Candidates Dewey Bartlett (left) and Kathy Taylor: The two have five months to convince the ones who didn't vote for either of them the first time to vote for them in November
Tulsa's two remaining mayoral candidates are crafting their pitches to the roaming supporters of their ousted opponent as they prepare for a five-month marathon to November's general election.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett, who won only 34 percent of Tuesday's nonpartisan primary vote, will focus on appealing to the 23 percent of voters who chose fellow Republican Bill Christiansen, saying he's confident that Republicans will join him in a united front to tip the scale against Democrat opponent Kathy Taylor.
Taylor, who captured 42 percent of the vote - 8 percentage points shy of winning the race outright - says Bartlett's second-place finish indicates that Tulsans simply want a new mayor. Her campaign hopes to convince voters that she has leadership qualities that rise above partisan politics.
But first, both candidates will take a break.
After several months of high- octane campaigning, they say they are as fatigued as voters. Political appearances, campaign advertisements, mailers - all will slow down, if not stop completely, for the next couple of months, the campaigns said.
"We talk about wanting a break, and I know voters want a break, too," Taylor spokeswoman Anna America said. "They want some time where they don't have to spend the entire time thinking about a mayor's race."
All three candidates competed directly Tuesday under the city's new voter- approved nonpartisan election system, and Bartlett and Taylor will appear on ballots Nov. 12 without party affiliations attached to their name.
But Bartlett's campaign hopes party affiliations are as significant in November as they have ever been.
Campaign Manager Dan Patten said his staff has been meeting with Christiansen voters and will plan a strategy to convince them in coming months that they should support Bartlett as the race's only remaining political conservative.
A recent Oklahoma Poll conducted by
SoonerPoll.com indicates that Bartlett might have an easier time swaying them than Taylor, as almost half of the 81 Christiansen supporters who took the poll named the mayor as their second choice, compared to 16 percent for Taylor.
Twenty-eight percent said they were undecided.
"We're really focusing on rallying the Republican base behind us," Patten said. "We're the Republican candidate. Tulsa runs best when it's run by a conservative leader, and we'll keep that going."
He said he's confident that Christiansen's supporters will identify far better with Bartlett's fiscally conservative management style than the "deficit spending" of Taylor's 2006-09 mayoral administration.
America said voters care more about a mayor's stance on local issues such as trash collection and street repairs than party affiliations. That is why they approved a nonpartisan system in the first place, she said.
"It absolutely isn't about and shouldn't be about that, and I think it's a disservice to Tulsans if a campaign tries to make this about partisanship," America said.
She said Taylor will focus on the issues in the coming months by emphasizing her "stark differences" with Bartlett, not by "driving a wedge" with partisan politics.
Christiansen supporters, as well as voters who did not participate in the primary, will identify with Taylor's strong leadership style and commitment to involving Tulsans in important decisions, America said.
She said those voters share Taylor's view that Bartlett has been "tone-deaf" to residents, particularly on issues such as trash.
"Two-thirds of Tulsans voted for a new mayor (on Tuesday), and we aim to make their wish come true," she said.
Zack Stoycoff 918-581-8486
zack.stoycoff@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Campaigns to slow down, prepare for November
