Enid senior elected governor at this year's virtual-only Oklahoma Girls State

Jun. 12—An incoming Enid High School senior with a passion for politics was elected to the highest office of this year's Oklahoma Girls State last week.

Kadee Jo Ransom won three elections during the weeklong, all-virtual session to be named governor of 2021 Oklahoma Girls State.

After finding out she won the final election last Thursday, Kadee Jo said she held in her excitement until she could leave to go to the bathroom in her house, then started running around and screaming in her living room with her mom.

She said she couldn't sleep at all that night.

"It was probably the greatest thing I've ever accomplished, I'm not even exaggerating," she said Wednesday. "I couldn't lose the grin off my face."

Sponsored by the state's American Legion Auxiliary units, Oklahoma Girls State is a nonpartisan, patriotic government educational program whose weeklong sessions teach civic duty and the American governmental process to incoming seniors representing their high schools.

Over a dozen Oklahoma policymakers, lobbyists and political leaders speak of their experience and knowledge to the students.

This year's guest speakers included former Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh, former Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, Oklahoma City Councilwoman Nikki Nice and House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, many of whom attended Girls State themselves.

Kadee Jo, an active member of the EHS student body and at her church, said she also wants to run for elected office someday.

Her dream is becoming the youngest-elected U.S. senator.

"It was cool to see it's possible. ... to see women who have made it and pushed past struggles," Kadee Jo said, attributing her victory to her own interest in history and politics. "Because this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, all of that paid off, because I get to do this now."

Girls State Director Jennifer Shaw said Northwest Oklahoma is not commonly represented at state office, despite consistent participation from the Enid area — a student from Enid won lieutenant governor about five years ago, she said, while a staff member also works full-time at Chisholm Public Schools.

Enid High School counselor Kim Collins also said she couldn't remember the last time an EHS student was named governor at Girls State.

"I'm not surprised that (Kadee Jo) would get elected governor, and yet it is such a hard feat to accomplish," Collins said. "It really demonstrates leadership ability."

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During the week, students also are assigned to one of two artificial parties, the Boomer and Sooner parties, as well as smaller break-out groups of cities, counties and districts. Cities and counties elect numerous local-level positions and establish local governments while other delegates also pursue statewide office, similar to Oklahoma's real-life voting process.

Named to the Sooner Party, Kadee Jo was nominated for governor from within her county on the first day of the session, Monday, May 31. On the second, she won her district's nomination over the Boomer candidate. By day three, she won against the other Girls State district's winning nominee, a fellow Sooner.

Throughout the week, Kadee Jo would also attend break-out rooms and have to answer questions on topics like her stances on public policy, her biggest inspirations or even her favorite color.

Day four saw the entire delegation voting for governor and lieutenant governor, Lily Battles, a senior from Bixby, elected from the opposing party.

This year, students only voted for the two positions to limit Zoom time, rather than a host of other statewide offices, Shaw said.

"Truly, these girls stood out because they were the only ones who were elected this week," she said Friday. "I'm honestly excited to see what these girls do because they had to (run for office) virtually, and relate to these girls from their own homes."

The sessions are traditionally held at the University of Oklahoma, where the girls live in the campus dormitories with their cities and counties. OU this year still provided Zoom access for the half-day sessions, Shaw said.

Usually around 400 student delegates attend Girls State, Shaw said, but this year, around 200 girls attended from their own homes.

Its counterpart, the American Legion-sponsored Oklahoma Boys State, for the first time welcomed boys from both classes of 2022 and 2021 for this year's in-person session at Northeastern A&M College in Miami, Okla.

EHS students Jonathan Ylitalo and Gehrig McClish attended Boys State, Collins said. Because the Girls State session was virtual, any student could have registered at-large, but counselors were not aware of any other EHS girls who attended.

Both of Oklahoma's sessions last year were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Shaw said she hoped next year's Girls State would return to in-person, as well.

Next month, Kadee Jo and Lily will both serve as Oklahoma's delegates at Girls Nation, to be held in-person in Washington, D.C., and the trip will be Kadee Jo's first time on an airplane.

Before they leave on July 24, the two will write and co-sponsor a bill to present as senators, likely to do with the Federal Drug Administration and public safety. Kadee Jo said she saw the weeklong event as practice for when she gets into politics as an adult.

"If I get into lawmaking positions, I can help so many more people and I can stop issues in the criminal justice system before they become issues, instead of reactive," she said.

Ewald is copy editor and city/education reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.

Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Send an email to aewald@enidnews.com.