John Waldron is an American politician and educator who has served as the Chair of The

Oklahoma Democratic Party The Oklahoma Democratic Party (ODP) is an Oklahoma political party affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. It and the Oklahoma Republican Party, are the state's two major parties. The party dominated local politics ...

since 2025 and as a member of the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's ...

from the 77th district since 2018.

Early life and education

Waldron was born in

Bernardsville, New Jersey Bernardsville (Melisurgo, Len NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 23, 2017. Accessed December 1, 2024. "Same goes with the neighboring borough of Bernardsville. (It should be pronounced BERN-ards-vil.)") is the northernmost borough in Somerset C ...

, as the eighth of nine children. He attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

from 1986 to 1990, graduating with his Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations. In 1991 he started his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in international relations at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

while working at the School Without Walls in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He completed his master's in 1995.

Teaching career

Waldron began his teaching career at the School Without Walls in

in 1991 and would work there until 1999. In 1999, he moved to

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and started working as a social studies teacher at Booker T. Washington High School. From 2011 to 2013 he was also the president of the

United Nations Association A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exists in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promo ...

Oklahoma House of Representatives

Waldron was elected to the

in 2018 and assumed office on November 21, 2018. He has served as the assistant minority floor leader in the House since 2021. In 2023, Waldron filed legislation to increase the pay of school support staff who make less than $80,000 and by 20 percent. In 2024, he came out against Kevin West's HB 3217, which would ban Pride flags and Pride activities on state property, calling it "discriminatory." In 2025, Waldron campaigned to be the chair of the

against incumbent

Alicia Andrews Alicia Andrews (born 1966/1967) is an American politician and licensed realtor serving as the chairwoman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party. Before that, she served for two years as the party secretary. She is the first African-American to hold the ...

. During the campaign,

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

generated audio of Waldron making negative remarks about

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

was released and initially reported as real by ''

The Black Wall Street Times ''The Black Wall Street Times'' is an African-American newspaper founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2017. It is named after the Greenwood District, Tulsa, which is also known as Black Wall Street. History ''The Black Wall Street Times'' was founded ...

''. The publication later retracted the claim and published a correction clarifying the audio was fake. Waldron went on to win the June 29 election, defeating Andrews and union advocate Kevin Dawson.

Electoral history

John Waldron ran unopposed for re-election in 2020. John Waldron ran unopposed for re-election in 2022. John Waldron ran unopposed for re-election in 2024.

References

External links

Official house biography
21st-century members of the Oklahoma Legislature Democratic Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives George Washington University alumni Living people Oklahoma Democratic party chairs Politicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa Public Schools teachers University of Virginia alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{Oklahoma-politician-stub