Oklahoma gubernatorial candidates debate education, healthcare and AI

Oklahoma gubernatorial candidates Cyndi Munson and Mike Mazzei debated key issues, including education, healthcare and artificial intelligence, on Thursday, offering contrasting approaches to address the state’s challenges.

On education, Munson highlighted the need for greater investment in staff and services.

“We are last because we do not make the proper investments to take care of our teachers. We’ve got to increase pay for our teachers and our support staff. I will make sure I work with the legislature for targeted funding around mental health care access and special education services and teachers,” Munson said.

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Mazzei emphasized literacy and school choice, proposing a statewide literacy director to implement a successful model from Mississippi.

“I will hire a statewide literacy director in my first week in office to replicate the very successful Mississippi model, which took them from 50th to first in the country in reading outcomes. The keys for their success are phonics curriculum, enough reading coaches statewide, and accountability,” Mazzei said.

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On healthcare, Munson tied Medicaid expansion to keeping Oklahomans insured and hospitals operational.

“I have stood up and fought for protecting Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma, to ensure that Oklahomans not only have health insurance, but that our hospitals stay whole, that those services are there for you when you need them the most. And that also includes long-term care facilities for our aging population, especially in rural Oklahoma,” Munson said.

Mazzei focused on addressing waste in the system and recruiting more doctors.

“The first thing we have to address with health care is the waste, fraud, and abuse that’s in the current system. There was an audit done several years ago that discovered $1.6 billion of questionable expenses in SoonerCare every year, and unfortunately, nothing was ever done about that,” Mazzei said.

Artificial intelligence and data centers were also discussed, with Munson advocating for a pause on new projects and Mazzei proposing specific guidelines.

“I will sign an executive order putting a moratorium on any new data center projects. We need a standardized, uniformed approach on how we deal with big tech. They want to come to Oklahoma because of our land and because of our loose regulations. And so, as governor, I will ensure that we don’t pay a single dime for any infrastructure or any energy or electricity costs that data centers will place on working families in the legislature,” Munson said.

Mazzei outlined four guardrails for data centers.

“We need four guardrails for data centers. One, they shouldn’t get any taxpayer funds. Two, they should provide for their own electricity, so electricity rates for the rest of us don’t go up. They should also only be built on locally approved industrial sites. And then number four, they need to use advanced closed-loop cooling systems. So the water is restrained to what I understand to be, similar to the needs of maybe a hotel every night with two or 300 rooms,” Mazzei said.

Election Day is Nov. 3, and both candidates will continue campaigning for votes in the final month.