Walters leads Grace into Republican runoff for Oklahoma state superintendent

A state schools superintendent runoff election is shaping into a contest between the governor's choice for the role and a candidate backed by many Oklahoma educators.

Gov. Kevin Stitt's education secretary, Ryan Walters, led the Republican primary with 41% of the vote on Tuesday.

Shawnee Public Schools Superintendent April Grace was the second candidate to advance to the Aug. 23 runoff with 31% support.

John Cox and William Crozier were eliminated from contention, collecting 24% and 4% respectively.

The runoff winner will face Democrat Jena Nelson, the only non-Republican in the race, in the Nov. 8 general election.

More coverage: What do Oklahoma schools superintendent candidates have to say about student mental health?

In a state with almost twice as many registered Republicans as Democrats, the GOP nominee is the likely favorite to succeed state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who is term limited this year.

State superintendent is Oklahoma's top education official and leads the Oklahoma State Department of Education and acts as chairperson of the Oklahoma State Board of Education.

Walters' campaign emphasized fighting critical race theory and left-wing extremism in public schools — messaging that has propelled conservative candidates to victory in other states.

“Our schools will not be an experiment of the radical woke left,” Walters told a crowd at a campaign watch party in Oklahoma City. “Our schools will carry conservative values and value each individual child.”

Stitt tapped Walters, 37, as his education secretary in 2020. Originally from McAlester, Walters is a high school history teacher, a 2016 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year finalist and executive director of the school-choice-friendly organization Every Kid Counts Oklahoma.

Grace, 56, contended she is the most qualified in the field to become state superintendent. She spent the past 30 years as a teacher, coach and school administrator.

The Shawnee school district hired Grace as superintendent in 2016. She is the only candidate in the race to lead a large school system.

“I think that’s the biggest difference between Ryan and I is the practical, everyday experience and the ability to get this job done,” she said.

Grace, the 2021 school administrator of the year, is favored among the education establishment.

She received campaign donations from multiple educators, several school district superintendents, and leaders of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association and the state school administrator organization, campaign finance reports show.

Grace raised the most money of any candidate in the primary, surpassing $300,000 in campaign contributions.

She also faced criticism over a former Shawnee boys basketball coach and assistant athletic director charged with a felony for sexting with a teenager. Ronald Gene Arthur resigned from Shawnee on Sept. 3 after coming under investigation.

Walters came under fire last month after news outlets Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier uncovered recipients of the Bridge the Gap Digital Wallet, a program under his watch, spent nearly half a million dollars of federal relief money intended for educational needs on TVs, gaming consoles and other personal items.

Walters said a third-party vendor, ClassWallet, violated its contract and allowed the improper spending to happen, which the company denies.

Despite the controversy, Walters raked in the second-most campaign contributions of the four Republicans with $285,500, much of it coming from donors in the business community.

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gave Walters the maximum individual contribution of $2,900, as did former state Superintendent Janet Barresi and Jonathan Small, president of the conservative think tank Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.

Two Stitt appointees to the state Board of Education, Brian Bobek and Jennifer Monies, also donated to Walters.

Cox, 59, has been superintendent of Peggs Public Schools for 28 years. The school district serves about 200 students 50 miles east of Tulsa.

This was Cox’s third bid for state superintendent. He ran as a Democrat against Hofmeister in 2014 and 2018.

Cox said he doesn't intend to run a fourth time.

This isn’t Crozier’s first time running for the position, either. Crozier, 75, unsuccessfully challenged former state Superintendent Sandy Garrett in 2006, a race in which he gained national notoriety for suggesting students use textbooks to shield from bullets in school shootings.

Walters pushed conservative talking points to the forefront of his campaign. He claimed far-left extremists have influence in Oklahoma schools.

On top of decrying critical race theory, Walters was a leading voice against allowing transgender students to use the school restroom that matches their gender identity. Stitt signed a bill into law on May 25 banning that practice from public schools.

In her online platform, Grace said critical race theory has no place in K-12 classrooms, but the Shawnee superintendent rarely focused on the topic.

The issue of school vouchers drew a line of distinction between Walters and the two district superintendents in the race.

Walters, along with Stitt, openly supported Senate Bill 1647, which proposed spending $128.5 million to pay for students’ private-school tuition and costs. The bill failed March 23 in a Senate floor vote.

Grace and Cox opposed the bill, citing concerns for a lack of accountability for how families spend voucher money.

Some conservatives rejected the bill out of opposition to government involvement in private schools and because it offers little to rural students living in areas with nothing but public school options.

Walters' support of vouchers didn't hinder him as he led the way in the polls Tuesday. He said parents are supportive of expanding school choice.

“Oklahomans want us to continue to empower parents, and they want us to continue to empower teachers so we can have the best education system possible,” he said Wednesday. “That's what I saw last night.”

Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Nuria’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Walters leads Grace into Republican runoff for state superintendent