Supt. Walters calls lawmakers "liberal Republicans" despite high CPAC conservative ratings

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — As more House Republicans have signed on to a request to investigate State Superintendent Ryan Walters, he's calling them out for their political views.

Oklahoma consistently ranks as one of the most conservative states in the nation, with Republicans in all statewide elected positions and a legislature predominately red.

But during an interview with FOX25, Walters called the lawmakers who signed the petition "liberal Republicans."

So we went through the voting records, using a ranking system published by one of the most recognizable conservative foundations in the nation, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

House Speaker Charles McCall has touted the state's ranking by the group. His media release from the most recent ratings recognizes the system as the "gold standard" for evaluating elected officials on their voting record and producing the longest-running conservative scorecard.

Ryan Walters has also been at CPAC conferences.

Per the most recent CPAC scorecard, nearly half of the petition signees received "conservative achievement awards" scoring between 80-89% by voting for conservative policies.

The rest of the list of representatives have scores between the high 60's and high 70's.

It's no secret that the State Superintendent and the Representative who started the petition, Mark McBride, have been at odds.

McBride's rating on the conservative scorecard is 79%.

For a comparison, Oklahoma Democrats' average score is 8%.

Regardless of the 25 signatures the petition has received, the Speaker of the House said he will not consider investigating Walters and the Department of Education until 51 Republicans sign on, but on Thursday he did approve the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT), to do their own investigation.