Longtime educator John Cox has won the Democratic Party's nomination to be Oklahoma's next superintendent of schools.
Cox has worked in education for 30 years as a teacher, principal and superintendent.
In voting Tuesday, he defeated teacher Freda Deskin to win the nomination and will face Republican Joy Hofmeister in November.
Hofmeister defeated incumbent Janet Barresi in the June GOP primary.
Both Cox and Deskin had said Oklahoma voters made a statement by turning Barresi out of office in the primary.
They said the fall election shouldn't be about party politics but about who is best for students.
Hofmeister is a former member of the state Board of Education and now runs a franchise that offers after-school learning programs.
