Time to Stop Covering for Legislative Colleagues

By Janelle Stecklein, Oklahoma Voice

Editor’s note: This commentary includes discussion of domestic violence and sexual assault. 

Every Oklahoman has bad days. And, we all make mistakes.

But most reasonable Oklahomans do not use their bad days as an excuse to sexually harass their subordinates.

Yet that’s exactly how state Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa, is attempting to justify his use of AI to transform still images of him and a potential female Democratic candidate for office into a GIF of them kissing, according to NonDoc, a nonprofit media organization that first reported Waldron’s short video. Waldron admitted he sent this smut to the woman, though he said it was an accident, the outlet reported.

That would be troubling behavior from any state lawmaker, but when Waldron created the video, he was also serving as the chair of the state Democratic Party. That’s a powerful position that handles fundraising for the party, helps chart strategy — and recruits candidates to run for office.

In the weeks immediately following this incident, I can’t recall anyone within Democratic leadership ranks publicly calling for Waldron’s resignation from the Legislature. 

In fact, nobody acknowledged publicly for months that this had happened and likely forced Waldron to step down as party chair. 

They gave him the courtesy of quietly relinquishing his party chairmanship.

They enabled him to file to run for a fifth legislative term. 

And they let him peddle the notion that he was resigning because he found himself too busy juggling four jobs and wanted to focus on serving as a legislator and being a father.

“We are beyond grateful for his service to our state and party, particularly his commitment to building a strong slate of candidates for 2026,” Democrats wrote of Waldron in a Dec. 8 press release announcing that he had resigned as chair.

Grateful? Really?

I don’t know a single Oklahoman who wants that type of “service to our state,” and if “building a strong slate of candidates” involves sexually harassing one, I’ll take a hard pass.

Waldron told NonDoc that he was “under enormous personal stress” at the time he made the GIF, that he “made a mistake which I instantly regretted” and had “had a bad day.”

He said it was all a “misunderstanding” and a “foolish mistake.” And he is ready to move forward.

Let’s be clear. This is much more than a foolish mistake made on a bad day. And it is not a misunderstanding that one should easily be able to move forward from.

These were actions taken by a person entrusted with significant power.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders, both in the state House and at the statewide party level, have spent months sweeping under the rug just how offensive Waldron’s behavior is said to have been, justifying it as privacy protection for the victim. 

But it sure seems like they were much more interested in protecting their party’s own reputation and maintaining the handfuls of legislative seats Democrats hold in Oklahoma.

Facing growing public pressure and accusations of making unwanted advances toward a second woman, Waldron finally decided to resign from the Legislature on Thursday. But rather than require it happen immediately, legislative leaders inexplicably let him make it effective Oct. 1 — five months from now.

This clearly demonstrates the good ol’ boy system is alive and well in the halls of our state Capitol, and there’s a continued culture of male legislators on both sides of the aisle feeling entitled to victimize women and children once they get into power. There seems to be an ever-growing list of these folks:

Republican Rep. Dan Kirby resigned in 2016 after news broke that the state House had entered into a secret $44,500 settlement to resolve allegations of retaliation against a former legislative assistant who reported to the House’s attorney and human resources director that she had been sexually harassed by the legislator. The woman said she was fired after reporting it.

Republican state Sen. Ralph Shortey was sentenced in 2018 to 15 years in prison for child sex trafficking after meeting a boy at a Moore motel. Authorities said they discovered Shortey with the boy in the motel room at 1 a.m. Shortey, who resigned from office a short time later, had charges related to child pornography dismissed in exchange for his plea. 

In 2017, Republican state Sen. Bryce Marlatt faced a felony sexual battery charge after an Uber driver said he kissed her on the neck during a ride and commented about her breasts. Marlatt, who resigned, pleaded guilty to assault and battery, and received probation.

In 2022, a lobbyist accused former Democratic Rep. Jose Cruz of touching her inappropriately after he followed her into a bathroom and closed the door. She said Cruz told her he had been watching her and she had nice legs. Cruz resigned but was never charged with a crime.

And then last year, Republican former Rep. Ty Burns pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges leveled after two attacks on his family. He used his pickup truck to run a vehicle with his child inside into a ditch, authorities said. In a separate incident, he tried to gouge his wife’s eye out, according to charging documents. Burns resigned.

If one thing is clear from this, our Legislature clearly needs a good HR department and regular, mandatory sexual harassment training. Leadership on both sides of the aisle needs to set the expectation that this behavior is not acceptable and will not be covered up, and that they will publicly call for resignations — not protect their buddies at the expense of the victims.

In Waldron’s AI video case, nobody publicly uttered a peep about this until after candidate filing ended, and he filed to seek another legislative term. Waldron drew one Democratic challenger, but he will still be on the ballot despite suspending his campaign last week.

House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, apparently gave Waldron a temporary caucus suspension, which ended last week. She told NonDoc that Waldron was asked privately by caucus leadership to resign from his House seat and was told he should not seek reelection.

Why not make these demands in public view? That’s where they should have happened.

The fact that Waldron’s situation was hidden for months is unacceptable, and Munson’s response raises some serious questions about whether she is ready to become Oklahoma’s next governor.

Being in leadership requires making tough decisions and holding people accountable for their actions.

Allowing a culture like this to exist within political circles is not leadership. It damages trust in our state government. Treating this behavior like a dirty secret likely makes it more difficult for the next victim to feel empowered to come forward.