David Boren, among Oklahoma’s last leading Democrats before the state’s turn to the right, has died

OKLAHOMA CITY — David Boren, a former governor, fierce public education advocate and prominent Democrat in Oklahoma politics for over half a century who saw his reputation tarnished by accusations of sexual misconduct late in life, has died. He was 83.

Bob Burke, a longtime friend, announced the death in a statement on Thursday. He said Boren died at home surrounded by his family.

Boren was born in 1941, and, in many ways, born into politics. His mother gave birth to him in Washington D.C. while his father was representing Oklahoma in Congress. Boren would follow his father to the nation’s capital decades later, and his own son would also later represent the state in the U.S. House of Representatives.

But Boren’s own political career officially began in 1967 when he was elected as a conservative Democrat to serve in the state House, representing a legislative district that included Seminole County. He served four terms before he ran for governor in 1974 and won. His campaign slogan was “Boren Broom Brigade” to “sweep out the Old Guard” of Oklahoma government.

He opted to serve one term as governor and then ran for a U.S. Senate seat, which he won and held from 1979 to 1994. Boren chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee

In 1994, he stepped down to become president at the University of Oklahoma. He held that role until he retired in 2018.

He was the last Democrat to represent Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate, said Christine Pappas, a political science professor at East Central University. She said when he left the Senate, it was the “nail in the coffin” for Democratic influence and dominance in Oklahoma.

Pappas said Boren’s book, “A Letter to America,” is a lasting piece of his legacy. The book details a path forward to bipartisanship and how to reach across the aisle to achieve goals, she said.

Burke, the longtime friend, the manager of Boren’s first U.S. Senate campaign and an attorney who represented him during a later sexual misconduct investigation at OU, said in a statement that Boren believed in improving education for Oklahomans and listening to the people.

“No Oklahoman had more influence on the state’s progress in its first century than David Boren,” Burke said. “He was an informed and cool voice during turbulent times in the Middle East. He worked closely with national intelligence leaders to make the United States safe from foreign enemies. He was the smartest person I ever knew. He was a Rhodes Scholar, yet he could communicate with a farmer in overalls on the Main Street of a small Oklahoma town. He took his job as a public servant seriously.”

Former Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh worked with Boren in many capacities, including as lieutenant governor when Boren served as governor. Nigh and his wife, Donna, said they were thankful for Boren’s friendship.

“In all my experience in government, David Boren is one of the most qualified public servants I’ve ever worked with,” Nigh said. “… He was an excellent public servant and an excellent partner for me. And I think he did a good job for the country when he was in the U.S. Senate. And of course he was outstanding in his service at OU.”

While serving in the U.S. Senate, Boren founded the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. The nonprofit aims to improve public education in Oklahoma through honoring and investing in students and teachers in the state.

“David Boren was one of the greatest Oklahoma has ever produced,” said former U.S. District Judge Michael Burrage in a statement. “He provided great service to the Nation, Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma and made them all better places. One of his finest traits that he had is that he always wanted to help, regardless of who you were. He will be missed.”

He was nominated to be a federal judge at Boren’s recommendation during his time in the Senate.

At the helm of OU, Boren led a fundraising campaign that the university has said raised $3 billion, and its campuses saw a boom in construction and new educational programs. But OU’s next president, put in place by a largely conservative board of regents, would later say Boren left the university in debt.

“Few individuals have so wholeheartedly dedicated their careers to serving others as President Boren, who was driven by a bold vision to create a better, stronger future,” OU President Joseph Harroz Jr said in a statment. “He was guided by a steadfast philosophy of serving the greater good, as well as an enduring belief in the transformative power of education.”

In 2019, less than a year after he retired, a former OU student accused Boren of inappropriately touching and kissing him while he was working as an aide in the university president’s office nearly a decade prior.

Boren denied the allegations.

The university hired an international law firm, Jones Day, to investigate allegations of sexual harassment of male employees, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation also launched its own investigation, and no criminal charges were filed. Very little about the Jones Day investigation’s findings have been made public.

In 1977, while serving as governor, Boren married Molly W. Shi, a Pontotoc County judge. He had two children from a previous marriage, Carrie Christine Boren, a minister, and David Daniel Boren, a former U.S. congressman from Oklahoma. Boren’s father, Lyle Boren, also represented Oklahoma in the U.S. House.

In 2018, shortly before retiring, Boren showed symptoms of a medical episode during a public ceremony honoring former OU football coach Bob Stoops. The school later said Boren had gotten dizzy and suffered discomfort before being taken to a hospital, where tests showed he had had a stroke. OU said Boren had heart surgery in 2017.

Oklahoma Voice (oklahomavoice.com) is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. Oklahoma Voice provides nonpartisan reporting, and retains full editorial independence.