A new report from the State Policy Network (SPN), “Socialism’s National Spread: Mapping the State-by-State Reach of the Democratic Socialists of America,” finds that socialists are seeking government power primarily through local elections, including local school board races, rather than pursuing federal offices.

“Nearly 90 percent of the wins recorded in DSA’s September election tracker were in state or local contests,” the report noted. “Its November list includes campaigns for legislatures, city councils, school boards, mayoralties, and ballot measures.”

The report found the November tracking list of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) contains 67 entries across 22 states. Only four are federal candidate races.

In Oklahoma, that socialist strategy benefits from school-board elections being held on very low turnout dates, potentially giving organized groups greater influence over who wins.

Oklahoma is one of only 12 states mandating that school-board elections be conducted off-cycle on low-turnout dates for which there is typically little voter awareness.

Currently, Oklahoma school-board primary elections are held on the second Tuesday in February every year, unless there is a presidential election, while school-board general elections are conducted the first Tuesday of every April.

There are approximately 2,500 school-board members elected across Oklahoma.

Research done by Americans for Prosperity–Oklahoma found that turnout for the April 2, 2024, school-board elections in Oklahoma averaged only 6 percent of voters. Only one school district in Oklahoma had voter turnout exceeding 25 percent that day, and some districts reported less than 1 percent turnout.

In comparison, 64 percent of eligible Oklahoma voters participated in the November 2024 general election.

For example, in the April 2, 2024, election for a seat on the Broken Bow school board, only 36 votes were cast. The 36 votes cast in the Broken Bow school-board race were in stark contrast to the 3,309 votes cast in those same precincts during the November 2020 general election.

Research published by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University in January 2020 reviewed data from four states, including Oklahoma. Among other things, researchers found that “the majority of voters in a typical school board election in each of the four states we examine is ‘unlikely’ to have children.”

Socialist groups have openly identified schools as a key battleground.

A pamphlet first released in 2018 by the Democratic Socialist Labor Commission and the Young Democratic Socialists of America, prominently distributed by the Democratic Socialists of America, encourages socialists to embed themselves within the teaching profession.

“There is a growing national network of educators in DSA working to transform our schools, our unions, and our society,” the DSA document declared. “Being a member of DSA means there is a pre-existing network of fellow socialists you can tap for support as you undertake this work.”

Another report, “DSA In Schools,” released by Parents Defending Education, noted that the Democratic Socialists of America seeks “to advance its ideology by using the K-12 education system. Over the years, the DSA has grown in its membership, increased numbers inside of teachers’ unions, won school board seats including board presidents, advanced its political agenda through district policies, and has created youth clubs inside schools.”

The SPN report found the Democratic Socialists of America have a “presence in nearly every state—including places that rarely come to mind when Americans think about democratic socialism.”

The report found that Oklahoma has been home to at least one DSA chapter since 2017, and that there were 10,888 social media likes and follows for DSA posts from Oklahomans, a rate of 264.1 per 100,000 residents, ranking 37th out of the 50 states.

Legislation has been filed in recent years to shift Oklahoma school-board elections to dates that draw much higher levels of voter involvement, but none of those measures has made it into law.

At least one Democratic lawmaker who has opposed shifting school-board elections to higher-turnout dates has also pushed back against criticism of socialism.

In an Oct. 3 video, state Rep. Rob Hall, R-Tulsa, discussed his opposition to socialism.

“If someone is feeling that pull of socialism, I would first encourage them to take an honest look at history and to evaluate the success or failure of different societies—of free-market societies versus socialistic societies,” Hall said. “If you honestly look at the historical record, that alone should probably convince you that socialism is not an effective way to govern a society.”

More fundamentally, Hall said socialism is “the politics of envy.”

“It is based on coercion and not free choices,” Hall said. “And so, I would view socialism as an inherently immoral ideology because it only works through coercion. And I would encourage someone to ask themselves, ‘Why is it that socialists always talk about seizing the means of production instead of creating the means of production?”

When Hall posted about the topic on his Facebook page, including a link to that video, a legislative Democrat was among those who defended socialism.

State Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, D-Norman, responded to Hall’s post, “Was fixin’ to hop in here to school ya, but I see the comments have it handled.”

Rosecrants is among the lawmakers who have voted against legislation moving school-board elections to the same ballot as major statewide and federal elections.