Christiansen may not endorse Bartlett
By ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer on Jun 12, 2013, at 2:54 PM Updated on 6/12/13 at 2:55 PM
Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett (left) and former City Councilor Bill Christiansen. Tulsa World File
Former City Councilor Bill Christiansen says he is unsure whether he will follow through on a promise to endorse Mayor Dewey Bartlett after losing Tuesday’s primary election, saying mudslinging from Bartlett’s campaign over the months has irked him and supporters.
“I think I said I probably would endorse him, yes, but I said that many months before he, in my opinion, started lying about me in his campaign,” Christiansen said. “It’s just hard to swallow, and I just have to make sure I’m endorsing the right person for the city of Tulsa.”
Christiansen was quoted in news media early in the mayoral race saying he would endorse his fellow Republican if he were to lose in the primary, and he said after his concession speech Tuesday that “I’ve given my word that I will endorse him, and I am a man of my word.”
He softened that by adding that he would have to meet with Bartlett to make a final decision.
He said Wednesday that both Bartlett and former Mayor Kathy Taylor, a Democrat, have negatives and positives as candidates and that he will meet with both of them before making an endorsement decision.
No endorsement is also a possibility, he said.
He said he plans to take a weeklong vacation with family before arranging the meetings.
Taylor captured 42 percent of Tuesday’s vote over Bartlett’s 34 percent and Christiansen’s 23 percent. The candidates competed directly as part of the city’s new nonpartisan election system.
Taylor and Bartlett will compete again in the Nov. 12 general election, and both will focus on swaying Christiansen supporters.
But many of those supporters are bitter after months of mudslinging from Bartlett, including efforts to paint Christiansen as the “big union” candidate, mailers linking Christiansen to Taylor’s decision to move City Hall and live cold calls spreading incorrect information, Christiansen said.
Read more in Thursday's Tulsa World
