“Stepping aside is the right thing to do for the people of District 77,” the former chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party wrote.
Oklahoma State Representative John Waldron, (D-Tulsa), submitted a letter to the office of Governor Kevin Stitt on Thursday, April 16, announcing his irrevocable resignation effective Oct. 1. Waldron’s decision comes less than a week after Oklahoma news outlet NonDoc first reported his involvement in an AI video controversy. According to the report, published April 10, in October of last year Waldron used generative AI tools to create an animated video depicting him kissing a potential candidate for public office, a woman he had previously met and who he later sent the video to.
In a statement to NonDoc, Waldron confirmed the existence of the video, but claimed that he had not intended to send it to the woman and that his actions were simply “a mistake” attributable to “tremendous personal stress.” Last December, Waldron resigned from his position as chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, citing “personal reasons” and “pressing family commitments” that prevented him from continuing in the role. Waldron’s successor and the current chairwoman of the Party, Erin Brewer, has disputed that account, telling NonDoc that the Oklahoma Democratic Party “forced” Waldron to resign following his “unforgivable behavior.”
Waldron, who was campaigning for a fifth term as representative to House District 77 when initial reports came in of his misconduct, did not suspend his reelection campaign until April 13 despite earlier calls to withdraw from House Democrats. Michelle McCane, who represents the University of Tulsa’s District 72, stated, “[Waldron’s] decision to remain in office as well as his bid for reelection reflect that… he still does not fully understand the impact of his actions on those around him.” Announcing the decision to suspend his campaign, Waldron wrote on social media that “stepping aside is the right thing to do for the people of District 77.”
Waldron would not announce his resignation for another three days, after additional allegations of inappropriate conduct were reported by Oklahoma’s News 4 on April 15, which Waldron has not responded to as of Saturday, April 18. Following Waldron’s resignation, District 71 Representative Amanda Clinton echoed McCane’s earlier sentiment, commenting that the effective date of Oct. 1 mentioned in Waldron’s letter to Governor Stitt “suggests a continued lack of personal responsibility.”
Though Waldron has stated, “I full-heartedly respect and understand what I did was wrong,” his earliest comments about the AI video scandal suggest that he believed the story had been “perpetuated” as a result of a prior controversy where he had been the target of a deepfake audio recording. In the recording, a partial transcript of which was published in The Black Wall Street Times last June, an artificially-generated voice intended to mimic Waldron’s had made racist and disparaging comments about Black leadership in Tulsa. The Black Wall Street Times later issued a full retraction of their report and confirmed that the audio was not genuine. “That’s the larger story,” Waldron told NonDoc, referring to the connection between the two controversies, “and that story may not play out yet for a few more weeks.”
Following Waldron’s departure from the race, his opponent in the election for House District 77, Democrat Kristina Gabriel, issued a statement reasserting her commitment to the constituency and “addressing the issues that matter most,” among which she included “responsible regulation of the AI industry.”
