Cyndi Munson

Cyndi Munson became the first person in her family to graduate from college, with help from Oklahoma’s Promise, the state scholarship program for students from families with limited incomes.¹ She grew up in Lawton, the daughter of a military veteran and a Korean immigrant, and has described frequent moves as her family looked for affordable housing.²

After studying political science at the University of Central Oklahoma and leadership education at Nebraska, she worked in nonprofit programs.³ Her five years with Girl Scouts included leadership programs for girls in public housing, lower income schools and juvenile detention settings.² She also worked with the Oklahoma Messages Project, which uses reading to help incarcerated parents maintain connections with their children.²

First elected in 2015, Munson became the first Asian American woman in Oklahoma’s Legislature and later led House Democrats.³ In 2025, her wrongful conviction compensation bill became law, replacing a $175,000 cap with compensation of $50,000 for each year an eligible person was imprisoned.⁴⁵

Against Republican Mike Mazzei, Munson supports targeted tax relief for working families and a pause on new data centers until lawmakers establish safeguards.⁶ She opposed the 2025 income tax cut but supported ending the state grocery sales tax, drawing a distinction between her approach and Mazzei’s goal of eliminating income taxes.⁶