By Barbara Hoberock, Oklahoma Voice
Editor’s note: We requested interviews with the top two fundraising candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. Connie Johnson did not respond to multiple requests to be interviewed, so Oklahoma Voice will not have a profile of her.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Democrat Cyndi Munson believes her progressive views, ground game and background will propel her into the governor’s office.
The 41-year-old Oklahoma City resident was born to a Vietnam Veteran father and South Korean immigrant mother. She was raised by a single father and attained a college education through Oklahoma’s Promise, a popular state program that offers free tuition to children from lower-income families.
“It gave me hope,” said Munson, who holds a master’s degree and was the first person in her family to graduate from college.
The House minority leader is among three Democrats seeking their party’s nomination.
The winner will likely face a well-funded Republican, a party which has controlled the governor’s office for 16 years, holds super majorities in both chambers and runs all statewide elective offices and Congressional posts.
“I think if we had more balance in state government as a whole, we would have better policies,” she said.
Munson worked in nonprofits before being elected to the Oklahoma House, assuming office in 2015. She was the first Asian-American elected to the Oklahoma Legislature.
She said she is the first Democrat to win her seat in the House.
She said education and healthcare are her top issues.
As governor, Munson said she would ask voters to overturn the legislative ban on abortion. Abortion is banned in the state except to save the life of the mother.
“I have had women say I am here because of your stance on reproductive healthcare,” she said. “They have shared their very horrific stories about planned pregnancies, where they had a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy and they have almost lost their lives.”
Oklahoma’s abortion ban has created maternity healthcare deserts because OBGYNs don’t want to practice medicine in the state, she said.
She said she continues to support voter-approved Medicaid expansion, which provided healthcare access to nearly 200,000 lower-income working Oklahomans.
And, she said she would work to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and healthcare.
Munson would reinstate diversity, equity and education programs halted by Republicans.
The state Legislature in recent years has moved to ban the spending of state dollars that benefit people of certain genders and races.
Munson said participation in a DEI program afforded her the opportunity to engage with elected women, those in public policy and the nonprofit sector.
“I was able to see myself in these careers because I was in that program in college,” she said.
“Republicans cannot deny that they have been in charge of state government for nearly two decades and just look at education,” she said. “We went from 17th to 50th.”
Munson supports increasing educational spending and a teacher pay raise.
She said she would work to repeal the parental choice tax credit, which allows parents to get a tax credit of $5,000 to $7,500 if they send their children to a private school.
She said that unlike some of the Republican candidates, she is not able to self-fund and put millions into her campaign.
But she sees a path to victory through voter turnout.
“I will have commercials eventually, but right now, I’m on the ground having face to face conversations with people,” Munson said.
Local Democratic parties have become more energized and mobilized in the last couple of years, she said.
She has had thousands of individual donations.
“That says a lot about a campaign that engages Oklahomans versus just sort of buying your way to the office,” Munson said.
She said she benefited from the administration of former Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, and a more balanced Legislature.
She said she’s faced criticism about being unmarried, not having any children and her age.
But she doesn’t believe that will hurt her chances.
“I think in this election and where we’re at today, it’s an asset because we can relate to each other, and people are ready for leaders who are authentic in the sense that you know what I am going through and you are going to do something to fix it,” Munson said.
She said Oklahoma’s continuing bottom 10 outcomes are energizing voters who want a change for the better.
“I think things have gotten just bad enough where people realize they can’t sit on the sidelines anymore,” she said.
