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.”
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Last season, Alabama football was effectively eliminated from College Football Playoff contention by way of a 24-3 loss at Oklahoma that was entirely uncharacteristic of the team that had just trounced LSU 42-13 two weekends prior.
The wait for the rematch spans less than a year, 357 days in total. On Nov. 15, the No. 4 Crimson Tide (7-1, 5-0 SEC) will meet the No. 11 Sooners at home at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be nationally televised on ABC.
Oklahoma (7-2, 3-2 SEC) is 2-0 in true SEC road games this fall. Those wins came at South Carolina and at Tennessee, respectively. The Sooners had a 6-7 season last year, its first in the conference, with the upset over Alabama paving the way for Brent Venables’ team to get into a bowl game.
Alabama began year two of the Kalen DeBoer era with a theme that continued from 2024 and was perhaps most exemplified by that Oklahoma game: losing on the road to an unranked team. However, since then, the Crimson Tide has not lost a game (though it came close in its 29-22 triumph at South Carolina on Oct. 25).
This Saturday, the Crimson Tide plays host to LSU in a game that kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CT, also on ABC. The Tigers (5-3, 2-3 SEC) revamped their coaching staff after a 49-25 home loss against undefeated Texas A&M Oct. 25, relieving head coach Brian Kelly of his duties the next day and dismissing offensive coordinator Joe Sloan the day after that.
The Sooners would do well to avoid another loss for their own hopes to get into the 12-team College Football Playoff. Texas and Ole Miss have defeated Oklahoma so far in 2025 (the Sooners and Longhorns play one another at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas), and a third loss with an SEC featuring so many contenders for a berth would be catastrophic. Oklahoma is on a bye this weekend, meaning it will be rested for the game at Alabama.
Alabama has not lost a conference home game since November of 2019 against LSU. All four of the Crimson Tide’s 2024 losses under DeBoer occurred away from Tuscaloosa. Its last home loss overall was in September 2023 against the Longhorns. That year, the team went on to make the last iteration of the four-team Playoff in what turned out to be Nick Saban’s final season as head coach.
The Tennessee Volunteers played one of their more important games of the college football season on Saturday night, as they played one of their most important and most beneficial home games of the season, as the Tennessee Vols played against the Oklahoma Sooners. This is a game that the Vols were expected to win, but that was not the case for the game outcome, as the Vols walked away from the game with a loss. The Tennessee Volunteers lost the game in front of their home crowd, and this was their second loss in program history with their black uniforms. This is something that hasn’t been very common, but even through those superstitions, things still can go south.
This team didn’t show up the way that many hoped they would, but even in that same breath, the Oklahoma Sooners didn’t either. However, the Sooners showed up more than the Vols did, as the Vols walked away with a loss.
This performance caught the attention of many, including one of the main players who used to play for the Tennessee Volunteers. That player is Daniel Bituli, who is known for not keeping his thoughts to himself, as he isn’t afraid of letting his thoughts be known. This is something that has been noticed throughout the season with Bituli, as he made it clear how he feels during the game.
Here is what the Tennessee fan and former player had to say about the Vols during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Volsfootball1217 0180 / Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel, Knoxville News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC
“Respectfully, some of our guys are acting soft asf.”
While this team has lost three games it is safe to say that some expectations has still been exceeded. Let’s remember that the Vols lost a lot of players to the transfer portal. One of the players being Nico Iamaleava, who was all but confirmed to be the starting QB for the Vols this season.
The Vols have been looking to improve what they have built, but the real work has yet to be finished, as this is a young team with a llot of returning pieces. The Vols have an exciting future, but they will need to continue to get better, and in the opinion of former Tennessee Volunteers linebacker Daniel Bituli, the Vols need to fix some of these acts that they have been having such as acting soft.
This is a team with a lot of positives, and some negatives to go with it, but this season if far from over as the Tennessee Vols have three regular season games and a post season bowl game ahead of them.
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