A veteran public school teacher has announced plans to run against a GOP state lawmaker who vowed to vote against all education funding during the Oklahoma teachers strike.
Cyndi Ralston, who has worked in education for 30 years, announced on Tuesday that she will be running as a Democrat to represent Oklahoma’s 12th District, the Tulsa World reported.
{mosads}She wrote in a Facebook post that she was spurred to make her announcement after Rep. Kevin McDugle said he would not vote “for another stinking [education] measure when they’re acting the way they’re acting.”
Oklahoma teachers are on their third day of a statewide strike in protest for more resource funding and better pay.
McDugle said he didn’t care if the teachers were “pissed” at him.
“You’re losing support of people who supported you all year long,” McDugle said in a now-deleted post. “Now you’re going to come here and act like this after you got a raise?
He later apologized, according to the Tulsa World.
“If Kevin McDugle won’t fight for teachers and students, then I will,” Ralston wrote in the post. “If Kevin McDugle won’t back parents over oil companies, I will. If Kevin McDugle won’t treat his constituents with respect and dignity, I will.”
Ralston was originally going to wait until after she officially filed to run but said the “events of the day” moved her.
She filed her intention to run last week with the Ethics Commission, the Tulsa World reported.
Oklahoma teachers filled the state Capitol on Tuesday during their walkout. They’re demanding a $10,00 raise over three years and a $5,000 increase for support staff.