When John Croisant began knocking doors and talking to voters last August in his bid to remain Tulsa’s District 5 school board representative, he had his pitch locked and loaded.
He wanted to end the chaos at the Tulsa school board, which is divided politically and ideologically. He wanted to maintain local control amid threats of a state takeover. He wanted to get away from the drama and focus on student outcomes, which need improvement in this vast, diverse school district.
But voters only had one question for him.
“Do you support Ryan Walters?”
Walters, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, has been called Oklahoma’s “culture-warrior-in-chief” as he flirted with groups like Moms for Liberty and Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik. And in Tulsa, he’d found his biggest battleground.
Croisant said he’d tell people, no, he didn’t support Walters. In fact, he’d push back against Walters’ interference in local education.
“And as soon as I said that, they’d say ‘You’ve got my vote,’ and shut the door,” Croisant told The Frontier.
Croisant won re-election this week, defeating challenger Teresa Peña by a 55% margin, nearly 2,400 votes. In the races for two other seats, left-leaning candidates Sarah Smith, who defeated Maria Seidler, and Calvin Moniz, who defeated Kandee Washington, won by wide margins as well.
“What I heard from voters, and this was across party lines, was that they felt like when Walters was attacking (Tulsa Public Schools,) he was attacking them. He was attacking their city and the schools they graduated from,” Croisant said. “They took it personally.”
Walters, a Republican and former history teacher in McAlester, was elected overwhelmingly in 2022 after briefly serving Gov. Kevin Stitt as Oklahoma’s Secretary of Education. He replaced former Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, a term-limited Republican who switched parties to run for governor against Stitt as a Democrat.
While Stitt had battled with former Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist, primarily over coronavirus pandemic restrictions and school shutdowns, Walters quickly upped the ante.
Walters threatened a state takeover of Tulsa schools, calling the district “plagued with scandal.” Walters led the charge when the state board lowered the district’s accreditation in 2022 for allegedly violating a state law banning the teaching of some race and gender concepts. The board didn’t review underlying evidence before the vote, instead relying on a recommendation from staff that later proved to be inaccurate. Walters pushed for Gist’s removal and threatened the district not to “test” him. She ultimately resigned last year, hoping to stave off a potential takeover, saying she had a “broken heart.” She was replaced by Dr. Ebony Johnson, who Walters initially criticized before taking a softer tone after Stitt said to “give her a chance.”
Walters’ spokesman at the State Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment from The Frontier.
Walters cast a long shadow over the election in Tulsa’s District 2, said Moniz, who will replace outgoing school board member Diamond Marshall. Turnout is historically low in this part of Tulsa and only 649 votes were cast this week
“When I talked to voters, I heard two things,” Moniz told The Frontier. “First, people were surprised there was an election coming, and second, they wanted to know if I’d push back against a state takeover of TPS, and whether I agreed with Walters’ policies, which I do not.”
Moniz said he attended candidate forums, and would speak on stage about ending chronic absenteeism, which has plagued the school district. He would talk about getting the board to work together and focus on students. He talked about the need to support teachers and families, all things he said would “unlock TPS’ potential.”
