Mayor Dewey Bartlett and former mayor Kathy Taylor are heading to the November ballot in Tulsa’s first nonpartisan mayoral election.
Taylor had a secure lead Tuesday night over the incumbent, and former City Councilor Bill Christiansen was a distant third.
Perennial candidate Lawrence Kirkpatrick and first-time candidate Jerry Branch also were on the ballot.
With 196 of 196 precincts reporting, the State Election Board showed Taylor with 24,495 votes, to Bartlett's 19,937 and Christiansen's 13,476. The other two candidates just over 300 votes combined.
At her watch party Tuesday night, the top vote-getter was beginning to look ahead.
"We ran first tonight and we will run first in November," Taylor said.
"When elected in November, I will be the leader Tulsa needs with a vision Tulsa deserves."
Bartlett said voters bought into his message on the need for continuity in leadership at City Hall.
"This was a difficult race because we really had to have a primary and a general election at the same time," Bartlett said. "Meanwhile, running the city while being outspent three to one, but we were able to overcome it all."
Christiansen said he spoke with Taylor and Bartlett on the phone and congratulated them on making it to the general election.
Christiansen told a crowd at a watch party there was a silver lining to the loss.
"The greatest thing about not winning is I'll be able to spend time with my granddaughter," he said.
The Tulsa World sent a reporter to check on vote totals posted at various precincts after the polls closed at 7 p.m.
At Precinct 125 in Tulsa Bible Church at 61st Street and Sheridan Road, the incumbent scored big: Bartlett, 233; Taylor, 162; and Christiansen, 101.
Precinct 126 at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, 5635 E. 71st St., also went to Bartlett with 223 votes. Taylor had 147, and Christiansen, 125.
Bartlett also was the top vote-getter at Precinct 118 in the Helmerich Library, whee the totals were Bartlett, 256; Taylor, 156; and Christiansen, 173.
The order was the same at Precinct 117 in Jenks East Intermediate School: Bartlett, 337; Taylor, 257; Christiansen, 188.
And Precinct 73 at John Knox Presbyterian Church went to Bartlett, 241; Taylor, 198; and Christiansen, 44.
Taylor picked up votes in Precinct 62 at All Souls Unitarian, where she had 448 votes to Bartlett's 302 and Christiansen's 75.
The results in Precinct 68 at Brookside Library were Taylor, 133; Bartlett, 85; and, Christiansen, 77.
The order changed slightly at Precinct 167, St. James United Methodist Church: Bartlett, 199; Christiansen, 186; and Taylor, 127.
Taylor was slightly ahead at Precinct 69 in St. Mary's Catholic Church, where she had 260 votes to Bartlett's 253 and Christiansen's 104.
Taylor took a key north Tulsa precinct at Rudisill Library, where the totals were Taylor, 363; Bartlett, 29; and Christiansen, 51.
The former mayor also fared well in absentee balloting: Taylor, 2,317; Bartlett, 1,341 and Christiansen, 763.
Tulsa County Election Board officials said earlier in the day that indications pointed to a high voter turnout but provided no specifics.
“I still think we are going to get about 45,000, hopefully higher,” Election Board Assistant Secretary Shelly Boggs said just before polls closed.
Nearly 200,000 people were registered to vote in Tuesday’s election, including 90,729 Republicans, 83,356 Democrats and 24,809 independents.
The Election Board spent Tuesday morning dealing with several problems encountered by local residents hoping to cast a ballot.
Eight voters in Precinct 117 at Jenks East Intermediate School, 3933 E. 91st St., were told by poll workers that they were not registered.
Boggs said the voters were registered but that poll workers were looking for the names on the wrong registration lists.
Road construction hindered voter access at three polling stations: Precinct 25 at Maxwell Park Library, 1313 N.Canton Ave.; Precincts 124 and 127 at Aberdeen Heights Assisted Living, 7220 S. Yale Ave.; and Precinct 460 at Tulsa Tech Center SE campus, 4600 S. Olive Ave. in Broken Arrow.
The Tulsa Tech polling place was for the Tulsa County Commission District 3 special Republican primary.
Nine voting machines had to be replaced because they were not operating properly — a typical number for a citywide election, Boggs said.
Boggs said generally voting went well on Tuesday but that she suspects a glitch or two as voters come in from the 230 precints beginning at 7 p.m.
“If it doesn’t happen, that’s awesome,” she said. “But typically there are one or two we have to service.”
Tulsa’s next mayor will be sworn in to office the first week of December and serve a three-year term.
The next auditor, meanwhile, will serve a one year term beginning in December.
Voters in 2011 approved two initiative petitions sponsored by Save Our Tulsa. The first made municipal elections nonpartisan. The second returned City Council terms to two years, all ending at the same time and merging the elections with state and federal elections in even-numbered years. This came just two years after Tulsans voted to stagger council elections and make terms three years.
To get all of the council seats back on the same two-year election cycle, Councilors Phil Lakin, Jeanne Cue and Karen Gilbert - as well as City Auditor Clift Richards - were up for one-year terms in November.
Lakin, Cue and Gilbert were re-elected earlier this year when no candidates filed to oppose them.
Beginning in the fall of 2014, all nine City Council seats and the auditor’s job will once again be up for election.
Beginning in 2016, the mayor will be elected to four-year terms.
