By John Dobberstein, Editor
Governor Kevin Stitt visited a Rose District business on Monday to meet with supporters of Broken Arrow Deputy Mayor Christi Gillespie, who is running for a seat in the state Senate and faces a runoff election on Tuesday.
Stitt toured Let’s Play BA, a company Gillespie co-owns with her daughter – and spoke about his support of Gillespie for Senate District 33, which includes much of Broken Arrow and parts of Tulsa. Shelley Gwartney is her opponent, and supporters of the two campaigns have been engaged in a bitter battle for several weeks.
“I don’t normally get involved in many elections in the state, but I really felt like she was the right candidate, and we just need good people in the Capitol to support us in our policies,” Stitt told the Guardian“She has a close runoff election ahead of her and it is important that good people are elected.”
Stitt briefly answered questions on several other controversial topics in recent weeks.
Opponents of the state’s Education Secretary Ryan Walters have escalated their opposition to his agenda, holding a rally over the weekend to call for his impeachment and demanding various investigations into education spending.
A spokesman for Walters, Dan Isset, responded to the rally by saying, among other things, “The mob at the Capitol was another example of how the left has become the party of gender, queers, flamers and hate.”
Walters reiterated his call for Bible use in teaching on Monday, saying there would be a Bible in every classroom.
The Oklahoman reported that leading Republicans and Stitt met with Walters to “tone down his rhetoric and get to the bottom of recent school funding problems.” Shortly thereafter, Walters held an emotional and angry press conference calling on the House of Representatives to impeach him.
Stitt said he organized the Disagree Better conference earlier this year in hopes of toning down the political rhetoric at the Capitol. He seemed hopeful that the spirit of that effort would extend to Oklahoma’s bitter education debate.
“I think we need to stop the rhetoric and the name-calling and really just have a political debate,” Stitt said. “When it comes to politics, we all want the best education for our children. And so we should be able to talk about it and debate how to make that happen. I’ve invested more money in public education than any governor before me. And at the same time, I believe in school choice and giving parents back control. So on all of these political issues, everyone is clear about where I stand.
“When there is another elected person, people get confused. I can’t appoint or fire the Secretary of Education, as everyone knows. The first Secretary of Education was Joy Hoffmeister, who ran against me for governor. So it’s a completely different issue,” he said.
Oklahoma’s Department of Social Services is also a hot topic right now. Dr. Deborah Shropshire unexpectedly resigned last week, just days after a press conference in Tulsa highlighted alleged problems in the department’s programs designed to protect children from abuse.
The Clayton Woolley custody battle in Broken Arrow – which was the focus of the recent press conference – has brought negative attention to the state agency for an extended period of time.
Shropshire has been director of the department since January 2023 and will step down on September 13.
Stitt said he had no specific information about why Shropshire resigned. Stitt said interviews are underway for the next appointed head of DHS.
Stitt’s father, John, has been a vocal participant in the Woolley family’s fight for custody of Clayton after murder and abuse charges against his grandparents were dropped.
The governor did not address the situation directly, but was aware of it.
“There’s nothing worse than taking a family member from their parents’ home. And the state better do it right when we do it. This is something that keeps me awake at night, and we want to do this very carefully,” Stitt said.
“The hard-working people at DHS are doing the best they can. Deb has done a great job and I wish her the best in her next endeavor. And we will find a great replacement.”
Stitt seemed open to a comprehensive review of DHS to see how the agency could be redesigned if necessary.
“Every time I bring a new person into state government, I say, ‘Hey, take a fresh look at all of our public employees, our processes, how we do everything,'” he said.
“Child welfare is one thing that DHS oversees, as well as SNAP benefits – making sure there’s no fraud. DHS manages a $2 billion budget just for food. So DHS is huge.”
