Just The Facts: Candidate Voting Records on 2016-2018 Tax Hikes

There are a number of current or former Republican state legislators running for higher office, and I wanted to do a post on their voting records during the 2016-2018 tax hike spree that Governor Mary Fallin and the GOP-led legislature went on (I ran the first version of this post during the 2022 election). 

During good economic times, Republicans like to run on tax cuts and no-new-taxes pledges, but the real test of their espoused principles comes during economic downturns and belt-tightening eras. Will their rhetoric match their governing, when push comes to shove and budgets have to be balanced? Will their instinct be to raise taxes, or to cut government?

So, without further ado, Just The Facts: 2026 Candidate Voting Records on Major Tax and Fee Increases in the Oklahoma Legislature, 2016-2018. We will specifically be looking at the voting record of 12 current or former Republican legislators who are on the June 16th GOP primary election ballot for statewide or congressional offices.

The colors I used in the following graphics are not 'green for good, red for bad'. Green means they voted for the tax increase measure, Red means they voted against the tax increase measure, Gray means they missed the vote, and blank means they were not eligible to vote (for example, Sen. Mazzei left office in 2016, and was only around to vote on three of these bills; Humphrey, Pugh, and West didn't enter office until the 2016 election, and thus their votes start in 2017. In other cases the bill either did not receive a hearing in that legislative chamber or the member was not on the committee where a vote took place). 

The very last measure in each graphic, HJR1050, is perhaps the most important of these recorded votes, as a green/yes vote there indicates that the legislator voted to make it much easier for the Legislature to raise your taxes.

Let's dive in. The following five former state legislators are running for Governor or U.S. Congress (with former state senators Brecheen and Bice being current members of Congress):

(click to view larger)

Of these five former legislators, only Brecheen was in the small group of legislative conservatives who valiantly fought a losing effort against the onslaught of tax hikes. Speaker Charles McCall, in particular, ignominiously supported and promoted every tax increase proposal during this time period.

The next graphic examines seven other current or former Republican state legislators from that time period who are on the ballot for other statewide offices:

Multi-County Grand Jury indicts man in fake Ryan Walters letter scheme

Multi-County Grand Jury indicts man in fake Ryan Walters letter scheme 

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 13, 2026) – The Multi-County Grand Jury indicted a Massachusetts man this week for falsely impersonating former State Superintendent Ryan Walters.  

According to the indictment, Owen Thomas Cunningham, 48, sent letters in August 2024 to school superintendents across Oklahoma. The letter directed school officials to distribute documents to students. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation after Walters confirmed he did not authorize or send the letters. 

OCPA calls to make State Superintendent an appointed position, not elected

OCPA: For accountability, make state superintendent appointed

OKLAHOMA CITY (October 2, 2025) — To bring greater accountability to the state school system and reduce dysfunction in state government, Oklahoma should make the position of state superintendent a gubernatorial appointee, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs President Jonathan Small said today.

“Every four years, candidates for Oklahoma governor campaign on education issues, but when they are elected, they have little direct oversight of the school system because the state superintendent is elected separately,” Small said. “Too often, we have seen an elected state superintendent work at cross-purposes to the governor. We saw that with former state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who oversaw the worst academic declines in decades even as school spending exploded and then ran for governor against Kevin Stitt on a platform of improving the education decline she helped create.

Gov. Stitt appoints Lindel Fields to finish Walters' term as State Superintendent

In his press conference at Eisenhower International School, Gov. Stitt called for the legislature to pass a constitutional amendment changing the State Superintendent of Public Instruction from an elected position to one appointed by the Governor, before announcing his selection of Lindel Fields, a former longtime Career Tech superintendent.

Stitt announced as part of the "turnaround team" the following individuals: Connie Riley (Office of Educational Quality and Accountability), Kristen Stevens, Romel Muex-Pullen, Megan Oftedal, former State Rep. Tom Newell, Tara Thompson, and current Secretary of Education Nellie Sanders.

The bizarre case of the latest Walters drama - and why he's likely innocent here

As you might have heard in the news, some bizarre allegations surfaced after a State Board of Education meeting last week. Two recently appointed board members told members of the press that they saw "naked women" on a TV in State Superintendent Ryan Walters' office during an executive session last Thursday, reportedly interrupting the meeting to ask Walters to turn the TV off.

Sharp words and denials have flown back and forth, along with the commencement of investigations by OMES and the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. The more that comes out, however, the more unlikely the first report sounds, and the more it seems that this time, the drama around Walters is completely unfounded, an unfortunate and bizarre misunderstanding, and that Walters is innocent of any wrongdoing here. Let's look at what we know so far.

OK House Education chair: Walters' school lunch mandate is "empty threat"

Education Chair Dismisses SDE Mandate as "Empty Threat"

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 9th) – Oklahoma House Education Committee Chair Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, reacted to the Monday announcement by State Superintendent Ryan Walters that he would require all school districts in the state to provide free lunches to all students at the cost of employee salaries. The Superintendent does not have the Constitutional or legal authority to direct how individual school districts allocate their budgets.

"This attempt to overstep the authority of Walters' office is a threat to the independent decision-making power of Oklahoma's school districts. Regardless, it is nothing more than an empty threat," said Lowe, a former ag teacher. 

State Sup't Walters: schools must fully fund student meals with existing state/fed dollars

Walters Demands End to Bureaucratic Bloat

Oklahoma Schools Must Fully Fund Student Meals

Oklahoma City, OK – Starting in the 2025/2026 school year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) will mandate that every school district fully funds student meals using existing state and federal operational dollars. For too long, Oklahoma’s students and taxpayers have been fleeced by gross mismanagement and bloated bureaucracies that prioritize administrative paychecks over kids’ basic needs. This stops now.

Melissa Evon named 2025 Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year

Melissa Evon named 2025 Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year

Among 10 finalists, Evon of Elgin Public Schools will take home the award

Norman, OK (June 27th) – Tonight, OSDE is proud to announce that the 2025 Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year award went to Melissa Evon of Elgin Public Schools. She was joined by an esteemed group of nine other finalists who were also up for the award.

“Melissa represents the very best Oklahoma has to offer,” said Superintendent Walters. “She has the heart of a teacher and unmatched passion for her students and we are so proud to recognize her exemplary work tonight.” Each year, the Teacher of the Year award goes to a teacher who demonstrates excellence, hard work, and commitment to their students and peers.

State Sup't Walters attends launch of new White House Founders Museum

Superintendent Walters attends historic event at White House

New initiative launched by President Trump will bring reverence for American history to students and organizations nationwide

Washington, DC (June 18th) – Yesterday, State Superintendent Ryan Walters joined Second Lady, Usha Vance, and Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon at the White House for the historic launch of the White House Founders Museum. This launch by the Trump White House is an unprecedented, America-First initiative that will show students critical elements to the proud history of this great country.

OSDE to offer free training for school board members

Equipping School Boards to Lead: OSDE Offers Free Statewide Training

New initiative offers high-quality, no-cost governance support for school districts.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), under the leadership of Superintendent Ryan Walters is proud to announce a major step toward strengthening local school governance by providing high-quality training for school board members at no cost to districts across the state.

This new initiative will deliver training that is practical, locally relevant, and grounded in the real-world challenges of school board governance. OSDE is committed to helping districts and boards build stronger partnerships through more streamlined communication, clearer expectations, and more effective support.

After ethics settlement, Walters foe uses old Twitter handle to target family for protest

This past week, State Superintendent Ryan Walters reached a settlement with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission regarding the usage of what he's dubbed as his personal X (formerly Twitter) account, but that walked the line of being an official state government account. Under the settlement, Walters agreed to pay a $5,000 fine, change his @RyanWaltersSupt username on the social media network to remove reference to Superintendent, among a few other items.

Perhaps an unintended consequence of this is that the old, highly publicized and referenced @RyanWaltersSupt username became available to be claimed by anyone on the social media network. A Walters foe evidently did so in rapid fashion, tagging the account as "parody" in order to get by the Terms Of Service against impersonation on Twitter/X, and is now using the account to call for protests at the Walters' home early Sunday morning, posting what appears to be their personal address.

State Supt. Walters touts Student Safety First initiatives

Walters Touts Student Safety First Initiatives

A new investigative unit and training programs bolster school security improvements

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (March 14th) – Today, Superintendent Ryan Walters highlighted the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s (OSDE) commitment to student safety through aggressive action against bad actors in the education system. Since taking office, Walters has overseen a robust crackdown on misconduct, ensuring that Oklahoma classrooms remain safe and focused on student success.

Under Walters’ leadership, OSDE has undertaken 94 investigations, leading to significant accountability measures, including:

Walters touts Teacher Freedom Alliance, alternative to "Woke Teachers' Unions"

Walters Touts Alternative to Woke Teachers' Unions

Teacher Freedom Alliance provides a necessary free market solution

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (March 10th) – Today, Superintendent Ryan Walters announced intent to lead the charge to offer a private industry solution to the far left-leaning Teachers' Unions that have infected our public education system for decades. The Freedom Foundation launched the Teacher Freedom Alliance (TFA) on Saturday, introducing a program that provides liability coverage for teachers, promotes historically accurate curriculum, and offers professional development opportunities. These measures aim to help excellent teachers be rewarded for their proficiency rather than their longevity and allegiance to the union.

Hello, Walters? Controversial Waurika school assignment was from State-approved curriculum

This is a follow-up to my article from Wednesday, Perverted assignment given to students at Waurika High School, which covered a very detailed high school class assignment on sexual activities, including illegal and unnatural acts.

Parents in the community were rightfully upset, as pictures of the assignment quickly disseminated among even elementary students at the school. 

Jenni White at Reclaim Oklahoma Parent Empowerment (ROPE) interviewed the mother who first went public with the perverted assignment (you should read the whole thing):

A truly unfortunate event happened in the classroom of Ashlyn Jade’s niece at Waurika Public Schools Monday afternoon.

According to an interview with Ashlyn this afternoon, Coach Roger Jesse, a teacher/coach with 40+ years in Oklahoma education – and someone with many years of service and an excellent reputation in Waurika Public Schools – gave his 11th grade psychology class an assignment that has now made internet viral status.

Coach Jesse was asked to teach a new extra curricular psychology class at Waurika High School this semester. Ashlyn believes that, in a hurry and under duress from a strenuous teaching/coaching schedule, he downloaded a STATE APPROVED psychology curriculum to use during his class on Monday afternoon, copied it and handed it out without really reviewing it.

Two statewide officials trade taxpayer-funded letters to push their own campaign interests

In which one announced gubernatorial candidate uses his official state government position and office to chides another probable gubernatorial candidate and would-be opponent for using his official state government position and office to advance himself and create political drama, all while criticizing the current governor with his campaign talking points on taxpayer letterhead.

They would both do well to be careful about using our tax dollars to unethically and illegally put the thumb of government on the scale for their political campaign.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond and State Superintendent Ryan Walters

‘Manufactured political drama’: Drummond responds to Walters’ request for formal opinion on Presidential executive order

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 3, 2025) – In a letter sent today to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, Attorney General Gentner Drummond labeled Walters’ request for a formal Attorney General’s opinion on a Presidential executive order as “nothing more than manufactured political drama,” as the order is clearly the purview of the U.S. executive branch.

Drummond praised President Trump for his "dutiful and comprehensive” efforts to curb illegal immigration into the United States, and criticized Governor Kevin Stitt for his "many failures in dealing with this critical issue here in Oklahoma."

Walters requested the opinion Feb. 24 after President Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to prevent taxpayer resources from acting as a magnet for illegal immigration and to end taxpayer subsidization of open border services to illegal immigrants.

Drummond explained that the executive order does not involve state agencies and advised Walters to "cooperate with ... federal agencies to faithfully implement the Executive Order."

“As a reminder, the framers of the U.S. Constitution enshrined within it the concept of federalism," Drummond wrote. "This means that the United States and the several States are distinct and separate sovereigns. As a result, President Trump is the head of the Executive Branch for the United States Government. The President issues executive orders that direct the actions of federal departments, agencies, officers, employees, and contractors; while a Governor issues executive orders that direct the actions of state departments, agencies, officers, employees, and contractors.”

Drummond hailed the Executive Order, "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders," as a model for every state while criticizing Gov. Stitt for six years of failure to take substantive action to curb taxpayer-funded services to illegal immigrants in Oklahoma.

“In fact, President Trump’s leadership addressing illegal immigration has been so strong and decisive that it has laid bare Governor Stitt’s many failures in dealing with this critical issue here in Oklahoma,” Drummond wrote. “For more than six years in office Gov. Stitt took no substantive action to address illegal immigration here in Oklahoma. Quite the opposite, Governor Stitt partnered with the Biden Administration to ‘resettle’ over 1,800 poorly vetted Afghan ‘refugees’ in Oklahoma. You recall that the FBI recently arrested one of them for planning a mass shooting on Election Day in 2024. Worse still, an audit revealed that Governor Stitt improperly spent over $6.5 million in taxpayer funds to ‘resettle’ these ‘refugees’ without appropriate authorization.

“I am very thankful for President Trump’s leadership on this critical issue, and I am very disappointed in Governor Stitt’s failures that have cost Oklahoma taxpayers billions and put our families at risk. [The executive order] should be a model for Oklahoma and every state to ensure their services are delivered only to those legally eligible to receive them.”

In closing, Drummond advised Walters to stay focused on his own responsibilities as Superintendent of Public Instruction.

"I suggest you devote increased energy and focus on improving the test scores and reading proficiency of Oklahoma Students," Drummond wrote. "The people of this state entrusted you with the critical responsibility of administering and managing public education. Fulfilling that responsibility should be your only focus."

Read the full letter.

Governor Stitt shakes up Oklahoma State Board of Education, draws Walters' ire

There's trouble in paradise, as they say. Gov. Stitt's latest education move has, to put it mildly, upset longtime ally State Superintendent Ryan Walters. Walters' typical, hyperbolic reaction is included underneath.

Governor Stitt Shakes Up Oklahoma State Board of Education

OKLAHOMA CITY (February 11, 2025) - Today, Governor Kevin Stitt named three new members to the Oklahoma State Board of Education (OSBE). The move comes after ongoing controversy at the Oklahoma State Department of Education and disappointing scores on the annual National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Walters touts new updated science standards, available for public comment through Jan. 21st

Walters: New Science Standards to Elevate  Education and Workforce Preparedness 

Oklahoma City, Okla (Jan. 2nd) – The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) has submitted updated Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OAS-S) for public comment through January 21, 2025. The new standards represent a transformative framework that raises the bar for all Oklahoma students. These standards are designed to prepare students with the essential knowledge and expertise required to excel in higher education and meet the demands of a rapidly evolving workforce. 

State Supt. Walters wants local school superintendents to be elected

Well, here's an idea I've never heard before:

Walters Announces Proposal to Elect Superintendents

Measure Would Increase Parental and Public Input and Accountability 

Oklahoma City, Okla (Dec. 4th) – Today, State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced a proposal that  would require the election of public school district superintendents in Oklahoma. Under current state law, district superintendents are hired and contracted by local school boards. 

State Superintendent Walters launches new teacher recruitment website

Walters Announces New One-Stop Shop for Teacher
Recruitment: Teach-OK.com

Oklahoma City, Okla – State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced the rollout of a new, comprehensive teacher recruitment tool, Teach-OK.com, today. Teach-OK.com is a comprehensive online resource designed to guide future and current educators through the certification process, connect them with teaching opportunities, and provide valuable financial and professional development resources in Oklahoma. Teach-OK.com supports Oklahoma’s teacher recruitment and retention efforts by providing a user-friendly platform that helps educators efficiently navigate their career paths.

Walters announces Oklahoma awarded nearly $60M reading and literacy grant

Some good education news, for a change:

Walters Announces Oklahoma Awarded Nearly $60 Million Grant to Improve Student Literacy  

Tulsa, Okla (September 5th) – State Superintendent Ryan Walters today was joined by Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson today to announce a federal grant totaling $58,949,098 over a five-year period that will support reading and literacy programs across Oklahoma public schools. In the 2024-25 academic year, approximately $9 million will be disseminated to public schools that apply and qualify through a competitive grant process. 

“When I started this job, I made a promise to the people of Oklahoma that we would get back to the basics of education, that we would eliminate the political activism and social indoctrination in the classroom and return focus on teaching our kids the skills they need to succeed in college and the workplace,” Walters said. This grant will be a powerful supplement to the work we are already doing and offers us incredible resources to build upon the foundation we’ve built that prioritizes reading, writing, math and other critical disciplines that will enable our kids to compete and succeed wherever their dreams take them. I want to thank the lawmakers and superintendents who joined us today. I am grateful for their work and dedication to our joint mission of improving education outcomes for all Oklahoma students.” 

As part of this initiative, 25 districts across Oklahoma will receive sub-grants to directly support the implementation of literacy programs tailored to their unique student populations. These sub-grants will enable schools to enhance their literacy instruction, provide targeted interventions, and foster a stronger foundation in language arts for their students.

The project will focus on achieving the following key goals: 

• Early Language Development: Increase the percentage of four-year-old children who achieve significant gains in oral language skills. This will be measured through universal screening tools, diagnostic assessments, and formative assessment processes. 
• Elementary Literacy Proficiency: Increase the percentage of fifth-grade students who meet or exceed proficiency levels on the Oklahoma state reading/language arts assessment. 
• Middle School Literacy Proficiency: Increase the percentage of eighth-grade students who meet or exceed proficiency levels on the Oklahoma state reading/language arts assessment. 
• Teacher Training and Professional Development: Provide Oklahoma teachers with extensive training in the science of reading and effective literacy instructional strategies to ensure high-quality literacy education across the state. 

The grant awarded to OSDE is part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant Program which exists to advance literacy skills, reading, and writing for students from birth through grade 12, including limited-English-proficient students and students with disabilities.