(Update: On Monday, March 17, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission released its signed settlement with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters regarding his social media posts. As part of the settlement, embedded below, Walters agreed to take steps to make his X, formerly Twitter, account more clearly a personal account by changing his handle and profile photo. Walters also agreed to pay a $4,000 penalty and $1,000 in attorney’s fees. The article below remains in its original form.)
At the end of a nearly four-hour meeting — around three of which were spent in executive session — Oklahoma Ethics Commission members voted to pursue litigation against Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters over allegations of campaign finance law violations.
Walters was subpoenaed by the commission in January after Walters apparently declined to provide campaign finance records from his 2022 campaign for state superintendent. As chairman and treasurer for his own campaign committee, Walters is personally responsible for making mandatory quarterly reports to the Ethics Commission on time.
Despite the investigation being revealed in January, it remains unclear exactly what campaign finance rules the Ethics Commission believes Walters violated. Last year, Walters settled complaints that he filed finance reports late by paying $3,000 in fines to the commission. Correspondence between the commission’s attorneys and Walters’ attorneys in October and December indicates the late fines settlement does not relate to the subpoena filed in January and Thursday’s latest action.
Nonetheless, commissioners did not discuss the nature of the allegations during Thursday’s meeting. Rather, they unanimously approved a motion to “authorize the executive director to proceed in case number 2024-03 as discussed in the executive session and pursue prosecution in district court.”
Asked for comment after the meeting, Ethics Commission executive director Lee Anne Bruce Boone said she did not want to comment on the cases while paperwork was still being filed. Asked which prosecutor with jurisdiction would be referred the case — Attorney General Gentner Drummond or Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna — Boone said she “could not confirm or deny” an answer.
On Friday, Boone sent a text to clarify the situation.
“That is a separate matter if there is such a decision and those cases would be handled by the appropriate law enforcement agency,” Boone said. “Just because we are pursuing prosecution in district court does not mean that we are working with law enforcement. The commission has the authority when the case is not settled, and there are alleged violations of the ethics rules, to pursue prosecution in a lawsuit in district court. This is the referral that was made [Thursday].”
A spokesman for Drummond said Thursday afternoon that his office had yet to hear from the commission.
A spokeswoman for Walters did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication of this article.
Commission: Walters to settle separate ethics issue
Also on Thursday, commissioners voted to approve a proposed settlement agreement in cases 2024-37 and 2023-27. Those combined cases deal with allegations that some of Walters’ social media posts violate ethics rules. In January, the commission voted to pursue prosecution against Walters for those cases, but Walters appears to have reached a settlement with the commission since then.
Boone said she would send the settlement document to members of the media once it is signed. In a letter sent to Walters on Dec. 18, Ethics Commission attorney Margaret Kerr alleged that Walters improperly posted material using state funds, property or time “to advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for an elective office” and used social media maintained in the name of a state agency to the same end.
Kerr listed several examples, often involving tweets from Walters’ @RyanWaltersSupt account, which he calls his “personal account” in its bio:
- On Oct. 9, 2023, Walters issued a statement on his state of Oklahoma letterhead, saying in part, “Under President Trump, Israel could rest assured that the United States had its back, but under the Biden administration, the U.S. arms Israel’s enemies;”
- On or about June 23, 2024, he reposted on Twitter a post from Trump and added a comment: “Thank you @realDonaldTrump! Here in Oklahoma we are leading the country in reforming education;”
- On or about Oct. 30, Walters posted on Twitter stating in part, “We need @realDonaldTrump back in the White House;”
- On or about Oct. 31, someone used the Oklahoma State Department of Education Twitter account to post a video that included footage of migrant children climbing over a wall at the Mexican border. The words, “From 2021 to 2023, 3,000 unaccompanied migrant children were sent to Oklahoma,” appear in the picture. (Kerr said the post gives the impression the State Department of Education doesn’t support President Joe Biden and is advocating his defeat in the November 2024 election);
- On Oct. 31, Walters posted a video and caption on Twitter stating, “The biggest threat to our economy, our kids and our families is (Vice President) Kamala Harris;”
- On Oct. 31, he posted on Twitter stating, “Time shut the border down: elect @realdonaldrtrump and @jdvance;”
- On Nov. 4, Walters posted on Twitter, “Tomorrow, we will elect @realDonaldTrump;” and
- On Nov. 5 — Election Day — Walters posted on Twitter, “I just cast my ballot for President Trump” and “Let’s get President Trump back in the White House and get this country back on the right track!”
The Ethics Commission’s actions come amid growing speculation about Walters’ 2026 electoral plans. Widely believed to be interested in a national appointment within the Trump administration, Walters has also been rumored as gubernatorial candidate. However, with Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller announcing his 2026 campaign for state superintendent, some believe Walters could ultimately choose to run for reelection instead of higher office.
Walters’ last campaign finance report was filed Jan. 31, detailing contributions to his campaign for the fourth quarter of 2024. During that quarter, Walters reported raising $6,588 and spending $49,303. At the end of the reporting period, the Walters for State Superintendent 2022 campaign committee reported a balance of $64,236.
The biggest expenditure in Walters’ latest report was $29,000 to American Viewpoint, a public opinion research firm, for “polling.”
(Update:Â This article was updated at 9:25 a.m. on Friday, March 14, to include further comment from Bruce Boone clarifying Thursday’s vote to pursue prosecution against Walters.)
Read Walters’ settlement with the Ethics Commission
