Public money for Oklahoma students is paying for email pitches like this one:
“Good morning! Ryan Walters, state superintendent of Oklahoma, banned porn/explicit reading materials and graphics from classrooms in Oklahoma, but Edmond Public Schools is appealing this action, asking the state Supreme Court to allow porn back in classrooms.”
That pitch goes on to say:
“School board members won’t even allow adults to read these books out loud, yet Edmond Public Schools are begging for kids to be reading this sexual garbage.”
And this one, seizing on the death of an Owasso High School student:
“An open letter called for Ryan’ (sic) immediate removal from office for, the letter claims, “fostering a culture of violence and hate against the 2SLGBTQI+ community in Oklahoma schools.
“Ryan responded to the letter saying: ‘[this is a] standard tactic of the radical left, and they will stop at nothing to destroy the country and our state.’”
“Want Ryan on to discuss?” the pitches conclude.
Vought Strategies, a communications firm in Arlington, Virginia, sent those emails in recent weeks to national media outlets. The Oklahoma Department of Education hired the firm to write speeches and op-eds and book Walters on at least 10 national TV and radio appearances per month.
That has some people questioning whether Walters is boosting his national profile at the public’s expense — something Mary Vought, president and founder of the firm, made clear she is working to do.
“I will work with my network of stakeholders to obtain attendance at national events and conferences in order to increase the national exposure of the client,” she wrote in her bid for the contract, public records show.
A former attorney general said the agency’s use of public money and resources for personal gain is concerning.
“To have somebody whose sole purpose is not to get information to the public, but to get information about you on a public platform for your own personal gain is an illegal use of public funds and public resources, in my view,” said Drew Edmondson, a Democrat who was Oklahoma’s attorney general from 1995 to 2011. “I cannot think of a rational, legal explanation.”
Another question about the use of public resources was raised because secretary of state records show that David Martin, an Education Department employee, set up the LLC for Vought Strategies in Oklahoma on Nov. 9, the last day proposals were accepted. Martin is the registered agent, and he listed the Oliver Hodge Building, where the Department is housed, as his address.
Martin did not respond to a voicemail left for him on Tuesday. According to his LinkedIn profile, Martin started at the department in March 2023 as assistant chief operating officer; in November, he was promoted to senior director of technology and accountability.
Dan Isett, the department’s director of communications, couldn’t explain why Martin registered the LLC.
“No, I don’t have anything for you on that,” he told KOKH.
Months ago, Walters, in an interview with FOX 25 (KOKH-TV), offered an explanation for why his department needed the public relations contract. He said his national media appearances are for teacher recruitment.
“So you’re saying, we as Oklahoma parents and students are going to benefit from you going on more national media?” reporter Wendy Suares asked during the Nov. 13 interview.
“What I’m saying is, we are doing national recruiting efforts for teachers to come to our state,” Walters replied.
Mary Vought, in her bid, said she has 17 years of national media experience and has pitched and orchestrated TV and radio interviews on Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg TV, Newsmax, One America News Network, Sirius XM, Salem Radio, Fox News Radio, and more.
For Vought’s work, Oklahoma agreed to pay an estimated $30,000 for the first four months, from March 6 to June 30, public records show. The contract can then be extended for up to three years.
Vought, in a Nov. 9 letter submitted to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, said her compensation would be $5,000 per month. She followed up on Nov. 14 with an hourly breakdown, estimating her firm will spend a total of 25 hours per week, at a rate of $200 per hour.
Vought did not respond to multiple attempts to reach her for comment.
Vought came under fire for a similar contract with Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy. She was hired in 2019 for $4,000 a month in state funds to get him on Fox News and right-wing media outlets and write op-eds under his name. The contract was extended and amended multiple times through the end of Dunleavy’s second term in 2026, skirting the state’s procurement laws and playing at political favoritism, according to Dermot Cole, a former writer for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News.
The résumés of Mary Vought and Walters’ top advisor, Matt Langston, appear to overlap. Vought worked for U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s office from 2011-2013. Langston was Johnson’s traveling press secretary from June 2010 to Jan 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Vought’s was the only bid received, even though the state maintains a list of a dozen Oklahoma-based public relations firms approved for state contracts.
The contract started March 6 but emails make it clear Vought was working for Walters as early as Aug. 10.
Isett on Tuesday told KOKH that Vought already had a contract with the department and the Mar. 6 contract was an extension.
“I have an email from central purchasing saying we’re in the clear to continue working with them while we were waiting for the new RFP to be approved,” Isett said. “To be clear, we wouldn’t proceed if it were extralegal.”
Isett did not provide the previous contract by publication. Oklahoma Watch’s attempt to inspect the contract in person on Wednesday was rebuffed by department staff.
Oklahoma Watch was unable to find a record of payments to Vought in the state’s online checkbook system through Jan. 31, which is the most recent data available.
The top item on the contract shows the state and Vought agreed that, as of March 6, Vought had not yet begun the work.
“Supplier shall not commence work, commit funds, incur costs, or in any way act to obligate the state until the contract is effective,” it reads.
Vought has pitched Walters to national media outlets on topics including fentanyl and the southern border, drag queens in the classroom, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, teacher unions, library books, and his appointment of Chaya Raichik, the far-right social media influencer behind Libs of TikTok, to a library advisory committee.
None of the email pitches obtained by FOX 25 and Oklahoma Watch contain any reference to teacher recruitment.
The emails were sent by Caroline Woods at Vought Strategies. When reached by phone, Woods referred all questions, including Woods’ title, to Mary Vought.
Walters is in Washington, D.C., this week, making appearances on Newsmax and Fox News.
This story was produced in collaboration with FOX 25 (KOKH-TV).
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
