Cyndi Munson is a 39-year-old Democrat representing Oklahoma's 85th House District since 2015, serving as House Minority Leader since 2022. Born in Monterey, California and raised in Lawton, Oklahoma, she is the first Asian-American woman elected to the Oklahoma Legislature. She has worked extensively in the nonprofit sector, including with the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma, and holds degrees in political science (University of Central Oklahoma) and leadership education (University of Nebraska-Lincoln). She announced her gubernatorial candidacy on April 15, 2025.
Cyndi Munson was born in Monterey, California and raised in Lawton, Oklahoma by a military father and a mother born in Seoul, South Korea. She is a first-generation college graduate who worked for over a decade in the nonprofit sector, including a long tenure with the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma and the OK Messages Project (a nonprofit serving children of incarcerated parents). She won a special election to the Oklahoma House in 2015 with over 54% of the vote, becoming the first Asian-American woman elected to the Oklahoma Legislature. She was reelected in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024, and became House Minority Leader in 2022.