The crowd at Robert Franklin’s Tulsa watch party was on its feet by 8:30 Tuesday night. The longtime educator was wiping away tears.
Franklin is officially the Republican candidate for state superintendent. He beat Little Axe Public Schools history teacher James Taylor by more than 27,000 votes in Tuesday’s runoff, according to unofficial results from the state election board.
Franklin will go on to face Democrat Jennettie Marshall, a former Tulsa Public Schools board member, in the Nov. 3 general election.
“Teachers have always done hard things,” Franklin said while holding his wife’s hand. “And if you’re — parents, moms and dads — if you give us the best that you’ve got, which I pray that you are, then we’re going to give you the best that we have.”
It’s Franklin’s first attempt at an elected office after 44 years in education, most recently as an associate superintendent at Tulsa Tech. He’s an Oklahoma Educators Hall of Famer and current lecturer for doctoral and master’s students at OU-Tulsa.
Franklin’s bid for superintendent earned the endorsement of more than 200 current and former superintendents across the state — but Taylor took the Oklahoma GOP’s endorsement. Franklin pledges to bring a “breath of calm” to the superintendent’s office, currently occupied by interim Lindel Fields, and revise the Oklahoma State Testing Program.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” wrote Taylor on Facebook. “Raphala and I exit this race with zero regrets. Thank you, truly. God Bless, Oklahoma!”
Taylor did not respond to the Flyer’s request for comment Tuesday night.
From June to August, Franklin’s campaign brought in $123,446.60 of donations from individuals and political action committees, including the Oklahoma Agriculture PAC, Oklahoma City Chamber and Oklahoma Retired Educators Fund, according to his latest campaign filing. He spent $54,118.43 in that time.
This story was updated at 10 p.m. Aug. 25 with final results.
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