The Republican superintendent candidate’s voter guide also describes homosexuality as an “outbreak,” and he has not detailed where he would draw the line on religion in public schools.
OKLAHOMA CITY — James Taylor has made his Christian faith central to his campaign for state superintendent. The Norman pastor and Little Axe High School history and government teacher also wrote a book meant to guide Christians at the ballot box, spelling out beliefs that include placing women under male authority.
It’s Biblical, Not Political! How to Line Candidates Up Biblically was first published in 2015 and reissued in April. Its back cover calls it “a conservative manifesto on how to vote with God’s perspective.”
In the 2026 edition, reviewed by OK Politics Today, Taylor writes that women have knowledge, intelligence and skills but should place those abilities within a family structure led by men.
“She is not to use her skills for her own individualistic calling anymore,” Taylor wrote of a wife. “You are willing to place it under a new hierarchy system.”
‘God’s vice president’
In a section about marriage and family roles, Taylor wrote:
“God has never asked a woman to be without a male supervisor that is directly God, or God’s vice president, man.”
Taylor also writes that a woman “must be under some male pattern authority” and calls a husband the person “supposed to be controlling your family.” Men who reject that role, he writes, have been “sissified or feminized.”
Elsewhere, Taylor quotes philosopher John Locke saying mothers and fathers have “equal title” to parental authority. He nevertheless assigns final authority within a marriage to the husband.
Taylor does not explain in the book how he would apply those beliefs to women working in public education. As superintendent, he would oversee policies affecting educators, students and families statewide.
Divorce and homosexuality
Taylor presents marriage as an illustration of the relationship between Jesus Christ and the church, then writes that divorce communicates something negative about God.
“So a bad marriage means a bad illustration,” Taylor wrote. “So when you get divorced, you are saying something bad about God.”
In discussing immorality and social disorder, Taylor describes homosexuality as following sexual immorality and what he calls a “depraved mind.”
“It culminates in an outbreak of homosexuality. People of God, we are there! We have arrived.”
Faith, public schools and Walters
Asked at an Aug. 12 Greater Oklahoma City Chamber candidate forum whether he stood by the passages concerning women and male supervision, Taylor said he did.
The passages came up again the next night during a televised debate with his runoff opponent, Robert Franklin, a retired educator and longtime school administrator. The Cameron University debate was hosted by NonDoc and KSWO and is available in full on KSWO’s YouTube channel.
Moderators quoted the sections describing man as “God’s vice president” and homosexuality as an “outbreak.” Taylor did not address either passage directly. Instead, he described how Christianity had shaped his life.
“My life has been shaped by my faith in Jesus Christ,” Taylor said. “It directs me. It guides me.”
Asked later how his administration would differ from that of former Superintendent Ryan Walters, Taylor focused on Walters’ effectiveness. Walters resigned in September 2025 after a tenure marked by disputes over religion and other cultural issues.
“Ryan Walters was good at trying to find problems, but he was not very good at fixing the problems,” Taylor said. “That’s not my style.”
The answer did not address whether the Bible or other Christian content should be required or encouraged in public schools. Other public statements provide more detail.
Taylor told Oklahoma Voice in May, “I would do everything I can” to reinstate social studies standards developed under Walters that explained the Bible’s influence on the country’s founding.
In a public candidate questionnaire, Taylor said separation of church and state was intended “to keep the government out of the church and not the church out of government.”
During the debate, Taylor criticized Walters’ attempt to purchase Trump-endorsed Bibles for classrooms.
“I don’t want an atheist teaching my children the Bible,” Taylor said. “I want someone of faith to teach the Bible.”
Taylor has not said whether he would seek statewide Bible-instruction requirements similar to Walters’ rescinded directive. Franklin took a different position, saying teachers should model strong character but should not be assigned responsibility for directing students’ religious development.
Two candidates, one nomination
Before running for superintendent, Taylor challenged U.S. Rep. Tom Cole in four consecutive Republican primaries from 2016 through 2022. He lost each time. The closest was in 2018, when Cole won 65% to 35%.
Franklin is making his first run for elected office. His 44-year education career included work as a special education teacher, principal, Sand Springs administrator and Tulsa Tech associate superintendent.
Franklin led the seven-candidate June primary with about 23% of the vote. Taylor received about 20%, trailing by nearly 11,000 votes.
An Aug. 3-6 CHS Sooner Survey found Franklin at 27%, Taylor at 26% and 47% undecided, a difference within the poll’s margin of error. Separate findings put both candidates’ name identification at roughly 17%.
Republicans will choose between them Aug. 25. The winner will face Democratic nominee Jennettie Marshall, a former Tulsa Board of Education member, in the Nov. 3 general election.
