Democrat Cathy Criswell (right) hugs her daughter Melissa Criswell after learning that she received the most votes in her bid for city auditor at her watch party at Leon's in Brookside on Tuesday evening. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World
A Democratic challenge to the incumbent city auditor narrowly missed a knock-out win Tuesday night.
Cathy Criswell, 58, took 47.4 percent of the final, unofficial results in Tuesday night’s city primary election.
Because she did not win a clear majority of the vote, she goes to a Nov. 12 general election showdown with incumbent Clift Richards, 73, a Republican who got 28.0 percent of the vote.
Josh Lewis, 30, a Republican challenger who is a senior supervisor of the state auditor’s Tulsa office, came in third in the balloting with 24.6 percent and is eliminated from November’s election.
Speaking from a watch party at Leon’s restaurant in Brookside, Criswell said she was excited by Tuesday’s results and is looking forward to the next round.
“I definitely appreciate the people who supported me,” she said. “It wasn’t a big campaign, so people just believed in me.”
Criswell worked under former City Auditor Philip Wood from 1988 to 2008 before spending two years evaluating city lawsuit and insurance liabilities as chief risk officer to then-Mayor Kathy Taylor.
She said she made more than 1,500 recommendations as part of Wood’s office, eventually rising to the position of audit manager.
Tuesday’s results give Criswell momentum to win outright in November and then take office aggressively, she said.
“I am going to hit the ground running, get in there and get the job done and help the city of Tulsa improve,” she said.
Richards said he thinks he will be able to flip the results in November.
Two Republican candidates split the GOP vote in the putatively nonpartisan election, giving Criswell an advantage in round one, he said.
In the November election, when he will be the only Republican candidate, Richards thinks the results will come out in his favor, he said.
Tulsa has about 7,400 more registered Republican voters than Democrats.
Richards has 51 years of auditing, public accounting and tax experience. He was named auditor in March 2011, when Preston Doerflinger resigned from the post. Richards ran unopposed for the post in November 2011.
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