As a successful businessman who never sought political office before running for governor, Kevin Stitt has been able to break the “politician” mold in Oklahoma government and has often pursued policies that disrupt an outmoded status quo.

He’s sought the same qualities in many of his appointees and appears to have found a kindred soul in John O’Connor, the longtime Tulsa attorney Stitt named Oklahoma attorney general.

Before his introductory press conference was completed, O’Connor demonstrated a boldness that “professional” politicians seldom possess.

Most notably, O’Connor said he will fight to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn or severely limit their McGirt decision, which has transformed much of eastern Oklahoma into a collection of Indian reservations where law enforcement authority is now almost nonexistent.

“If the question is will we oppose McGirt, the answer is yes,” O’Connor said. “If the question is will we seek the overturning by the Supreme Court of McGirt, the answer is yes.”

Just because it’s widely understood that McGirt is a disaster does not negate the fact that O’Connor showed leadership by saying so out loud. Many other state politicians are mealymouthed on the topic, even though it is undeniable that criminals now know they can run amok in eastern Oklahoma with little reason to fear prosecution and McGirt’s negative impacts will only grow in time if it is not challenged.

O’Connor also showed forthrightness when asked if he would participate in any legal effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that transformed abortion into a constitutional right. O’Connor said he would, saying that “we’ll pay the price for abortion as a nation.”

“Sometimes the Supreme Court gets it wrong,” O’Connor said. “We all know that.”

Many Oklahomans agree with O’Connor on that point, but they seldom see a state leader put the issue so plainly. Within a week, O’Connor kept his promise and joined a brief filed in a U.S. Supreme Court case challenging abortion.

Critics argue O’Connor should not be attorney general because the American Bar Association declared him “not qualified” to serve as a federal judge a few years ago when President Trump sought to elevate O’Connor to the federal bench.

But the ABA is notorious for its partisanship. As U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., noted in 2017, the ABA had “already deemed four of the president’s nominees unqualified after eight years of never calling a single

Obama nominee unqualified.”

“Just stop pretending that the ABA is a professional organization in this context,” Cotton said. “Whatever else the ABA may do in other contexts, in this context they are a left-wing, ideological enforcer.”

What the ABA disliked about O’Connor may be the same qualities that most Oklahomans will cheer: His willingness to challenge liberal sacred cows in a direct, straightforward fashion.

Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (www.ocpathink.org).