Phil Lakin, the Midtown Money Belt's candidate for south Tulsa

It's a little better than last time around. Tulsa City Council District 8 candidate Phil Lakin managed to boost the percentage of funds he raised from residents of his own district by a whole percentage point, up to 30% of the $53,500 total amount of contributions over $200, according to a BatesLine analysis of pre-primary election ethics filings.

And the total from District 9 doesn't look as impressive as in 2009, but that's only because five wealthy precincts on the northern edge of District 9 were transferred to District 4. 36.4% came from within the old District 9 boundaries, a bit shy of the 2009 proportion. If you add in the contributions from the neighborhoods just south of Southern Hills Country Club, a little over 40% of contributions over $200 came from the Midtown Money Belt.

Notable contributors include Obama bundler and BOK majority owner and chairman George Kaiser, the BOK Financial Corporation PAC, Stan Lybarger (BOK CEO), Frederic Dorwart (BOK's attorney and, like Lakin, a GKFF trustee) and several attorneys in his firm, former Democrat Mayor Kathy Taylor, Francis Rooney (not registered to vote in the Tulsa metro area), TulsaBizPac (the Tulsa Metro Chamber PAC), Phil Frohlich (another GKFF trustee), Bob Poe, and David K. Johnson.

There's already a question about whom Lakin, CEO of the Tulsa Community Foundation and trustee of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, will be representing if he is elected to the City Council. As I wrote in July, District 8 voters may well feel that the massive resources of TCF and GKFF give Lakin enough of a seat at the city's policy-making table without a seat on the City Council.

District 8 Republican voters have an alternative: George Gibbs is the attorney who fought, pro bono on behalf of the South Tulsa Citizens Coalition, and won the court battle against an illegal toll bridge scheme that would have funneled heavy truck traffic right through the heart of District 8.

Just over half of contributions to Gibbs greater than $200 came from within District 8. ($10626.25 out of 20626.25.) Only $1,500 came from the Midtown Money Belt.