A runoff election for district judge in Oklahoma's Kay and Noble counties has turned into a back-and-forth over each candidate's professional record, with assistant district attorney Rob Davis and private practice attorney Scott Loftis set to face off on Nov. 3. Both men advanced past incumbent Lee Turner, who placed third in the June nonpartisan primary, and both are now contending with episodes from their legal careers that have surfaced during the campaign.
Davis and Loftis are seeking to succeed Turner, who was first appointed to the Eighth Judicial District bench in 2012 and was elected to keep the seat in both 2018 and 2022, according to the Newkirk Herald. The district covers communities across Kay and Noble counties, home to roughly 54,000 residents and about 33,000 registered voters, as reported by NonDoc Media.
Davis was born and raised in Ponca City and moved back to the city in 2019 to work as an assistant district attorney for the Eighth Judicial District, per NonDoc's reporting. He attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University and University of Colorado Law School, and has pointed to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch as his judicial role model. Loftis, by contrast, was born in Wichita and attended Wichita State University and Oklahoma City University School of Law before being licensed to practice law in 2004; he now lives in Tonkawa, in Kay County.
Ethics Complaint Dogs Davis's Prosecutorial Record
According to the same NonDoc report, Davis received a private reprimand from the Oklahoma Bar Association after a complaint filed by an individual identified as Stevenson. The complaint accused Davis of not providing defense attorneys with evidence before trial, an allegation attributed to Caroline Hart in the article. Davis responded in a Facebook post saying he had referenced something a witness told him during trial preparation, and he was ultimately issued the private reprimand following the complaint.
Davis has built his campaign around frustration with the pace of the court system. The station's report notes he said he grew increasingly frustrated with delays and a lack of timely decisions during his time as a prosecutor. He has also said he would begin discretionary criminal sentencing at the middle of the legislated range and argues that judicial candidates should follow the law as written rather than seek to rewrite it. Separately, The Ballot Brief notes his platform calls for greater transparency in how the courts operate to build public trust, framing inefficient courts as most harmful to victims.
Loftis's Past Contempt Charge and Dismissed Criminal Case
Loftis has his own history to contend with. Per NonDoc, he faced a contempt charge in 2015. He was also criminally charged in 2013 over alleged conspiracies to smuggle a cell phone, tobacco and marijuana into the Kay County Detention Center; those charges were dismissed after investigators failed to preserve the cell phone and drugs for trial and a state witness refused to testify, the outlet reported.
Loftis has described lawyers' unwillingness to practice in the district as a major issue facing the court system, and he has said public safety, accountability, fairness and restoring trust in the judicial process are the concerns he feels most strongly about, according to the Newkirk Herald. The Ballot Brief similarly describes his platform as a pledge to protect constitutional rights, apply the law fairly to all, and restore public confidence in the courts through steady, independent judgment.
Federal Lawsuit Over Judicial Campaign Rules
Loftis has also waged a legal fight well beyond the county courthouse. He filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma challenging the state's restrictions on judicial candidates publicly identifying with a political party, arguing he is a registered Republican who wants to campaign as the conservative, law-and-order candidate, NonDoc reported. Attorneys for the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints later conceded that his challenge to the party-affiliation rule had a likelihood of success on the merits for non-incumbent candidates and said the council would not oppose a properly tailored injunction against enforcement of the rule.
On Oct. 9, U.S. District Judge Timothy DeGiusti issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints from recommending Loftis for discipline, per court filings. Despite that ruling, Oklahoma's underlying party-affiliation ban for judicial candidates remains in force statewide. Loftis has said he would prefer to campaign as the conservative Republican candidate and told the federal court he is optimistic Oklahoma will someday hold partisan judicial elections again, a system the state abandoned through judicial reforms enacted between 1966 and 1969 following a bribery scandal in the 1960s, as detailed in NonDoc's coverage of the case.
Election Timeline for Kay and Noble County Voters
The Ponca City Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a candidate forum on Oct. 14 giving voters a chance to hear both men directly. Early voting is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Oct. 28 through Oct. 30, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 31. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3, when Kay and Noble county voters will decide which of the two attorneys succeeds Turner on the Eighth Judicial District bench.
