Stitt taps Tulsa man for AG despite ‘not qualified’ rating

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is appointing a Tulsa man to be the state’s next attorney general, despite his rating as `not qualified’ to serve as a federal judge.

Stitt named 66-year-old John O’Connor to the post on Friday after a two-month search.

O’Connor fills a vacancy left in May when former Attorney General Mike Hunter stepped down suddenly.

The appointment gives Stitt an ally in his increasingly contentious relationship with some Native American tribes in the state. O’Connor was nominated for a federal judgeship in 2018 by former President Donald Trump.

But he failed to advance after the American Bar Association determined he wasn’t qualified to serve.