Staff
The story Tuesday night in the Tulsa mayoral election may not have been that Mayor Dewey Bartlett finished second, but that former Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor promised to win it outright and fell short.
Taylor won 42% to Bartlett’s 34%, but former City Councilor Bill Christiansen garnered 24% and has already said it’s likely he’ll throw his support to fellow Republican incumbent Mayor Bartlett.
While the race was the first ever non-partisan city election in Tulsa, the outcome showed voters haven’t forgotten that Bartlett is a Republican and Taylor is a Democrat.
Bartlett won heavily in south Tulsa Republican precincts even though Christiansen, a longtime city councilor from that region, siphoned off GOP votes.
Prolific Tulsa World blogger and senior writer Wayne Greene believes those voters are likely to rerun to Bartlett and explained on Monday why Taylor needed to win it outright on the first round.
Here’s a link to Greene’s Monday analysis; :http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/post.aspx/Kathy_Taylors_best_chance_to_win_comes_Tuesday/30-20720
