviser.
All three are familiar faces around Stitt’s office. Harder and Ostrowe previously worked for the governor, and Stitt appointed Hilliary in 2022 to a nine-year term as a state regent.
Since Stitt was elected in 2018 as a political newcomer, he has styled himself as a business-friendly governor. Unlike most governors who rise up through the state Capitol, Stitt built his career in financial services as the founder of Gateway Mortgage, now known as Gateway First Bank.
“We successfully launched this administration by bringing a fresh set of eyes from Oklahoma’s business community, and we will finish the same way,” Stitt said in an announcement about his new appointees on Thursday, Sept. 11.
As governor, Stitt has championed tax cuts and the creation of new state courts to handle business lawsuits — a system that is being challenged as unconstitutional. In his State of the State address in February, Stitt declared he had made Oklahoma a Top 10 state for businesses.
He is term limited and will leave office in January 2027.
It is unclear when or if Stitt’s new appointees will be required to step away from controlling or managing their private-sector interests, a move Stitt made when he became governor.
Hilliary is a co-owner of Lawton-based Hilliary Communications, a telephone and broadband service provider that has more than 15,000 customers in Oklahoma, Texas and Iowa. Ostrowe is the president and CEO of O&M Restaurant Group, an Oklahoma City company that operates Taco Bell franchises. Harder has clients through her public relations and consulting work.
All three have donated to Stitt’s campaigns in the past, records show. Hilliary donated $9,000, and Ostrowe donated $8,300. Harder, who has also worked for Stitt’s campaign, donated $1,000.
Abegail Cave, the communications director for the governor’s office, would not say whether the appointees would be required to step away from their non-government work. She also would not say how much each of Stitt’s new appointees will be paid.
Cave also did not answer a question asking whether Ostrowe will oversee the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services in addition to his role as chief operating officer. His predecessor, Rick Rose, held both roles at the same time before he told Stitt on Sept. 3 that he would resign.
Harder will replace former legislator Josh Cockroft as the secretary of state, meaning her appointment is subject to approval by the Senate. Cockroft’s resignation will take effect Oct. 1.
In a news release, Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, expressed support for Harder’s appointment. As the chamber’s most powerful Republican, he has the power to block Stitt’s appointees from receiving a confirmation vote. Paxton also said he supported Hilliary’s hiring.
Harder, Ostrowe and Hilliary did not respond to requests for comment by publication. In statements issued by the governor’s office, all three said they were honored to join Stitt’s office.
David Ostrowe
Ostrowe will start immediately in his new role as chief operating officer, Stitt said.
He was Stitt’s secretary of digital transformation and administration from January 2019 to September 2021, when he oversaw 54 agencies, boards and commissions. Before that, Ostrowe chaired the Oklahoma Lottery board of trustees.
“In Gov. Stitt’s first administration, we worked with passion to deliver digital transformation and make government more efficient and transparent,” Ostrowe said in a statement. “I am honored to return as COO to help finish that mission and continue advancing good government for all Oklahomans.”
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Donelle Harder
Harder will begin as secretary of state Oct. 1.
She has worked closely with Stitt throughout his political career. She began as a member of his campaign team and served as his spokeswoman. She went on to serve as a top adviser to the governor and deputy secretary of state during Stitt’s first term.
Harder is now a senior vice president at Pinkston, a public relations and marketing firm that she helped found. It has an office in Oklahoma City, where she leads accounts in financial services, higher education, energy and other sectors. Harder has also worked as a vice president of the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association and a spokesperson for the late Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe.
“I look forward to sharpening our strategic approach and ensuring this administration remains effective and focused on delivering good government for the people of Oklahoma,” Harder said in a statement.
Dustin Hilliary
In his new role as senior adviser to Stitt, Hilliary will be the governor’s top negotiator with legislators and other elected officials. The governor’s office did not say when Hilliary would start.
The governor’s announcement described Hilliary as “a third-generation entrepreneur who helped grow his family’s broadband, media and telecommunications enterprise, bringing critical infrastructure and trusted journalism to rural Oklahoma.”
Hilliary publishes the weekly Southwest Ledger, which covers business news and other issues in Lawton and southwest Oklahoma. Hilliary Communications is also planning to buy the Lawton Constitution.
In a statement issued by the governor’s office, Hilliary said he would help Stitt “advance policies with the Legislature that put our state on a strong path today and for future generations.”
WACO, Texas (KXXV) — To say the least, it has been a memorable four games for Baylor football so far this season.
A walk off field goal by Arizona State at McLane Stadium brings the Bears to 2-2 for the season and now they are heading to Stillwater looking to bounce back against Oklahoma State.
Watch the full story here:
Baylor looks to bounce back in road game against Oklahoma State
“Saturday’s game was a tough one,” head coach Dave Aranda said. “But, I think the message there is that hey, you can prepare, you can practice, you can do all of the things — that doesn’t mean you’re gonna win. There’s still more things that you gotta do.”
“There’s no participation trophy for preparing right and staying late and doing the extra all these details matter and so we’re really focused on that,” he added.
The Bears enter Stillwater following the firing of Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy after 21 years on the job. While the Cowboys are reeling, the Bears understand that they still have a talented roster.
“They play hard, you know. They get after the ball, their record doesn’t reflect the kind of team they are. They got a lot of talent and they’re gonna be ready to play,” safety Devyn Bobby said.
“Same thing we always talk about — respect all, fear none. We take that into every week, you know they’re still a great program. They have great coaching staff, great athletes on the field, so we gotta be prepared and ready for them,” wide receiver Kobe Prentice said.
After the Arizona State game, head coach Aranda spoke about complimentary football. While the defense had a great game last week, the offense struggled — and they are looking to find that balance.
“Obviously we didn’t get the win, so we got to get better so you know a lot of people might say we had a great game but we didn’t get to win — we could have had more stops, had more turnovers, but you know we’re still having to attack everyday mindset and we’re trying to get better,” Bobby said.
“The higher level than all of that is the team is that you know if one side’s down the other side picks it up. We need to be able to have that, you know, when we’ve played at the level that we need to play, we play that way and so we’re going to continue to aim for it,” Aranda said.
Baylor vs Oklahoma State is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. this Saturday.
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Mike Gundy thinks Oklahoma State football woes are ‘fixable’ this season
Mike Gundy says he has no desire to stop coaching the Oklahoma State football program amid the Cowboys’ 11-game losing streak against FBS competition.
Oklahoma State football has fired head coach Mike Gundy after 21 seasons, the program announced on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Gundy, previously the second-longest tenured head coach with one program in college football, led the Cowboys to a 1-2 start this season, including a 19-12 loss to in-state foe Tulsa on Sept. 19, which was OSU’s first at home to Tulsa since 1951. Oklahoma State also lost to Oregon 69-3 in Week 2.
“Cowboy Football reached an unprecedented level of success and national prominence under Coach Gundy’s leadership,” OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg said in the announcement. “I believe I speak for OSU fans everywhere when I say that we are grateful for all he did to raise the standard and show us all what is possible for Oklahoma State football.”
Oklahoma State is amid its longest losing streak to Power Four teams in program history, having lost 11 straight against such teams. The Cowboys went 3-9 last season and were winless in Big 12 play. Gundy leaves the program with a 170-90 career record and has the school’s winningest coach of all time. He has 108 more wins than Pat Jones, who ranks second in program history with 62 wins.
Gundy is owed a $15 million buyout from the school due to be fired prior to Dec. 31, 2027, according to his contract obtained by the USA TODAY Network.
Gundy said after the Tulsa loss that he had no interest in 2025 being his final season with the program, and was swarmed with questions about his future with the school.
“In 21 years it’s a different position than I’ve been in,” Gundy said. “As I say every week, my job is to evaluate the overall program, players, the systems … And then I have to make a decision on where we’re at based on what we have. That’s what I do. We’ve certainly been in a different situation a lot of years in a row, but currently we’re not in that situation.”
The 58-year-old coach helped build Oklahoma State into a perennial Big 12 title contender after taking over for Les Miles in 2005. He nearly led the Cowboys to the national championship in 2011, and was Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2010, 2021 and 2023.
The fall from grace was fast for the program, as the Cowboys earned a spot in the Big 12 championship in 2023, and also beat archrival Oklahoma in the final Bedlam for the foreseeable future.
Gundy, a former Oklahoma State quarterback and Midwest City, Oklahoma, native, has only coached four seasons at other schools in his career, serving as passing-game coordinator at Baylor in 1996 and receivers coach at Maryland from 1997-99. He was an assistant at Oklahoma State from 1990-95, and again from 2001-04.
Oklahoma State will turn to a new coach for the first time in over 20 years for the 2026 season, and they’ll look to lead the program back to the heights of Gundy’s prime in Stillwater.
The Big 12 is still having a rough time in the national landscape.
Over the weekend, the Big 12 had some interesting matchups as it secured an unbeaten record in nonconference games. While a couple of matchups between Big 12 teams on Friday kept the conference from having a perfect record, the 12 teams in action combined for a 10-2 mark, which is the best they could have achieved in Week 3.
However, that didn’t mean a whole lot for the Big 12 in the AP poll, which dropped on Sunday. The conference had only three teams in the top 25, with No. 12 Iowa State, No. 16 Utah and No. 17 Texas Tech representing the Big 12.
In terms of how bad that is for the Big 12, the conference’s most recent departures in Texas and Oklahoma came in at Nos. 8 and 11, respectively. Meanwhile, the other three power conferences have at least one team in the top four and multiple teams in the top seven.
Of course, the AP poll is only good for discussions, as evidenced by winless Notre Dame’s inclusion, with the independent program riding the coattails of last season’s runner-up performance. The real rankings won’t come until the final weeks of the year, with the College Football Playoff’s top 25 ultimately being all that matters in the end.
To put it simply, the AP poll is unlikely to have any impact on OSU this season. The Cowboys’ loss at Oregon will keep them from receiving a single vote for quite some time, even if they could somehow put together a sizeable winning streak starting with the Tulsa matchup.
Of course, if the Cowboys could find a way to put together any sort of streak, perhaps in a similar fashion to 2023’s winning streak, they might be able to break through anyway, given the Big 12’s status nationally. Sure, the Cowboys won’t be any sort of contender at the national level any time soon, but a 5-1 start would probably be good enough to get them into the polls and the Big 12 title conversation.
In terms of the long-term future, the Pokes might not even be saved by any type of resurgence. Considering the Big 12 is easily the laughing stock of the Power Four, it needs a program to essentially save it from becoming irrelevant in the national landscape.
With OSU being the laughing stock of the Big 12, there’s no reason to expect the Cowboys to be the saviors the conference desperately needs.
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