Cyndi Munson for Oklahoma Governor

Cyndi Munson

Leader Munson has proven her commitment to tackling affordability, standing up to extreme legislation, and doing the hard work—knocking every door and speaking to every voter—to win in November. Oklahoma needs a fighter who will refocus on kitchen-table issues and put working families first, not get pulled deeper into culture wars. Her experience, determination, and passion are exactly what Oklahoma needs to thrive in the 21st century.

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The daughter of a Vietnam War veteran and a South Korean immigrant, she grew up in Lawton. She and her younger sister were raised by their single father, who worked multiple jobs while serving in the U.S. Army. To make ends meet, the family moved every year in search of cheaper rent. By the time she graduated from high school, they had moved ten times—all within the same town.

After graduating from Lawton Eisenhower High School, she attended the University of Central Oklahoma and became the first person in her family to graduate from college. She was able to do so because of Oklahoma’s Promise, a scholarship program that provides free in-state college tuition to low-income families.

She spent more than a decade working in the nonprofit community. At the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma, she provided leadership programs to thousands of girls in low-income schools, juvenile detention centers, and public housing. She also worked at a nonprofit focused on improving children’s lives through shared reading with their incarcerated parents.

In September 2015, she was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, becoming the first Asian American woman elected to the Oklahoma Legislature. As Minority Leader, she led bipartisan efforts to repeal the state sales tax on groceries, provide tax relief to everyday Oklahomans, increase funding for public schools, and stand up to insurance companies, among other initiatives.

She has opposed some of the Legislature’s most extreme measures, including the strictest abortion ban in the country, attacks on transgender youth, mandates requiring the teaching of the Bible in public schools, and efforts undermining tribal sovereignty. She and her caucus were the first to call for an impeachment investigation into State Superintendent of Instruction Ryan Walters.

Today, she lives in Oklahoma City and enjoys running, reading, rowing, hiking, painting, solving puzzles, and mentoring young women across the state. Most of all, she loves spending time with her nephew, Jude.