Josh Cockroft was appointed as Oklahoma's 39th Secretary of State by Governor Kevin Stitt in September of 2023. Prior to his appointment, he served as Governor Stitt's Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor.
From 2010-2018, Cockroft served as a four-term State Representative for the people of House District 27 in Pottawatomie and Cleveland Counties. While in elected office, he served in numerous leadership positions under four Speakers of the House. He Chaired the House Rules Committee, led two Special Investigative Committees, and served on multiple policy and budget committees. He also served as a member of the Presiding Officer Team.
After leaving political office, Josh spent three years from 2019-2022 as the Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Oklahoma Association of REALTORS®. He led all federal, state, and local governmental activities for the association. This included direct lobbying efforts, political fundraising, Political Action Committee administration, policy research, and serving as OAR's liaison to state agencies, association membership, and elected officials.
In 2022, Josh served as the Political Director for the Governor's re-election campaign. He led all statewide grassroots efforts, managed campaign staff and interns, coordinated campaign events, advised the Governor and other members of senior campaign and fundraising staff of political matters, and built upon a statewide network of supporters to navigate the Governor to a historic second-term victory.
Josh has a background in ministry, farming, and ranching. He lives in Cleveland County with his wife Jessica, and their three daughters.