Republican candidates clash over religious education in Oklahoma’s gubernatorial runoff

In a gubernatorial race with razor-thin margins, two Oklahoma Republicans are split on education.

Former state Senator Mike Mazzei and current state Attorney General Gentner Drummond are vying to be the Republican candidate for Oklahoma governor in the November election.

Both are advocating for supporting parents and early literacy reforms but widely diverge on the topic of funding for religious education.

In a runoff debate on Aug. 3, the candidates clashed over whether Oklahoma should allow religious charter schools.

“This is one of the big differences between Drummond and myself,” said Mazzei, who also previously served as state secretary of budget.

As attorney general, Drummond led the legal battle against St. Isidore, a proposed Catholic virtual charter school.

Drummond argued the U.S. and Oklahoma Constitutions don’t allow public education dollars to be given to religious schools and that approving St. Isidore would be a slippery slope to funding other religions.

“I took an oath … to uphold the federal Constitution and the Oklahoma Constitution, and the Oklahoma Constitution leaves no ambiguity,” Drummond said during the debate. “We shall not fund any religious school.”

“Mr. Mazzei is supporting the Muslim monarchy,” the attorney general went on to claim. “We can anticipate he’ll also support Sharia schools. I stood between that and the freedom to worship God when you wish, with whom you wish and how you wish.”

Mazzei, in turn, made it clear he would oppose radical Islamic ideology.

“Part of the reason President Trump supports me is he knows I will ban Sharia law in the state of Oklahoma and designate the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council of American Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist organizations,” he said.

St. Isidore’s lawsuit ultimately went to the Supreme Court where a 4-4 ruling left the prior ruling against the Catholic charter in place, after the recusal of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

However, the legal question was revived earlier this year by the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation, which is trying to start a Jewish charter in Oklahoma.

Mazzei also accused Drummond of having a lackluster education agenda and being too friendly with teachers’ unions.

“He does like being the darling of the liberal teachers’ unions, because they won’t support the reforms that will get us out of being 49th in education,” Mazzei said of his opponent.

“And he won’t support moving school board elections to the general election date in November so conservative Oklahoma parents can have more of a say in the leadership of their school districts.”

Requiring school board elections to be partisan and held in November is one of the highlights of Mazzei’s education plan.

Recent polling found Mazzei and Drummond to be tied at 44% each in the runoff election, which will be held Aug. 25.

They were neck and neck in the primary as well, with Drummond receiving 25.9% of the vote and Mazzei 25.5%.

However, Mazzei has the endorsements of both President Donald Trump and current Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.