Gary Jones (Oklahoma politician)

Gary Jones is a United States businessman and Republican politician from Oklahoma. He is the former Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector.

Gary Jones
Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector
In office January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2019
Governor	Mary Fallin
Preceded by	Steve Burrage
Succeeded by	Cindy Byrd
Chair of the Oklahoma Republican Party
In office April 14, 2007 – June 26, 2010
Preceded by	Tom Daxon[1]
Succeeded by	Matt Pinnell[2]
In office 2003–2006
Preceded by	Chad Alexander[3]
Succeeded by	Tom Daxon
Personal details
Born	1954 (age 70–71) Fort Sill, Oklahoma, US
Political party	Republican
Education	Cameron University (BS)

Personal

Jones was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the fifth of seven children. He graduated from Cameron University in 1978 with a Bachelor of Business Administration/Accounting degree. Jones is both a certified public accountant and a certified fraud examiner.^[4]

While in college, Jones worked for Southwestern Bell. After 10 years Jones left to start his own telecommunications company, which he sold 16 years later. Jones has operated a cow-calf operation for over 30 years in addition to his other ventures.

In 1994 Jones successfully ran for Comanche County Commissioner, a seat he held for four years.

Prior to his successful 2010 bid for State Auditor and Inspector, Jones unsuccessfully sought the office in both 2002 and 2006, losing both times to Jeff McMahan.

In 2003 he was named chairman and Executive Director of the Oklahoma Republican Party and held the office longer than anyone prior, until resigning to make his successful bid for State Auditor and Inspector.

In 2017, Gary Jones announced he would be a Republican candidate for Governor of Oklahoma in 2018. Gary Jones placed 5th in a 10-man primary that was held on June 26, 2018. He received almost 6% of the vote.^[5][6][7]

Electoral history

Republican primary results^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mick Cornett	132,806	29.3
	Republican	Kevin Stitt	110,479	24.4
	Republican	Todd Lamb	107,985	23.9
	Republican	Dan Fisher	35,818	7.9
	Republican	Gary Jones	25,243	5.6
	Republican	Gary Richardson	18,185	4.0
	Republican	Blake Stephens	12,211	2.7
	Republican	Christopher Barnett	5,240	1.2
	Republican	Barry Gowdy	2,347	0.5
	Republican	Eric Foutch	2,292	0.5
Total votes			452,606	100.0

Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Election, 2002
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Jeff McMahan	516,425	51.43
Republican	Gary Jones	487,646	48.57

Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Election, 2006
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Jeff McMahan (inc.)	469,311	51.68
Republican	Gary Jones	438,778	48.32

Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Republican primary election, 2010
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gary Jones	151,712	69.57
Republican	David Hanigar	66,364	30.43

Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Election, 2010
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gary Jones	570,174	55.94
Democratic	Steve Burrage	449,152	44.06

Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Election, 2014
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gary Jones (inc.)	n/a	100.00