Tulsa Election 2009: First day filings

The first day of the three-day filing period for the City of Tulsa's municipal elections is over, and we have eight candidates for mayor (four Democrats and four Republicans), two candidates for auditor, and competitive races in only two council districts so far, with only five of the nine incumbent councilors filing on Monday for re-election.

The Democratic field is so far a collection of perennial candidates: Accountability (Gene) Burns, Paul Tay, Prophet Kelly Clark, and Robert Gwin Jr. Clark and Gwin share the distinction of having run for City Council District 7 as Republicans.

David O'Connor, an east Tulsa resident, is one of the founders of Citizens for Fair and Clean Government.

The Tulsa County Election Board will update the list of candidates each day at 5 p.m. Here is the direct link to the 2009 City of Tulsa list of candidates. (PDF file.) Oddly, it's labeled a list of candidates for the September 8 primary, so it's unclear whether any independents have filed.

As expected, former councilors Roscoe Turner and Maria Barnes, both Democrats, have filed to try to take back their old seats. Turner's nemesis, Councilor David Patrick, did not file today, nor did his colleagues John Eagleton, Dennis Troyer, and Bill Martinson, although as far as I know all are expected to run for re-election.

I did hear an intriguing rumor over the weekend that Bill Martinson may run for auditor. The incumbent, Phil Wood, 85, has been serving since 1988, when he was elected the last auditor under the old charter. Wood runs a small but solid audit department, but I've criticized him for not doing more to publicize the audit department's findings or to campaign for more resources.

J. Bryan Osborne, who announced his intention to run for an open District 8 seat, withdrew following Bill Christiansen's decision not to run for mayor after all but to seek re-election.

Former City Councilor Anna Falling has announced a press conference for tomorrow morning at 10:30. It's unclear whether she plans to run for office or if she is simply taking advantage of the filing period to call attention to a non-governmental initiative. The press release states:

Anna Falling to Host a News Conference
to Discuss the Core Challenges of this Community
and How the Church Can Restore Wholeness

Taking what she has done for nearly a decade and a half - equipping churches to transform lives from poverty to purpose - Anna Falling will announce her intention tomorrow to take that vision to the City of Tulsa to combat problems that have plagued the core of Tulsa for decades.

Saying that it is no longer an option, Anna Falling will communicate that a change must take place to empower the churches of this city, along with other community organizations, to overcome issues that have resulted in greater crime rates, higher government costs, and band-aid decisions that have exasperated problems even worse decade by decade. The City's budget can no longer sustain the problems of this city and the people's remaining wellness cannot continue without a foundational core change in the way our issues are addressed. The City of Tulsa must facilitate congregations of this community to play an official and significant role in transforming our underlying social ills.

Here are the day's filings, by office and party. TulsaPolitico.com has a list of announced and filed candidates with links to their websites.

MAYOR

Republican
David Lee O'Connor, 307 S. 108th East Ave., Tulsa, OK 74128, 04/13/52
Dewey Follett Bartlett Jr., 1235 E. 30th Place, Tulsa, OK 74114, 03/16/47
Paul Alan Roales, 1804 S. 117th E. Ave., Tulsa, OK 74128, 07/03/45
Michael David Tomes Sr., 7937 S. Yale Ave., Apt D, Tulsa, OK 74136, 02/11/48

Democrat
Robert Arizona Gwin Jr., 3113 S. 130th E. Pl., Tulsa, OK 74134, 06/18/73
Paul C. Tay Jr., 4004 S Toledo, Tulsa, OK 74135, 09/01/62
A. Burns, 1210 S. Cheyenne Ave., Tulsa, OK 74119, 12/22/26
Prophet Kelly Lamar Clark Sr., 243 E. 46 N. St, Tulsa, OK 74126, 07/08/72

CITY AUDITOR

Democrat
Phil Wood, 3622 S. Yorktown Place, Tulsa, OK 74105, 12/29/24 (incumbent)

Republican
Preston Lee Doerflinger, 7915 South Fulton Ave, Tulsa, OK 74136, 04/23/72

COUNCILOR, ELECTION DISTRICT ONE (1)

Democrat
Jack Ross Henderson, 2014 N. Rosedale Ave., Tulsa, OK 74101, 04/22/50 (incumbent)

COUNCILOR, ELECTION DISTRICT TWO (2)

Republican
Rick Dalton Westcott, 2508 W. 68 Pl., Tulsa, OK 74132,10/15/54 (incumbent)

COUNCILOR, ELECTION DISTRICT THREE (3)

Democrat
Roscoe H. Turner Sr., 3415 E. Haskell St., Tulsa, OK 74115, 02/16/32

Republican
Karl William Hulcher, 729 N. Delaware Pl., Tulsa, OK 74110 08/16/62

COUNCILOR, ELECTION DISTRICT FOUR (4)

Republican
Jason Eric Gomez, 2716 E. 13th, Tulsa, OK 74104, 07/18/69 (incumbent)

Democrat
Maria Veliz Barnes 1319 S. Terrace Dr, Tulsa, OK 74104, 07/28/60

COUNCILOR, ELECTION DISTRICT FIVE (5)

Republican
Christopher Eric Trail, 10611 E. 20th Street, Tulsa, OK 74128, 01/29/70

COUNCILOR, ELECTION DISTRICT SIX (6)

COUNCILOR, ELECTION DISTRICT SEVEN (7)

COUNCILOR, ELECTION DISTRICT EIGHT (8)

Republican
William Lee Christiansen, 5106 E. 86th Pl., Tulsa, OK 74137 12/23/47 (incumbent)

COUNCILOR, ELECTION DISTRICT NINE (9)

Republican
G.T. Bynum, 3607 S. Florence Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74015, 08/28/77 (incumbent)