Tulsa Election 2022 Category

In-person absentee voting will be available at in every county on Wednesday through Friday, November 2 - 4, 2022 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday, November 5, 2022, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. In most counties, this will be at the County Election Board office or county courthouse; here is the full list of absentee-in-person voting sites. Seven counties have two absentee-in-person sites, including these four in the Tulsa metro area:

• Osage County: Fairgrounds Ag Building, Pawhuska; First Baptist Church, Skiatook (West Rogers Campus)
• Rogers County: Election Board; Central Baptist Church in Owasso
• Tulsa County: Election Board, 555 N. Denver; Hardesty Regional Library
• Wagoner County: First Baptist Church, Wagoner; NSU-BA, Broken Arrow

Polls will be open Tuesday, November 8, 2022, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. In addition to the general election for federal, statewide, legislative, county, and judicial elections, runoffs for Tulsa City Council will be held in three seats. Unusually, there are no state questions on the ballot. Here is the complete list of ballot items, sorted by county.

NOTE: Precinct boundaries, voting locations, and district boundaries have changed, in some cases dramatically. Enter your name and date of birth on the Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter portal and you will see where to vote and your sample ballot.

In response to popular demand, I have assembled the guidance detailed below into a
downloadable, printable, single-page PDF.

Here are the candidates I'm recommending and (if in the district) voting for in the Oklahoma general election and City of Tulsa runoff election on November 8, 2022. (This entry will change as I decide to add more detail, link previous articles, or discuss additional races between now and election day. The entry is post-dated to keep it at the top.)

As I post this, I'm still unsure about several races, and there are other races I had planned to write about in detail, but time is short, people are voting, and many have asked for a summary of my recommendations.

Tulsa City Council:

District 5: Grant Miller (L)
District 6: Christian Bengel (R)
District 7: Ken Reddick (R)

Council races are officially non-partisan, and marking a straight-party vote doesn't cover these races. We need east and southeast Tulsa voters to elect all three of these conservative challengers, to defeat the left-wing incumbents, in order to have even the beginnings of a conservative voice at City Hall.

Statewide:

Governor: Kevin Stitt (R)
Lt. Governor: Matt Pinnell (R)
Attorney General: Lynda Steele (L)
Treasurer: Todd Russ (R)
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Ryan Walters (R)
Commissioner of Labor: Will Daugherty (L)
Corporation Commissioner: Kim David (R)

Why not straight-ticket GOP? A phony conservative and Biden donor, Gentner Drummond, won the GOP nomination for Attorney General with the help of massive amounts of dark money. The incumbent Labor Commissioner, Leslie Osborn, has expressed her loathing for conservatives and their values, despite the R by her name; I wouldn't be surprised if she follows Hofmeister and switches parties to run for governor as a Democrat in 4 years. Libertarian candidates are running in both elections, available for a protest vote.

Federal:

Whatever our disappointments with some of the Republican candidates this year, winning control of Congress requires us to elect as many Republicans as possible. Better still, we have the opportunity to re-elect a solid conservative in Kevin Hern and to add Josh Brecheen, a conservative with a solid legislative record.

US Senate (unexpired term): Markwayne Mullin (R)
US Senate (full term): James Lankford (R)
1st Congressional District: Kevin Hern (R)
2nd Congressional District: Josh Brecheen (R)
3rd Congressional District: Frank Lucas (R)
4th Congressional District: Tom Cole (R)
5th Congressional District: Stephanie Bice (R)

District Court:

District 14 District Judge, Office 12: Kevin Gray (R)

State Legislature:

State Senate 34: Dana Prieto (R)

State House 9: Mark Lepak (R)
State House 41: Denise Crosswhite Hader (R)
State House 66: Clay Staires (R)
State House 70: Brad Banks (R)
State House 71: Mike Masters (R)
State House 79: Paul Hassink (R)

County:

Tulsa County Assessor: John Wright (R)
Osage County Commissioner District 1: Everett Piper (R)
District Attorney, District 7 (Oklahoma County): Kevin Calvey (R)

Supreme Court retention:

Dustin P. Rowe: YES
James R. Winchester: NO
Dana Kuehn: YES
Douglas L. Combs: NO

Court of Civil Appeals retention:

Stacie L. Hixon: YES
Gregory C. Blackwell: YES
John F. Fischer: NO
Barbara G. Swinton: NO
Thomas E. Prince: YES

MORE INFORMATION:

OTHER CONSERVATIVE VOICES:

Here are some blogs, endorsement lists, candidate questionnaires, and sources of information for your consideration.

• Muskogee Politico news, questionnaires, and analysis
• Muskogee Politico on the judicial retention ballot
• Steve Fair and Georgia Williams on the judicial retention ballot
• Oklahoma Conservative PAC meeting videos, including candidate speeches
• Oklahoma Constitution Index: Scores incumbent legislators on voting record
• iVoterGuide surveys of Oklahoma statewide, federal, and legislative candidates
• City Elders Tulsa speakers' videos, including candidate speeches
• Oklahomans for Life candidate surveys
• Oklahomans for the 2nd Amendment (OK2A) endorsements
• NRA-PVF endorsements
• Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights (OKHPR) general election voter guide

ANTI-CONSERVATIVE VOICES:

Here are some endorsement lists that are negative indicators:

• Oklahomans for Public Education: OPE advocates for higher taxes, opposes school choice, and opposes efforts to keep leftist advocacy out of the classroom. They work to defeat principled Republicans. A yellow warning mark from OPE is a badge of honor for a conservative candidate. Here is the OPE voter guide for 2022 (backup copy).
• Oklahoma Education Association, state affiliate of the leftist NEA teachers' union, has endorsed nine Republicans in contested primaries. The list was leaked to Corey DeAngelis.

If you appreciate the many hours of research that went into this guide and into the rest of my election coverage, and if you'd like to help keep this site online, you can contribute to BatesLine's upkeep via PayPal. In addition to keeping me caffeinated, donated funds pay for web hosting, subscriptions, and paid databases I use for research. Many thanks to those generous readers who have already contributed.

An election eve assortment of thoughts:

Last week, I attended and live-tweeted the Tuesday, November 1, 2022, Red Wave rally in Oklahoma City featuring Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Kevin Stitt, and State Superintendent nominee Ryan Walters; the Wednesday Tulsa rally with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and a Wednesday lunch-time forum with Ryan Walters. In between the latter two events, I went for a walk in McClure Park.

On Saturday, I helped with a literature drop for Brad Banks, Republican nominee for the open House District 70 seat, going to almost every house. The area I covered was only 80 acres, an 1/8th of a square mile, but I walked 22,977 steps (10.8 miles), and it took me about 4 hours. It was a beautiful day for walking. I cheated a bit: We were supposed to hit every house, but I went home, downloaded the latest voter registration file, filtered down to the streets and blocks of the precinct section I volunteered to cover, did a unique sort on street and house number, put the list of house numbers in columns by street on a single workbook page, and used it to guide my walking. Making the list took me about 30 minutes. As it turned out, I probably didn't save much time, as this area had a registered voter at nearly every address. I didn't filter by frequency of past votes or party or change of address, which might have saved me a few steps.

More dark-money attacks in Monday's mail. One is from Imagine This Oklahoma (one of a raft of dark-money groups funded by Oklahoma Forward) targeting Stitt over inflation, complaining about the state's $3 billion rainy-day fund ("hoarding our tax dollars"), and subsidies that the legislature passed to try to attract Panasonic, Canoo, and Hollywood filmmakers. Of course, if Stitt had stopped any of these initiatives, they would have attacked him for killing job opportunities and smashing our state piggy bank.

The issues presented in the dark-money ads are never the real issues motivating the donors to attack their targets. If you knew who the donors were, you'd know their motivation, and you'd realize that the donors are seeking their own benefit at the expense of you, the taxpayer. So they stay hidden.

The City of Tulsa's odd and oft-changed election process comes to its 2022 conclusion Tuesday with runoffs in three of nine Tulsa City Council seats. Three incumbents, all registered to vote as Democrats, failed to reach the 50% threshold in the August general election and so face a runoff. The same three seats, Districts 5, 6, and 7, went to a runoff in the 2020 election as well.

Tulsa City Council races are on a separate printed ballot. Because they are nominally non-partisan (no party label appears on the city ballot), voting straight party on the main ballot for state, county, legislative, and judicial items will count for nothing on the city ballot.

In each of the three races, I urge you to vote for the conservative challenger. The Democrat incumbents are all embedded in the non-profit realm, with little or no exposure to the private sector where producing results for the customer determines your survival. The Council's unanimous allocation of $112,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds to a sex survey targeting teens (with approval by Mayor GT Bynum IV) ought to be enough to convince you we need to throw all the bums out.

Currently there are no conservative leaders in Tulsa city government. Electing Grant Miller in District 5, Christian Bengel in District 6, and Ken Reddick in District 7 is an important first step toward ensuring that common-sense Tulsans have a voice at City Hall.

Thursday evening brought the news that AHHA, the Arts and Humanities Hardesty Arts Center in the "Tulsa Arts District," was closing its doors permanently on Friday.

At ahha, we've been dedicated to bringing arts to the Tulsa community since 1961. Over the years, we've expanded our partnerships to work collaboratively with at least eight area school districts, a local healthcare system, state and regional government agencies, and over 100 member arts and humanities organizations.

During the past few years, our community has seen some of the most challenging economic and social times in recent history. It is with great sadness that we announce the permanent closure of ahha Tulsa's Hardesty Center on Friday, November 4.

We will continue to pursue avenues to secure a long-term future for some of our programs and look to achieve that mission as quickly as possible.

We also learned this week that OKPOP is $30 million and a couple of years away from opening to the public; the first $30 million only paid for "skin and bones."

Two State Senate districts and six State House districts that overlap with Tulsa County have general elections on November 8, 2022. Neighboring counties add in four additional State House seats. Here's an overview with my recommendations in six of the races; details after the jump, and more to be added.

Senate 2: No recommendation
Senate 34: Dana Prieto (R)
House 9: Mark Lepak (R)
House 66: Clay Staires (R)
House 70: Brad Banks (R)
House 71: Mike Masters (R)
House 79: Paul Hassink (R)

District 4 Tulsa City Councilor-elect Laura Bellis, speaking at a recent fundraiser for incumbent District 7 Councilor and Council Chairman Lori Decter Wright, called the three challengers in the November 8, 2022, runoff, "actual fascists," called Decter Wright's opponent a "Nazi," and said that she has reported him to the FBI multiple times. Decter Wright embraces Bellis's words, saying, "I thank Laura for saying all the things I can't say, as chairwoman of the Tulsa City Council -- at least not publicly!"

I first saw this video here, but it had already been in circulation. The fundraiser appears to have been recent. I don't recognize the venue.

The Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police- FOP Public Page posted the video, but edited down to key sections (omitting Bellis's fundraising pitch for Decter Wright) and with captions.

Here is my attempt at transcribing. Bellis's grating "uptalk" sometimes makes it hard to distinguish questions from statements.

...reliant on sales taxes to fund big services for people? So it's really scary to watch people who are complete actual fascists? Running for office. It's actually -- it's every runoff that is happening right now there's an incumbent city councilor? Who is like a common sense person? Who is up against what I would say is a literal fascist? And it's scary. And we've seen it in recent, in the past several months, what it looks like when one of Those People gets a seat on our school board. They vote no on things like, just approving the agenda. They actually sow chaos. And we can't have that.

So it's never been more critical to be engaged on the local level, which is why I'm so amazed that you all are here? It's so important to pay attention to these things, because again These People are trying to infiltrate -- They don't have an interest in policy work. They don't have a vision for what they hope to see in our community. They're not interested in making people's lives better. They're too busy, saying the word "woke" a lot and being scared about critical race theory. It's ridiculous. You know, that's not a conversation for the City Council? We can of course talk about inequities and so much more and dig into policy there, but that's not what they're doing.

And again, this person, I don't think should be legally be allowed to run, but here we are. I've reported him to the FBI several times, and nothing has -- I'm not kidding -- like, I have all this [inaudible] and I keep sending them the pectures [sic] of -- and -- if you don't donate now into Lori Decter Wright, I am going to be asking you all to help foot my therapy bill, 'cause I'm gonna have to work with him. Don't do that to me. [Inaudible] doesn't deserve that.

Anyway it's never been more critical to support at a local level. It's never been more critical, especially given what has happened to reproductive rights to have women at decision-making tables. Please, please, please, tell all of your friends they have to keep Lori Decter Wright on the Council. She's been a phenomenal leader, and again, we cannot have someone who's actively a Nazi on our City Council. Our city deserves better.

So please donate to Lori, not just because her opponent is a complete f[---]ing nightmare, but because she's an incredibly competent, compassionate, courageous person who [sic] I really wanna get to work with and our city really needs at this [inaudible]. So thank you all so much. Um, I think we just, like, we need to clap for Lori and all the work she accomplished.

In case you're got lost on your way in, the fundraising envelopes are over here. I'll just stand here, if you start walking by, [inaudible] just grab one to go with you. I'll know. Please, please, please, just donate.

Decter Wright then responded:

Thank you, thank you so much. I thank Laura for saying all the things I can't say as chairwoman of the Tulsa City Council -- at least not publicly!

Decter Wright thus approved Bellis calling an elected African-American female school board member, E'Lena Ashley, an "actual fascist," a label that was also applied to the three conservative challengers (Grant Miller, Christian Bengel, Ken Reddick) running for city council. Decter Wright cheered someone calling Reddick, her conservative Republican opponent, "actively a Nazi" and "a f---ing nightmare." Decter Wright put her stamp of approval on Bellis's opinion that disagreement and debate in public meetings is "sowing chaos" and to the idea that when people who are not approved by the city establishment run for public office, "they're trying to infiltrate." She made no objection to Bellis reporting Reddick to the FBI for daring to run against her.

Bellis, Decter Wright, and their ilk claim to be defenders of democracy, but the theme running through these remarks is that governing needs to be left to the "experts," and we should only elect people who will rubber-stamp everything that comes before them. When three school board members voted against the "consent agenda," they were saying that some of the items on that list, such as accepting Chinese Communist Party money for a program in our public schools, deserved further scrutiny and debate in front of the voting public. If you think full and open debate is "sowing chaos," you have the wrong idea about democracy.

Note how Bellis and Decter Wright narrow the scope of acceptable, legitimate debate. When conservatives and libertarians seek office to stop the government from imposing mask mandates, vaccine mandates, or business closures, "they don't have an interest in policy work," according to Leftist fascists like Bellis and Decter Wright. Apparently, it's only legitimate policy work in their minds if you're debating which businesses to force to shut down, but not legitimate to debate whether the shut down is any use at all. "Making people's lives better" to them always means government action, never government restraint.

Conservative and libertarian Tulsans have a chance on November 8 to elect three city councilors who will stand against the truly fascist attitudes of Laura Bellis, Lori Decter Wright, MyKey Arthrell-Knezek, and Connie Dodson.

Vote for Grant Miller in District 5, Christian Bengel in District 6, and Ken Reddick in District 7. That won't give common sense a majority on the Tulsa City Council, but it will once again have a foothold.

MORE: Don't forget: Lori Decter Wright was on the committee that allocated $112,784 in federal COVID-19 relief funds to a non-profit to conduct a sex survey targeting teenagers. All nine incumbent city councilors, including Decter Wright, Connie Dodson, and Mykey Arthrell-Knezek, approved it.

On Tuesday, August 23, 2022, Oklahoma Republicans and Democrats have a partisan primary runoff election in a number of statewide, federal, legislative, and county races, and the City of Tulsa will conduct a non-partisan citywide general election, including races in all nine council districts as well as three charter-change propositions. There are a smattering of other school, municipal, and county propositions across Oklahoma. Here is the Oklahoma State Election Board's list of all races and propositions on the August 23, 2022, ballot.

In-person absentee voting will be available on Thursday, August 18, 2022, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Friday, August 19, 2022, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and (because there are federal races on the ballot) on Saturday, August 20, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For most counties, in-person absentee voting takes place at the county election board, but there are a few exceptions; click here for the full list of early-voting locations. Osage County will have an extra early voting location at First Baptist Church of Skiatook, W. Rogers campus, and Wagoner County will have an extra location at NSU-BA. Polls will be open Tuesday, August 23, 2022, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

NOTE: Precinct boundaries, voting locations, and district boundaries were changed, in some cases dramatically, earlier this year. Enter your name and date of birth on the Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter portal and you will see where to vote and your sample ballot.

In response to popular demand, I have assembled the guidance detailed below into a downloadable, printable, single-page PDF.

Here are the candidates I'm recommending and (if in the district) voting for in the Oklahoma Republican runoff election and City of Tulsa general election on August 23, 2022. (This entry will change as I decide to add more detail, link previous articles, or discuss additional races between now and election day. The entry is post-dated to keep it at the top.)

As I post this, I'm still unsure about several races, and there are other races I had planned to write about in detail, but time is short, people are voting, and many have asked for a summary of my recommendations. My most enthusiastic choices are in bold; in other races, there may be one or two other candidates that would be acceptable, or I simply don't know the endorsed candidate as well as I would like. There are certain incumbents that I'd like to see defeated, but I don't feel comfortable endorsing an opponent at this point. I'll try to fill in TBDs and NOTs before the start of early voting.

US Senate (unexpired term): TW Shannon
2nd Congressional District: Josh Brecheen

Treasurer: Todd Russ
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Ryan Walters
Labor Commissioner: Sean Roberts
Corporation Commissioner: Todd Thomsen

State Senate 2: Jarrin Jackson
State Senate 26: Brady Butler

State House 66: Clay Staires

For City of Tulsa races, if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff coincident with the state/federal general election in November.

Tulsa City Council District 1: Francetta Mays
Tulsa City Council District 2: Aaron Bisogno
Tulsa City Council District 3: Daniel Grove
Tulsa City Council District 4: Michael Birkes
Tulsa City Council District 5: Ty Walker
Tulsa City Council District 6: Christian Bengel
Tulsa City Council District 7: Ken Reddick
Tulsa City Council District 8: Scott Houston
Tulsa City Council District 9: TBD

Tulsa Proposition 1: YES
Tulsa Proposition 2: NO
Tulsa Proposition 3: NO

Tulsa County Commissioner District 3: Bob Jack

Osage County Commissioner District 1: Everett Piper

District Attorney, District 7 (Oklahoma County): Kevin Calvey

MORE INFORMATION:

OTHER CONSERVATIVE VOICES:

Here are some blogs, endorsement lists, candidate questionnaires, and sources of information for your consideration.

• Muskogee Politico news, questionnaires, and analysis
• Muskogee Politico runoff picks
• Muskogee Politico legislator tax votes, 2016-2018
• Oklahoma Conservative PAC meeting videos, including candidate speeches
• OCPAC 2022 Runoff Voter Guide
• Oklahoma Constitution Index: Scores incumbent legislators on voting record
• iVoterGuide surveys of Oklahoma statewide, federal, and legislative candidates
• City Elders Tulsa speakers' videos, including candidate speeches
• Oklahomans for Life candidate surveys
• Oklahomans for the 2nd Amendment (OK2A) endorsements
• NRA-PVF endorsements
• Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights (OKHPR) endorsements
• Endorsements from David Van Risseghem at Sooner Politics

ANTI-CONSERVATIVE VOICES:

Here are some endorsement lists that are negative indicators:

• Oklahoma Public Employees Association: State government employees union can be counted on to support bigger, less-efficient government and higher taxes
• Oklahomans for Public Education: OPE advocates for higher taxes, opposes school choice, and opposes efforts to keep leftist advocacy out of the classroom. They work to defeat principled Republicans. A yellow warning mark from OPE is a badge of honor for a conservative candidate. Here is the OPE voter guide for 2022.
• Oklahoma Education Association, state affiliate of the leftist NEA teachers' union, has endorsed nine Republicans in contested primaries. The list was leaked to Corey DeAngelis.
• TulsaBizPac is the political arm of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, a contractor to the City of Tulsa. They have not issued a list of endorsements, but David Harris in District 1, Michael Feamster in District 4, and Jayme Fowler in District 9 have all proudly announced their endorsement, when they really ought to be embarassed. Please read my 2016 article "Chambers of Horrors" to understand why social and fiscal conservatives, opponents of cronyism, and supporters of historic preservation should use TulsaBizPac endorsements as an indication to look for someone else to support.

If you appreciate the many hours of research that went into this guide and into the rest of my election coverage, and if you'd like to help keep this site online, you can contribute to BatesLine's upkeep via PayPal. In addition to keeping me caffeinated, donated funds pay for web hosting, subscriptions, and paid databases I use for research. Many thanks to those generous readers who have already contributed.

There are six candidates on the ballot for Tulsa City Council District 4, an open seat. As was the case two years ago, I'm not enthusiastic about any of them. This is my district, so I've had to make a choice.

A sex survey targeting teenagers was funded by the City of Tulsa using federal COVID relief funding. The survey was one of 70 non-profit projects selected for funding by a working group of four city councilors who are on next Tuesday's ballot -- Phil Lakin (District 8), Jeannie Cue (2), Lori Decter Wright (7), and Vanessa Hall-Harper (1) -- and approved by the full Council and Mayor GT Bynum IV. The survey, which remains online as of August 16, 2022, asks detailed questions of minors and concludes with links promoting websites for "tweens" and teens containing explicit sex ed materials.

Tulsa city officials routed $112,784 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to Amplify Youth Health Collective, a group that "coordinate[s] collective efforts within our community to expand access to sex education, promote healthy relationships, and engage the public in this conversation."

Two Oklahoma State University departments cooperated with the survey: The OSU Diversity and Rural Advocacy Group, and the OSU Center for Family Resilience of the OSU College of Education and Human Sciences.

The survey on "teen sexual health & well-being" targets children ages 15-17. A separate survey is aimed at adults, and versions of both teen and adult surveys exist in Spanish. A caption on online posters advertising the survey notes the city's support as a conduit of federal funds: "This project is supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLT-1498 awarded to the City of Tulsa by the U. S. Department of the Treasury."

The survey asks teenagers for their sexual orientation, "sex assigned when you were born," and gender identity (with "agender," "non-binary," and "gender fluid" as options), and to rate their current sexual health as outstanding, good, neutral, poor, or terrible, and defined "sexual health" as:

...a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being related to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction, or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination, and violence. For sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected, and fulfilled. (World Health Organization, 2002)

The survey later asks these minor children "questions about sexual health access," "about your own access to sexual health care [and] what you think and believe about access to sexual health care for other people," with "sexual health access" defined as:

The ability to get all of the resources you need to stay sexually healthy such as: (a) condoms (b) contraceptives (c) sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing & STI treatment (d) medically-accurate sexual health education (e) identity affirming communities/resources and (f) trusted adults.

A few questions near the end of the survey ask about COVID-19 impact on romantic relationships and access to sexual health services, presumably to justify the use of COVID-19 relief funds. The final page of the survey links to explicit websites with age-inappropriate discussions of sexual matters for pre-pubescent children and teens.

Here is a PDF of screenshots of the Amplify Tulsa / City of Tulsa-funded teen sex survey, including screenshots of the Tulsa Parks and Amplify Tulsa Facebook posts and the home pages of the sex ed websites linked at the end of the survey. These screenshots show the course of the survey after the respondent identifies his/her age as 15.

On Monday, July 18, 2022, the survey was promoted briefly on the Tulsa Parks Facebook page. An update was posted at 12:39PM CDT to the official Facebook account for the City of Tulsa Parks Department urging children as young as 15 years old to fill out an online survey about "teen sexual health & well-being." The post (at this link until sometime the morning of the 20th, when it appears to have been deleted) read as follows:

Attention, Tulsa! Our partners over at Amplify Tulsa need you to help them help Tulsa!

They are conducting a community needs assessment this summer to help identify how Tulsa can better support teen sexual health & well-being, as well as what parents, schools, healthcare providers, youth-serving organizations, & other community members need to support the young people in their lives.

There are two different surveys, one for teens 15-17 (to complete with permission from their parents) & one for adults. And, both are translated into Spanish. So, we hope you'll consider filling out this completely anonymous survey and/or sharing it with your community before August 15. Please & TY!

Here is a direct link to the surveys: https://okstateches.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e2QBApTNODkN1Cm

#tulsaparks #amplifytulsa #communityhealthneeds #surveys

Yesterday, August 15, 2022, at 5 p.m., was the deadline for campaign contribution and expenditure reports for candidates in any August 23 election. This includes the City of Tulsa general election as well as runoff elections for statewide office, county office, and the legislature.

The legislature has created a mess of disparate filing offices and methods. Rather than making it convenient for candidates to file and citizens to search from a single ethics database for every election in the state, county candidates file paperwork at the county election board (at a time when election boards are scrambling to prepare for early voting and election day itself), school board candidates file with the school district clerk (who is hired by the incumbents and might have an incentive to make it very inconvenient for challengers to find out where the incumbents are getting their funds), and municipal candidates file with the city or town clerk. The legislature has just made things worse this session, opening the door to suppression of information and biased enforcement by larger cities.

Meanwhile, legislative, statewide, and judicial candidates file electronically with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. For a few brief shining years, candidates for large municipalities and counties were also filing electronically through the same system, but apparently some public information can be too public for the comfort of some local officials, and their friends in the legislature reversed course.

The Tulsa County Election Board is always very prompt in responding to email requests for filings, sending scans in reply. The Tulsa Public Schools clerk demands an Open Records request, which she may or may not get around to processing before the election.

Of all the local-government ethics filing repositories I've dealt with, the City of Tulsa clerk's office is the best at making information promptly available to everyone. Here is the City of Tulsa campaign contribution report home page. When a filing comes in, it is physically time-stamped, scanned, and immediately posted to the website, with filings sorted to different webpages by office, and then within each page by candidate. Filings from previous elections are retained at the bottom of the page in an archive section. I appreciate this. There are some improvements that could be made: A standard naming template for PDFs and links, a way to download the entire collection of files, original electronic files (more searchable than scanned and OCRed paper reports).

If you are a candidate on the ballot, and your campaign committee has raised OR spent more than $1,000, you're required to file a Statement of Organization within 10 days and then you're required to file a Contributions and Expenditures report between 14 and 8 days before the election, covering all of your contributions and expenditures through the 15th day before the election. There are also quarterly filing requirements for the rest of the year. PACs who give to municipal campaigns are also required to file quarterly reports.

Based on the scans available on the City Clerk's website, here are the City of Tulsa candidates on the August 23 ballot who have filed timely reports:

• District 1: NONE
• District 2: NONE
• District 3: NONE
• District 4: Laura Bellis, Michael Birkes, Michael Feamster, Matthew Fransein
• District 5: Ty Walker
• District 6: Christian Bengel, Connie Dodson
• District 7: Lori Decter Wright
• District 8: Phil Lakin
• District 9: Lee Ann Crosby*, Chad Hotvedt

Some other candidates kinda-sorta made a half-hearted attempt at complying:

• District 1: Only David Harris has filed a Statement of Organization for the 2022 election cycle, but no candidate has filed any Campaign and Expenditures report for this cycle.
• District 2: Incumbent Jeannie Cue filed a 2022 Statement of Organization and quarterly reports up to and including the period ending June 30, but no candidate has filed the required pre-election report.
• District 3: Crista Patrick filed a 2022 Statement of Organization and filed a supplemental report for the $1,000 she received from the Home Builders Association, but no candidate has filed the required pre-election report.
• District 4: Bobby Dean Orcutt filed a 2022 Statement of Organization and a report for the period ending June 30, but has not filed the required pre-election report. Kathryn Lyons, a 2020 candidate who considered a 2022 race, and incumbent Kara Joy McKee, who made a late decision not to run for re-election, both filed reports earlier in the cycle.
• District 5: Incumbent Mykey Arthrell-Knezek did not file a Statement of Organization for the 2020 cycle, filed a contributions and expenditures report for the period ending June 30, but has not filed the required pre-election report. Adam "Grant" Miller filed a Statement of Organization and a June 30 report but has not filed the required pre-election report.
• District 6: Lewana Harris filed a Statement of Organization and a June 30 report but has not filed the required pre-election report.
• District 7: Jerry Griffin filed a Statement of Organization and a June 30 report but has not filed the required pre-election report. Ken Reddick filed a 2022 Statement of Organization but has not filed any contributions and expenditures reports.
• District 8: Scott Houston filed a Statement of Organization and a June 30 report but has not filed the required pre-election report.
• District 9: Incumbent Jayme Fowler filed a Statement of Organization and a June 30 report but has not filed the required pre-election report. Lee Ann Crosby filed a Statement of Organization, a June 30 report, and a "continuing report of contributions" including late July contributions, which suggests a confused but good-faith effort to comply.

In addition to candidates, two political action committees filed reports with the City Clerk.

Greater Tulsa PAC (GTPAC) had $14,346.35 in the bank as of June 30, but had not spent any money other than for administrative and fundraising costs. The PAC's chairman is Jacob Heisten, treasurer is Toni Garrison of Kellyville. This is presumably the PAC established to help Mayor GT Bynum IV re-elect rubber-stamp councilors.

Tulsa Biz Political Action Committee (TulsaBizPAC), an arm of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, filed a 2022 Statement of Organization, but has not filed the required quarterly report since 2018. TulsaBizPAC helps to ensure the election of councilors who will keep shoveling city tax dollars to the Tulsa Regional Chamber. Three candidates (David Harris in District 1, Michael Feamster in District 4, and Jayme Fowler in District 9) have announced their endorsement by TulsaBizPAC.

Voters in the City of Tulsa will be issued a separate ballot at the Tuesday, August 23, 2022, general election, which is also the runoff election for partisan races for federal and state office. The ballot will include the city council election for that district, plus propositions for three amendments to the Tulsa City Charter. Here is the sample ballot for Tulsa District 4, including the three citywide propositions.

My recommendations in summary:

• Proposition 1 (mayoral salary process clarified): YES
• Proposition 2 (one-year residence requirement for city office): NO
• Proposition 3 (increase auditor's term from 2 to 4 years): NO

Kudos to the council for including the actual language to be inserted in the charter as part of the ballot title, rather than just a summary that may or may not be accurate. That said, it doesn't show you exactly what's changing, so I will do that below, with strikethrough to show you what's being deleted and underscore to show what would be added if the proposition passes.

Proposition No. 1 would change Article III, Section 1.2:

During the first term of office under this amended Charter, tThe Mayor shall receive a salary of seventy thousand dollars ($70,000.00) per year payable as employees of the city are paid. Thereafter, tThe annual salary to be received by the Mayor may be changed shall be as provided by ordinance adopted by a majority vote of the entire membership of the Council; provided, no change in salary shall become effective prior to the commencement of the term of office next succeeding the term in which the change is made and then only in the event such change was approved prior to the general election for the next succeeding term.

It's healthy to be skeptical when something is called a "housekeeping amendment" as substantive changes are often smuggled in under that description, but this seems to be exactly that. It is useful to clarify that the vote to modify the salary involves the passage of an ordinance, as opposed to a Council resolution or some other sort of vote. As an ordinance, it would require not only passage by a majority of the full membership (five affirmative votes, even if some councilors are absent or abstaining) but also the mayor's signature. I will vote YES on Proposition 1. I hate to see the historical information deleted, because it's useful for comparing mayoral compensation to the cost of living increase since the charter came into effect in 1990. The amendment would be even better if it required approval of a salary increase at least 30 days prior to the general election -- enough time for the electorate to hear and consider before casting a ballot.

Proposition No. 2 would affect the residency requirements for city officers in Article VI, Section 7. As this is a wholesale replacement of text, it's going to be clearer to show old and new language side by side, rather than show insertions and deletions. Here's the current language, which includes some transitional language relating to an amendment to Article IV, setting the qualifications for City Auditor.

No person shall be eligible to hold the office of Mayor or City Auditor unless such person shall be a qualified elector and resident of the city at the time of filing for the office. In addition, no person shall be eligible to hold the office of City Auditor unless such person is a Certified Public Accountant or Certified Internal Auditor and maintains such certification during their term of office. The person elected City Auditor in the election held November 10, 2009, shall be eligible to hold that office and perform his or her duties, even if that person does not have the required certification, during the term of office beginning the first Monday in December of 2009. Thereafter, or in the event that person elected in November 2009 does not serve a full term, the person holding the office of City Auditor shall be required to comply with the certification requirements set forth herein. No person shall be eligible to hold the office of Councilor for an election district unless such person shall have been a qualified elector and resident of the election district for more than ninety (90) days at the time of filing for the office of Councilor for that election district. The requirement that a person shall have been a qualified elector of an election district for more than ninety (90) days at the time of filing for the office of Councilor for that election district shall not apply to the election district held immediately following the adoption of an Election District Plan; provided, persons desiring to become a candidate for the office of Councilor for an election district shall be qualified electors of the election district at the time of filing for the office of Councilor for that district.

Here is the proposed new language:

A candidate for Mayor or City Auditor must have been a qualified elector and resident of the City for at least three hundred sixty-five (365) days at the time of filing. A candidate for City Councilor must have been a qualified elector and resident of that election district for at least three hundred sixty-five (365) days at the time of filing. This requirement shall not apply to an adjusted election district which changed a candidate's residency to a different election district; provided, a candidate must have been a qualified elector and resident within their preexisting election district for at least three hundred sixty-five (365) days at the time of filing.

The significant changes here are changing the residency requirement to file for city office from 90 days to a full year -- no parachuting into the district at the last minute to run for office. The term "qualified elector" is defined in Article III, Section 1, of the Oklahoma Constitution:

Subject to such exceptions as the Legislature may prescribe, all citizens of the United States, over the age of eighteen (18) years, who are bona fide residents of this state, are qualified electors of this state.

The only exceptions I can find are in 26 O.S. 4-101, which excludes felons who have not completed their sentence and the incapacitated from registering to vote.

The language dealing with adjustments to election district boundaries could be clearer. "Preexisting" is an odd word to use; "previous" would make more sense. Does "adjustment" apply to decennial redistricting, or does it only apply to the minor adjustments the Council is authorized to make to account for changes in precinct boundaries? I would drop the third sentence entirely and change the second sentence: "A candidate for City Councilor must have been a qualified elector and resident within the boundaries of the election district as defined at the time of filing for at least three hundred sixty-five (365) days at the time of filing." Alternatively, you could make a person in such a situation eligible to run either in his old district or his new district, which would work against a spiteful Mayor or City Council "adjusting" boundaries to forestall a challenge to one of their council buddies. In 2011, for example, such a provision would have allowed John Eagleton to run for re-election to his District 7 seat, even after Dewey Bartlett Jr's allies on the Election District Commission gerrymandered him into District 9.

While I like the longer residency requirement in principle, I'm inclined to vote NO on Proposition 2 and ask the council to try again with more precise language dealing with changes caused by moving district boundaries.

By the way, despite the deletion of City Auditor qualifications in this section, passage would not eliminate those qualifications, as they are also present in Article IV, Section 1.

Proposition 3 changes the term of office for City Auditor in Article VI, Section 1.2.B:

City Auditor. The terms of office of and the City Auditor elected in the year 2009 shall commence on the first Monday in December in the year 2009, and shall expire on the first Monday in December in the year 2011; thereafter, tThe City Auditor shall serve for a term of two (2) years, with the following exception: the term of office of the City Auditor elected in the year 2013 shall commence on the first Monday in December in the year 2013 and shall expire on the first Monday in December in the year 2014. The City Auditor shall serve a term of two (2) years until the election year 2026. Thereafter Commencing with the election year 2026 and ever after, the City Auditor shall serve for a term of two (2) years four (4) years, beginning on the first Monday in December, in the year 2026.

Here's the proposed new text on its own:

City Auditor. The City Auditor shall serve a term of two (2) years until the election year 2026. Commencing with the election year 2026 and ever after, the City Auditor shall serve for a term of four (4) years, beginning on the first Monday in December, in the year 2026.

In a nutshell, the City Auditor's term will double from 2 to 4 years. The current auditor, Cathy Champion Carter, who was just re-elected because no one filed against her, will be up for re-election in 2024. One final two-year term will commence in 2024 and end in 2026, and then every term thereafter will be four years in length, elected in the cycle opposite the mayor. While we have yet to have a City Auditor play the adversarial role expected by the framers of the 1989 charter, and auditors have routinely won re-election with minimal or no opposition, citizens should not relinquish the ability to get rid of a bad city official promptly without having to go through a recall process. I will vote NO on Proposition 3.

Tulsa County Commission District 3 candidate Kelly Dunkerley has been falsely claiming an endorsement from a former Trump campaign official in mailings to voters. Stuart Jolly, who was national field director for the 2016 Trump campaign, denies ever having met Dunkerley and denies endorsing him.

Three mail pieces, sent before the June 28, 2022, primary, falsely tout an endorsement from Jolly. One mailer shows a photo of Jolly and the words "Endorsed by Lt. Col. Stuart Jolly, President Trump's National Field Director, Trump for President 2016 Campaign." Another contains a fabricated quote accompanied by a photo and what purports to be a signature: "Dear Tulsa, Please vote this Tuesday, June 28 for Conservative Businessman Kelly Dunkerley for Tulsa County Commissioner. Like President Trump, Kelly is the real deal!" A fake newspaper called "The Tulsa Times" featured an article that stated, "Jolly, who has endorsed Dunkerley in the GOP primary race for Tulsa County Commissioner is no stranger to political dynamics."

In response to a query from BatesLine, Stuart Jolly stated: "It's unfortunate that Tomahawk Strategies didn't ask or consult with me first. I don't know and have never met Kelly. He may be a great guy, but I never gave my permission to endorse him over Bob Jack. Someone there jumped the gun." Tomahawk Strategies is a paid consultant for Dunkerley's campaign.

Dunkerley (listed in voter rolls as John Kelly Dunkerley) is a graduate of David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri, and the University of Missouri. He is a former City of Jenks elected official, worked for State Farm in public affairs and government relations, and is currently an agent for Tedford Insurance. The Tulsa County check register shows Tedford Insurance as the only vendor appearing in the register for the Property Insurance account since FY2012, with the county spending $854,479.52 with Tedford in FY2022.

In the August 23, 2022, runoff, Dunkerley faces Bob Jack (in the voter rolls as Robert Ernest Jack), a retired construction executive with Manhattan Construction who has served in volunteer positions in the Tulsa County Republican Party and John 3:16 Mission. Bob Jack has been a Tulsa County resident for 44 years.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Jolly retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after more than two decades in the U. S. Army. He then served as executive state director for Oklahoma of Americans for Prosperity from 2006 to 2012, as executive director of Education Freedom Alliance, national field director for Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., and national political director of Great America PAC (a supporting PAC for the 2016 campaign). Jolly is now based in the Nashville area and is managing director of Cool Springs Financial.

More short takes on races for county offices, Tulsa area legislative seats, and judicial races.

There isn't a primary in two of the Tulsa County races up this year: County Treasurer John Fothergill did not draw an opponent at all, and District 1 County Commissoner Stan Sallee is unopposed for the Republican nomination, but will face Democrat Sean Johnson in the general election. (County Clerk, Court Clerk, Sheriff, and Commissioner District 2 are up in presidential election years.)

Tulsa County Assessor: John Wright. In 2018, John Wright succeeded his boss, Ken Yazel, and has continued to work to improve the office's professionalism and public access. A new assessor's office website is due to come online next week.

Tulsa County Commission District 3: Bob Jack. When he ran for State Senate 6 years ago, I was skeptical of Jack's conservative bona fides because of his past involvement with the Chamber, but I have had occasion over the intervening years to watch his service as a volunteer and elected official in the Tulsa County Republican Party. I have observed Bob Jack's solid commitment and willingness to advocate clearly for conservative principles, even in the face of public flack, as well as his increased wariness of forces that work under the GOP label but against the GOP platform. As a long-time but now retired leader in the construction industry, he is well equipped to scrutinize public works expenditures for waste.

Judicial District 14, Office 12: Kevin Gray. Gray, registered to vote as a Republican, has served as a prosecutor under District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler. Gray led the prosecution of the criminal who shot two Tulsa police officers, killing one. Incumbent Judge Martha Rupp Carter, first elected in 2018, did not seek re-election. The other candidates in the race are Tanya N. Wilson, a Democrat, and Todd Tucker, a Republican. Wilson has the financial backing of Kaiser System lawyer Frederic Dorwart and several other attorneys from his firm. Regardless of the winning percentage, the top two vote-getters in the Tulsa County-only primary will advance to the November general election for voters in both Tulsa and Pawnee Counties.

Only one other judgeship in District 14 was contested this year. There will be a November election for Office 13 between R. Kyle Alderson and David A. Guten. Both candidates are registered Republicans. The office was held by Judge William Musseman, Jr., who has been appointed by Gov. Stitt to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Legislative seats:

We've seen that we can generally count on Oklahoma Republicans to advance the pro-life cause and laws that carry out the Second Amendment, among other culturally sensitive issues. Where many Republicans have tended to fail those who elected them is in letting themselves be lead around by special-interest lobbyists either directly, or via legislative leadership. Republican legislators who demonstrate independence of mind and determination to eliminate waste and protect taxpayers are routinely targeted for defeat in the primaries by their Republican colleagues. There are too many legislative races to evaluate in detail as I would like to do if I had time, but you can go to the Ethics Commission website to see who gave the candidates money, you can see how incumbents did in the Oklahoma Constitution index, and you can see who is endorsed or condemned by anti-taxpayer groups like OPEA, OPE, and the State Chamber PAC. Notes on a few races that touch Tulsa and surrounding counties:

State Senate 2: Jarrin Jackson was an infantry officer in Afghanistan and Bronze Star recipient. Jackson received Tom Coburn's endorsement when challenging incumbent congressman Markwayne Mullin in 2016 for the seat Coburn once held. Jackson was a frequent guest on KFAQ's Pat Campbell Show, which gave a wide audience opportunity to observe his intelligent analysis and commitment to America's founding principles. Ally Seifried has some endorsements from conservative organizations, but her donors (including the State Chamber PAC and Democrat donor Burt Holmes) and consultants point to her being the last candidate conservatives should want in office.

State Senate 10: Emily DeLozier. Her opponent, incumbent Bill Coleman, has been endorsed by the leftist Oklahoma Education Association and by OPE.

State Senate 12: Rob Ford has served as a town official in Mounds and for many years as a leader in the Creek County Republican Party, which is how I got to know him. Both candidates in the race got an A rating from OKHPR. Anti-taxpayer organization OPE gave a poisoned apple to Ford's opponent.

State Senate 34: Dana Prieto has been endorsed by OKHPR and OCPAC. Prieto is a long-time small business owner who was endorsed by Tom Coburn in his previous run for State Senate. Peixotto also got an A rating on his OKHPR survey. Either Republican would be preferable to incumbent Democrat J. J. Dossett, but from campaign filings Prieto seems to have a better organized campaign.

State Senate 36: David Dambroso is endorsed by OK2A, OKHPR, and OCPAC. Incumbent John Haste got a C from OKHPR for his voting record on matters of health and parental rights, and he has been endorsed by the leftists at OPE and OPEA.

House District 24: Chris Banning, an Air Force veteran who founded Banning Investment Group and Banning Contracting Services, two service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses that provide services to the U. S. Department of Defense and Department of Veteran Affairs. According to his LinkedIn profile, Banning also serves as a director of the Oklahoma Defense Industry Association. Banning has been endorsed by OKHPR, OK2A, and OCPAC. Incumbent Logan Phillips has been endorsed by leftists at OEA, OPE, and OPEA, and his voting record earned a D from OKHPR.

House District 29: No recommendation. Kyle Hilbert, the incumbent, has been endorsed by OCPAC and OK2A, has a B (but not an endorsement) from OKHPR for his voting record, but is also endorsed by OPE and OPEA. Hlibert's rating from the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper is a mere 58 over his career, although he managed an 80 in the 2021 session. His opponent, Rick Parris, ran for the seat as a Democrat in 2016.

House District 66: Wayne Hill, Osage County GOP chairman, OK2A chapter director, and board member of Mend Pregnancy Resource Center, has been endorsed by OK2A, OKHPR, and OCPAC. Gabe Renfrow has the support of OPE and OPEA, plus lots of money from PACs. Clay Staires, brother-in-law of State Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready and son of the founders of Shepherd's Fold Ranch near Avant, and Sand Springs city councilor Mike Burdge are also running. Incumbent Jadine Nollan is term limited.

House District 76: Timothy Brooks is an agency partner with Flippo Insurance and volunteers as a Trail Life leader. Brooks was endorsed by OCPAC. Incumbent Ross Ford has been endorsed by OKHPR and OK2A, but also endorsed by leftists at OEA, OPE, and OPEA. Brooks's website has a long list of examples by date and bill number of Ross Ford's liberal voting record.

House District 79: Paul Hassink is an electrical engineer with degrees from Georgia Tech and Purdue and has special concern for the security and resilience of Oklahoma's power grid. Hassink was the consensus choice of the Tulsa 9/12 project, Tulsa Area Republican Assembly, and Tulsa County Republican Men's Club. Other Republican candidates are former Tulsa City Councilor Karen Gilbert and former Washington County Treasurer Stan Stevens, who left office in 2008, after pleading guilty to drug felonies involving charges of possession of opioids with intent to distribute. Gilbert is backed by the State Chamber PAC and numerous establishment types, including Democrat donor and Council-suer Burt Holmes. The incumbent is Democrat Melissa Provenzano.

Beyond Tulsa County boundaries:

Nationally renowned conservative commentator Everett Piper is running for the 1st District seat on the Osage County Commission. Piper, who served as president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, wrote the book Not a Day Care, decrying the trend toward safe spaces and trigger warnings on American college campuses.

Kevin Calvey had a sterling conservative record as state representative. He is running for District Attorney in Oklahoma County and would be excellent in that role.

I was pleased to see that my friend Jason Carini was re-elected Rogers County Treasurer without opposition.

The three-day filing period for the 2022 City of Tulsa election for City Council and City Auditor has concluded. All nine council seats are contested, but City Auditor Cathy Champion Carter has been reelected without opposition.

Here is the complete list of candidates who filed. Names, ages, and addresses are from the official county election board filing list, which has not yet been posted to the website. I've added party registration, incumbent status, other affiliations, and the candidate's name in the voter rolls in parentheses where it differs from the name that will be on the ballot. (UPDATE: Here is the official list of City of Tulsa 2022 election filings.)

The 31 candidates by party registration: 17 Democrats, 10 Republicans, 2 Libertarians, 2 independents.

Councilmember - Council District 1

• Vanessa Hall-Harper (Vanessa Dee Hall-Harper), incumbent Dem, 50, 2020 W. Newton St., Tulsa, OK 74127


• David Harris (David Jeremy Harris), Dem, 48, 1780 E 51st St N, Tulsa, OK 74130


• Francetta L. Mays (Francetta Lajuana Mays), Dem, 58, 1740 W. Haskell Pl., Tulsa, OK 74127

Councilmember - Council District 2

• Aaron L Bisogno (Aaron Louis Bisogno), Rep, 35, 7722 South Saint Louis Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136


• Jeannie Cue, incumbent Rep, 68, 5313 S 32 Pl W, Tulsa, OK 74107

Councilmember - Council District 3

• Daniel Joseph Grove, Lib, 22, 1407 N. Evanston Ave., Tulsa, OK 74110


• Crista Patrick (Crista Caye Patrick), incumbent Dem, 48, 1918 N. Joplin Ave., Tulsa, OK 74115

Councilmember - Council District 4

• Laura Bellis (Laura Simon Bellis), Dem, 33, 224 N. Rosedale Ave., Tulsa, OK 74127


• Michael Birkes (Michael Bruce Birkes), Ind, 72, 1021 E 7th St., Tulsa, OK 74120 (registration address is 702 S Owasso Ave)


• Scott Carter (Martin Scott Carter), Dem, 56, 208 East 19th St, Tulsa, OK 74119 WITHDRAWN


• Michael Feamster (Michael James Feamster), Bynum-Chamber-Rep, 39, 2259 South Rockford Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74114


• Weydan Flax (Weydan Shawn Flax), Dem, 60, 1234 S Birmingham Ave, Tulsa, OK 74104


• Matthew Fransein (Matthew James Fransein), Dem, 34, 727 S. Louisville Ave, Tulsa, OK 74112


• Bobby Dean Orcutt (Robert Dean Orcutt), Dem, 39, 1630 S. St Louis Ave, Tulsa, OK 74120

Councilmember - Council District 5

• Mykey Arthrell (Michael William Arthrell-Knezek), incumbent Dem, 37, 1747 S Erie Pl, Tulsa, OK 74112


• Latasha Jim (Latasha Earlene Jim), Ind, 29, 11035 E 16th St, Tulsa, OK 74128


• Adil Khan (Adil Khalid Khan), Dem, 38, 9815 E. 21st Pl Apt C, Tulsa, OK 74129


• Grant Miller (Adam Grant Miller), Lib, 35, 1139 S. Canton Ave., Tulsa, OK 74112


• Ty Walker (Tyron Vincent Walker), Rep, 56, 8538 E. 24th St., Tulsa, OK 74129

Councilmember - Council District 6

• Christian Bengel (Christian D. Bengel), Rep, 54, 13173 E 29th St., Tulsa, OK 74134


• Connie Dodson (Connie L Dodson), Dem, 55, 13302 E. 28th St., Tulsa, OK 74134


• Lewana Harris (Lewana Michelle Harris), Dem, 45, 1505 S. 117th E. Ave, Tulsa, OK 74128

Councilmember - Council District 7

• Jerry Griffin (Gerald Ray Griffin), Rep, 78, 6552 E. 60th, Tulsa, OK 74145


• Ken Reddick (Kenneth Andrew Reddick), Rep, 39, 5008 S 85th East Ave, Tulsa, OK 74133


• Lori Decter Wright (Lori Marie Decter-Wright), Dem, 47, 8706 East 86th Street, Tulsa, OK 74133

Councilmember - Council District 8

• Scott Houston (Jon Scott Houston), Rep, 66, 8534 S. 70th E Ave, Tulsa, OK 74133


• Phil Lakin (Phillip Lawrence Lakin, Jr.), incumbent GKFF-Rep, 54, 9808 S. Knoxville Ave, Tulsa, OK 74137

Councilmember - Council District 9

• Lee Ann Crosby (Bobbie Leeann Crosby), Dem, 38, 3845 South Madison Ave, Tulsa, OK 74105


• Jayme Fowler (Jayme Don Fowler), incumbent Rep, 63, 5601 S. Gary Ave, Tulsa, OK 74105


• Chad Hotvedt (Chad Edward Hotvedt), Dem, 38, 1515 E 60th St, Tulsa, OK 74105

City Auditor

• Cathy Champion Carter, Dem, 67, 4120 E 22nd Pl, Tulsa, OK 74114

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this entry, I had erroneously transcribed Ken Reddick's date of birth and the address on his declaration, and I incorrectly identified the full registration name for Christian Bengel in District 6 as Riley Christian Bengel (his son).

UPDATE 2022/06/17: Scott Carter withdrew his candidacy for District 4 by the Friday deadline.

At the end of the second day (June 14, 2022) of the three-day filing period for the 2022 City of Tulsa election for City Council and City Auditor, only two incumbents remain unopposed: District 3 Councilor Crista Patrick (D) and City Auditor Cathy Champion Carter (D).

All nine City Council seats and the City Auditor position will be on the ballot. The filing period continues through 5 p.m. Wednesday. The City of Tulsa filing packet is here. A candidate must turn in a notarized declaration of candidacy to the Tulsa County Election Board at 555 N. Denver, along with a $50 cashier's check as a deposit or a nominating petition signed by at least 300 registered voters in the district in lieu of a deposit.

In Tuesday's filings, incumbent District 8/GKFF Councilor Phil Lakin now has a challenger in Republican Scott Houston, an insurance company VP who is also an author and motivational speaker. On his campaign website, Houston emphasizes conservative values, limiting government overreach (specifically mentioning mask mandates and business shutdowns), and roads and infrastructure. Houston's filing means there are now conservatives running in four of the nine council races.

Incumbents Vanessa Hall-Harper (D, District 1) and Mykey Arthrell (D, District 5) filed for re-election, along with two more candidates in District 5, Latasha Jim (I) and Grant Miller (D). Lee Ann Crosby (D) filed in District 9; incumbent Jayme Fowler has yet to file for re-election.

The race for the open seat in District 4 added two candidates, Scott Carter (D) and Bobby Dean Orcutt (D). Carter is registered to vote as Martin Scott Carter; the publications list on the webpage of Scott Carter, Professor of Economics at the University of Tulsa, has Martin Carter listed as author for most of the articles listed.

Bobby Dean Orcutt is owner of the Mercury Lounge. He was planning a run for District 4, held off with the intention of backing Emeka Nnaka, but now that the district boundary modification in April has moved Nnaka into District 1, Orcutt has evidently decided to jump back in.

Party registration of the 24 candidates who have filed thus far: 14 Democrats, 8 Republicans, 1 Libertarians, and 1 independent.

Here is the complete list of candidates who filed as of Tuesday evening Names, ages, and addresses are from the official county election board filing list. I've added party registration, incumbent status, other affiliations, and the candidate's name in the voter rolls in parentheses where it differs from the name that will be on the ballot.

Today (June 13, 2022) was the first day of the three-day filing period for the 2022 City of Tulsa election for City Council and City Auditor. All nine City Council races will be on the ballot. The filing period continues through 5 p.m. Wednesday. The City of Tulsa filing packet is here. A candidate must turn in a notarized declaration of candidacy to the Tulsa County Election Board at 555 N. Denver, along with a $50 cashier's check as a deposit or a nominating petition signed by at least 300 registered voters in the district in lieu of a deposit.

This will be the first election using the Tulsa city council district lines drawn after the 2020 census. Precinct boundaries and numbers have changed as well. On April 6, 2022, the council adopted significant changes to the final redistricting plan produced by the Election District Commission in December 2021. The map below (click to see the full size version) shows the originally adopted 2021 plan in blue-and-white lines and the current districts as colored areas. A consequence of that change is that Emeka Nnaka, who came to the election board today to file for the open District 4 seat, learned that his Kendall-Whittier home was now in District 1. He left without filing.

As of the end of the first day, incumbents have filed for re-election in the auditor's race and five of the nine council districts. District 4 Councilor Kara Joy McKee announced earlier this year that she would not seek re-election. All other incumbent councilors are reported to be running for re-election, but incumbents in Districts 1, 5, and 9 have yet to file.

So far incumbents Crista Patrick and Phil Lakin (District 8) are unchallenged. Patrick is the latest member of the family dynasty to sit in the District 3 seat. Lakin is chairman of the George Kaiser Family Foundation and CEO of the Tulsa Community Foundation, and as such represents the stranglehold that billionaire George Kaiser has on Tulsa city government and the non-profit sector, pushing the city leftward. Challenging and defeating Lakin would be a good start on making Tulsa where community organizations once again represent the city's diversity.

Conservatives have filed for only three of the seats. Ty Walker, a restaurateur who ran for Mayor in 2020, has filed in District 5, a seat he sought in 2018 when no incumbent was running. In District 7, Tulsa school board member Jerry Griffin has filed to challenge incumbent Democrat Lori Decter Wright. In District 6, Christian Bengel is seeking a rematch with incumbent Democrat Connie Dodson -- two years ago, he advanced to a runoff but lost in November.

The open seat in District 4 has so far drawn only two candidates. Michael Feamster, an executive at Nabholz Construction Corporation, and Laura Bellis, a Planned Parenthood Great Plains advisory board member. Bellis has pronouns in her LinkedIn bio. In April 2020, Bellis made news for urging Gov. Stitt to lock down Oklahoma. Feamster's LinkedIn feed is full of cheerleading for the Chamber and G. T. Bynum, and raised over $28,000 as of March 31, from many of the usual establishment funders, including $5,000 from QuikTrip PAC and a maximum $2,900 donation from the Osage Nation. Michael Junk, Bynum's former deputy mayor and campaign manager, hosted a fundraiser for Feamster last fall, prompting questions about Bynum's support for Feamster's candidacy. Clearly, conservative voters and supporters of midtown neighborhood preservation don't yet have a candidate to vote for in the District 4 race; hopefully one will emerge by Wednesday.

While city elections have been officially non-partisan since 2016, all of the 16 candidates who have filed thus far are registered to vote with a political party: 9 Democrats and 7 Republicans. Republicans are a plurality of registered voters in Tulsa, at 86,796, compared to 84,320 registered Democrats, 43,460 independent voters, and 2,063 registered Libertarians. While party registration doesn't say everything that needs to be said about a candidate's views, particularly on city issues, and while RINOs abound, it is one more piece of information that a voter may find useful.

Here is the complete list of candidates who filed on Monday. Names, ages, and addresses are from the official county election board filing list. I've added party registration, incumbent status, other affiliations, and the candidate's name in the voter rolls in parentheses where it differs from the name that will be on the ballot.

This morning I spoke to the weekly meeting of City Elders about the recent school board elections, the Democratic candidates who won despite higher Republican turnout, and the connections of the donors who made their campaigns possible. Here are some links to further reading on the ideas and people I mentioned in my talk, plus some related information worth your time.

Elsewhere:

• The Kaiser System, by Michael Mason: If you read nothing else, read this. Mason approaches the topic with empathy and care as he exposes the groupthink, fear, and divisiveness created as a small group of people use immense wealth as leverage to control our community's civic direction.
• Election results from the April 5, 2022, school elections
• Tulsa Public Schools academic achievement indicator (school report card) from the Oklahoma State Department of Education. I showed the data from 2018-2019, pre-pandemic.
• Tulsa Public Schools: Oklahoma State Testing Report, October 2018. Shows significant decline in proficiency from 2017 to 2018 results.
• Controversial Owasso teacher 'is no longer in the classroom'
• George Krumme OpenSecrets.org donor report
• Burt Holmes OpenSecrets.org donor report
• George Kaiser OpenSecrets.org donor report
• Stacy Schusterman OpenSecrets.org donor report
• George Kaiser's Giving Pledge
• Lynn Schusterman's Giving Pledge
• George Kaiser 2005 Chicago speech on early childhood education
• GKFF Board of Directors
• Schusterman Family Philanthropies statement on "gender and reproductive equity"

At BatesLine:

• Tulsa's Yacht-Guest Subculture: The sycophants who keep the billionaires' boats afloat
• The Anthropomorphization of the GOP: Why it's a mistake to think of the Republican Party as having volition and direction. As Rand Paul has said, "The Republican Party is an empty vessel unless we embue it with values.
• Chambers of Horrors: If you're a conservative, the Chamber of Commerce is not your friend
• "Down with the gummint!" Tulsa's bullies and their willing toadies
• Clueless SOTs and their enablers: Tulsa's insiders refuse to criticize the bad ideas of their peers
• "Any society has to privilege some ethical viewpoint": Why conservatives shouldn't be shy about working to recapture the culture for the worldview and values that built a peaceful and prosperous civilzation
• 2022 Tulsa School Board campaign contributions: Keller, Lamkin backed by leftist establishment donors
• 2022 Union School Board campaign contributions: Democrat donors back McNeil
• The Usual Suspects: Tulsa Economic Recovery Advisory Committee
• Even billionaires deserve scrutiny and skepticism from the media
• Introducing the Tulsa Complacent Council
• Tulsa Election 2011: Pre-general ethics filings; Kaiser, Schusterman lead funders of "Working Tulsans"
• George Kaiser, GKFF, and Solyndra
• Council-suer, SOT member announce picks for City Council (UPDATED)
• Who convinced Tom Coburn to back the bank bailout?
• Great Plains Airlines article archive
• The Build PAC Boys: Post-election City Council contribution reports

Here's the recording of my City Elders talk. There is a bit missing from when the memory card filled up and had to be switched, about the time I was talking about the disappearance of local talk radio, which was a crucial element of media bypass and the modest success we had electing grassroots outsiders to city office in the decade of the 2000s.

Campaign contribution and expenditure reports from the recent school board election in Union, the school district that straddles the Tulsa-Broken Arrow boundary, include some names of prominent Democratic donors familiar from campaign filings in the two 2022 school board races in the Tulsa district.

As reported on his pre-primary campaign contributions and expenditures report, incumbent Democrat Christopher McNeil received maximum $2,900 contributions from Democrat megadonors George Krumme and Burt Holmes. Krumme, a retired oil man, was also a maximum donor to Susan Lamkin in Tulsa District 7 and Shawna Keller in Tulsa District 4. Krumme gave a further $2,900 to McNeil for the general election campaign. (Campaign contribution limits reset after the primary.) Holmes, notorious for suing Tulsa City Councilors for representing their constituents and for working to dilute geographical representation on the council, gave a $2,900 contribution to Lamkin. Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa contributed $750 to McNeil's campaign. Former Tulsa County Democratic Party chairman Elaine Dodd and Heart of the Party, the local chapter of the Oklahoma Federation of Democratic Women, were among the $100 donors to the McNeil campaign.

Gwartney received a total of $1,500 from the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee and $335.70 from Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights (OKHPR), Her largest aggregate personal donation came from Robin LaButti of Tulsa, $885.70 in the primary and general election combined.

As of the primary election, Democrat McNeil had raised $9,895.00. By contrast, Republican challenger Shelley Gwartney had raised $3,043.66. As of the pre-general-election filing (through March 31), McNeil had raised $14,650 and spent $6,016, while Gwartney raised $8,766.15 and spent $6,484.16. Keep in mind that this is not the final report of contributions and expenditures; a great deal of spending can occur in the final week of the campaign and billing may be deferred until after the election.

Here are the complete campaign contribution and expenditure filings for the candidates for Union Public Schools Office No. 2:

Shelley Gwartney, Union Public Schools District 2, 2022 campaign contribution and ethics reports
Christopher McNeil, Union Public Schools District 2, 2022 campaign contribution and ethics reports

Notwithstanding the gap in spending, Gwartney managed to force McNeil into a runoff, finishing just 11 votes behind the incumbent and just 53 votes shy of an absolute majority. But McNeil prevailed in the low-turnout general election, 687-566.

There were 10,081 active registered voters in Union's Election District 2 as of February 28, 2022, of which 5,723 were registered Republicans, 2,588 Democrats, 1,701 Independents, and 69 Libertarians. The partisan breakdown of primary voters was 677 Republicans, 267 Democrats, and 109 Independents. (There was apparently one ballot left blank.)

In the April general election, ballots were cast by 764 Republicans, 342 Democrats, 145 Independents, and 3 Libertarians. (Again, one ballot seems to have been submitted without a detectable mark.)

Published April 3, 2022, postdated to remain at the top of the page until the polls close on Tuesday, April 5, 2022.

Tuesday, April 5, 2022, is general election day for K-12 school board seats in Oklahoma. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Seats on technology center boards (what we used to call vocational-technical, or vo-tech, schools) are also on the ballot. Some cities (Sand Springs and Sapulpa among them) have city council runoffs, and there are some municipal and school district propositions up for a vote as well. The Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter tool will let you know where to vote and will show you a sample of the ballot you'll see. Not everyone will have a reason to go to the polls, but the Tulsa Tech district covers a large area , so double-check, just to be sure.

As of a recent change to election law (HB 2082 in 2018), any contested school board seat will be settled on the first Tuesday in April, except that an election with three or more candidates can be won outright in the February primary if a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. This happened this year in Broken Arrow Office No. 2: Conservative candidate Debbie Taylor received 51% of the vote in a three-way race for an open seat. While this was a happy result, because a smaller electorate turns out for a primary than for the general, it would be good to change the law so that every contested race has a two-candidate election on the April general election date. Some voters prefer not to turn up to vote until more informed voters have narrowed the choices for them.

While school elections in Oklahoma appear without party labels on the ballot, political parties and partisan political figures are free to support and endorse candidates. But schools have drifted from their original purpose of educating students according to their own community's values and priorities. Leftist ideologues have successfully gained a foothold through school boards and college-level schools of education to use public schools as part of a strategy of cultural transformation, the Gramscian "Long March through the Institutions." Pedagogy based on Critical Race Theory and Queer Theory (even if it doesn't use those names) has found its way even into rural public schools, as teachers and administrators come under the influence of organizations like leftist national teacher's unions and their state affiliates (the Oklahoma Education Association).

A second dimension driving the politicization of school elections centers on accountability: School boards are too often filled with rubber stamps who blindly approve whatever the superintendent puts in front of them. The result is administrative bloat, feather-bedding, insider deals, and, worst of all, educational failure. Taxpayer money doesn't find its way into the classroom to serve the needs of students. In the Tulsa Public Schools, this situation is exacerbated by the board and administration's entanglement with foundations which use their "grants" as chains to drag the district in the foundations' desired ideological direction. Parents, students, and taxpayers need board members who will operate the district in accordance with their needs, values, and priorities, rather than turning over these public institutions to the whims of private philanthropists.

State proficiency tests show Tulsa Public Schools performance lagging well behind the rest of the state in every subject at every grade level, by anywhere from 8 to 21 percentage points. 10% of TPS 7th graders were proficient in math, the district's best grade-level math score, but only 3% of TPS 8th graders were. Meanwhile, the majority on the TPS board keep voting early contract extensions for Superintendent Deborah "Cruella" Gist so that board members newly elected by the voters will not have the option of replacing here. This level of failure cannot be fixed by more funds; regime change is essential. At the moment, TPS has two board members who are not rubber stamps -- Jeannettie Marshall and Jerry Griffin. Electing E'Lena Ashley and Tim Harris would result in a majority of the 7 TPS board members committed to accountability.

The third political dimension affecting schools is the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, you have parents and taxpayers who supported prudent precautions when the pandemic was new and its severity was unknown. The early response was driven by the since-disproven fear that the virus could be spread easily by people who showed no symptoms of illness. Now that the virus has become endemic, now that early variants have been supplanted by more infectious but far less severe variants, now that we know that children are at low risk of acquiring or transmitting the virus, now that we see the educational, developmental, and emotional damage that schoolchildren have suffered from mandatory mask-wearing and school closures, parents and taxpayers want to see schools back to their pre-pandemic practices, with in-person instruction, student athletics, music, and activities as before, and no mask or vaccine mandates.

The Democrat Party (but by no means all Democratic voters) has aligned itself with the agendas of cultural transformation, unaccountable insider dealing, irrational risk-aversion, and authoritarian health mandates. Although voters across the political spectrum oppose the Democrat Party's positions on these issues, the Republican Party and conservative organizations have emerged as a resource for Oklahomans of all political affiliations who wish to take the schools back from the Leftist ideologues and grifters and to restore the original purpose of the schools -- to teach children the knowledge and skills they need to be independent, free Americans, participating knowledgeably as in free citizens in a free republic, living effectively as free economic agents in a free market, and exercising personal freedom as they weigh risks and benefits.

Independent advocacy groups like Tulsa Parents Voice and Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights and local Republican organizations are making endorsements and rallying volunteer support for candidates who will work for accountability, parental involvement, and parental rights.

Here in the Tulsa metro area, pro-parent and pro-accountability forces are supporting the following school board candidates. Footnotes indicate which groups have endorsed each. Links are to each candidate's primary web presence.

Tulsa Public Schools, Office No. 4: E'Lena Ashley ^{1 2 3}
Tulsa Public Schools, Office No. 7: Tim Harris ^{1 2 3}
Jenks Public Schools, Office No. 2: Ashley Cross ^{1 2 3}
Sand Springs Public Schools, Office No. 2: MaRanda Trimble-Kerley ^{1 2 3}
Union Public Schools, Office No. 2: Shelley Gwartney ^{1 2 3}
Tulsa Technology District, Office No. 3: Mark Griffin ^{2 3}
Owasso Public Schools, Office No. 2: Joshua Stanton ¹
Bixby Public Schools, Office No. 2: Jake Rowland
Bartlesville Public Schools, Office No. 2: Jonathan Bolding ^{1 2}
Olive Public Schools, Office No. 2: Lori Bates ¹

¹ Endorsed by Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights
² Supported by Tulsa Parents Voice
³ Supported by Tulsa County Republican Party

All of the above candidates are registered Republican voters. All of the K-12 board candidates listed received an "A" survey rating and an endorsement from Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights, except for Bixby candidate Jake Rowland, who was given a "B" grade for his survey responses, and OKHPR did not make an endorsement in that race, nor has OKHPR weighed in on the Tulsa Tech board race. Note that since Bartlesville and Olive are in other counties, the Tulsa County GOP would not be involved in those races. While Bixby Parents Voice has not endorsed Rowland, they have expressed alarm at incumbent candidate Amanda Stephens's vote to keep sexually explicit books in the high school library.

MORE:

• Editorial commentary from the Tulsa Beacon.
• iVoterGuide for Tulsa County school board races

May 17, 2021 TPS board meeting: Starting about 19:30, TPS Board Member Jeannettie Marshall protests the payment of a check to the Tulsa Community Foundation for a contract made with a non-existent organization called "The Opportunity Project" and the fact that two TCF-affiliated board members (Schrieber and Barba Perez) voted on the matter without recusing themselves. Only Marshall and Griffin expressed concern about the lack of transparency; Office 4 incumbent Shawna Keller remained silent and voted to write a check to an organization which had not been awarded a contract. The board rubber stamps tried to slide this through on the "consent agenda." (Note that IT Director Joe Jennings and Chief Equity Officer Devin Fletcher have "their pronouns" listed on their Zoom IDs.)

Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association TPS District 4 candidate forum: Note that incumbent Shawna Keller (D) is still wearing a mask; challenger E'Lena Ashley (R) is not.

Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association TPS District 7 candidate forum: Tim Harris voices his priorities for parent involvement, teaching basic skills (a task which TPS is failing to perform), a forensic, line-by-line audit of TPS finances, and protecting children from inappropriate classroom content.

TYPROS TPS District 7 candidate forum: Former District Attorney Tim Harris (R) is running against Susan Lamkin (D). Lamkin is backed by the same donors and leaders who back the other rubber stamps on the board. Harris's experience managing the personnel, mission, and budget of a large government department -- the Tulsa County District Attorney's office -- will be a great asset to the board, as he will know from experience where to look for wasted money and mission creep.

Tulsa Tech Candidate Forum: Mark Griffin, the incumbent Republican, is being challenged by Democrat Jim Provenzano, husband of leftist Democrat State Rep. Melissa Provenzano.

Union Public Schools candidate forum: Incumbent Chris McNeil (D) vs. challenger and PTA leader Shelley Gwartney (R).

Campaign contribution reports show that the two registered Democrats running for Tulsa school board, District 4 incumbent Shawna Keller and Susan Lamkin, running for the open District 7 seat, are heavily backed by Tulsa's leftist establishment -- the band of philanthropists, politicians, and their hangers-on who hate Oklahoma's conservative values and seek to use their financial power to make Oklahoma "progressive."

Here are the complete campaign reports for the two candidates, as provided in response to an Open Records Act request to the Tulsa Public School district clerk. These PDFs have been run through OCR and renamed for improved search results.

Shawna Keller, Tulsa Public Schools District 4, 2022 campaign contribution and ethics reports
Susan Lamkin, Tulsa Public Schools District 7, 2022 campaign contribution and ethics reports

As of the March 21, 2022, pre-election reporting period deadline, Keller, running for re-election, had raised $14,130.20 in cash contributions, but had only spent $2,125.42 at that point, two weeks before election day. Lamkin, running in an open seat against a well-known opponent, had raised $35,805.00 and spent $16,523.28.

Familiar names connected with Democrat Party politics and influential local philanthropies appear on both candidates' donor lists. Many of the same names were donors to the effort to unseat Pastor Jennettie Marshall in her 2021 race for re-election to the school board. (But she persisted.) In general, these campaign donors have opposed grassroots candidates and supported current members of the rubber-stamp school board, which is failing to educate Tulsa children effectively.

Stacy Schusterman ($1,000 to Keller, $1,500 to Lamkin): Chairman of Samson Energy and Schusterman Family Philanthropies, whose agenda includes "gender and reproductive equity:

We support our partners in building an equitable world in which all women-including Black women, women of color, indigenous women, cisgender and transgender women-and non-binary people have access to reproductive health knowledge and care, to greater political and economic power and leadership, and to safety in all aspects of their lives.

George Krumme (max donations of $2,900 each to Keller and Lamkin): Retired head of Krumme Oil and major donor to Democratic candidates and causes.

Kathy Taylor ($2,000 to Keller, $500 to Lamkin): Democrat former mayor of Tulsa.

Philip Kaiser ($250 each to Keller and Lamkin): Son of George Kaiser, member of the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) board of directors, owner of Laffa restaurant and defunct Cosmo Cafe.

Nancy McDonald ($100 to Keller, $500 to Lamkin): Founder of Tulsa chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Tim Gilpin ($250 to Keller, $750 to Lamkin): Former Tulsa County Democrat Party chairman, Democrat nominee for Congress in 2018.

James Frasier and Sally Frasier ($200 combined to Keller, $300 combined to Lamkin): Husband and wife influential in national, state, and local Democrat Party politics. Jim Frasier has served as a member of the Democratic National Committee and as a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention. Sally Frasier has been honored as Democratic Woman of the Year and has served on the board of the local Planned Parenthood chapter.

Dennis Neill ($125 to Keller, $75 to Lamkin): Gay rights activist, Namesake of the Dennis R. Neill "Equality" Center, and connected with the Schusterman family as an executive at Samson and the Schusterman foundation.

Cynthia (Cindy) Decker ($100 to Keller, $150 to Lamkin): Former TPS board member and Executive Director of Tulsa Educare, a major initiative of GKFF.

Annie Van Hanken ($100 to Keller, $250 to Lamkin): Program Officer, GKFF, "oversees GKFF's early childhood education and common education initiatives."

Heart of the Party ($100 each to Keller and Lamkin): "As the 1st Congressional District chapter of the Oklahoma Federation of Democratic Women we promotes [sic] progressive political activism and the election of Democrats through local, statewide and federal elections."

Kara Gae Neal ($100 each to Keller and Lamkin): Former Tulsa County Superintendent of Schools (as Kara Gae Wilson), wife of former Tulsa World editorial hack Ken Neal.

While departing TPS Office No. 7 board member Suzanne Schreiber has not personally contributed to any campaigns, her husband, Tony Rittenberry, gave $1,250 to Lamkin, and her sister Sara Schreiber, executive director of America Votes (which calls itself the "coordination hub of the progressive community"), gave $250 to Lamkin. Her father, New Mexico rancher and anti-natural-gas activist Don Schreiber, gave $100 to Lamkin; his wife, Jane Schreiber, gave $200 to Keller. Schreiber is running as a Democrat for the House District 70 seat being vacated by Carol Bush. (Schreiber's mother is Democratic former New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish; Suzanne Schreiber worked on her mother's unsuccessful 2010 campaign for governor. Both of Suzanne Schreiber's parents signed a 2021 letter urging the University of New Mexico to divest from fossil-fuel energy investments.)

Other notable donors to Susan Lamkin's campaign:

Attorney Fred Dorwart, $2,000: The Frederic Dorwart Law Firm provides legal services to the network that Michael Mason has labeled "the Kaiser System."

Steve Mitchell, $1000: CEO of Argonaut, George Kaiser's private equity firm.

Ken Levit, GKFF executive director, $250. (Oddly, Levit is listed merely as "attorney" with no mention of his employer.)

Burt Holmes, $2,900: Maximum donor to Barack Obama, Great Plains Airlines board member, and litigant against city councilors who dared to represent their constituents. Holmes was at the forefront of "Save Our Tulsa", a partially successful effort to change the city charter. He sought to add three at-large members to the city council, to move city elections to Federal election dates, and to make city elections non-partisan, all of which give the advantage to the best funded campaign and make it harder for grassroots-supported candidates to win and have influence at city all. He also spearheaded a 2011 effort to replace independent-minded city councilors with rubber stamps.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS UPDATE, with all precincts counted: The conservative, pro-parent school board candidates have either won outright (Debbie Taylor in Broken Arrow) or made it into a runoff (conservative Tim Harris against Susan Lamkin, who had the endorsement of the GKFF-connected incumbent and the support of the TPS establishment; conservative Shelley Gwartney against Union incumbent Chris McNeil). The top two candidates in both races were just a tiny margin apart -- 62 votes in Tulsa and 12 votes in Union. So the pro-parent candidates and supporters will have a busy eight weeks between now and the April 5, 2022, runoff. In addition to trying to help Tim Harris in Tulsa district 7 and Shelley Gwartney in Union district 2, there will also be a race in Tulsa district 4 (East Central area) between pro-parent candidate E'Lena Ashley and the Democrat incumbent, as well as two-candidate races for Jenks, Skiatook (2 seats), Owasso, and Sand Springs school boards, and Tulsa Tech Center board seat 3.

Smallest election in the state: 21 voters turned out in the Town of Tushka (just south of Atoka) and all of them voted for renewing their franchise with PSO. The Town of East Duke (in Jackson County near Altus) had 36 unanimous voters on their PSO franchise vote. East Duke appears on maps as just plain Duke, another situation, like New Cordell and Pryor Creek, where there's a mismatch between corporate and common name. In Tulsa, 11,314 turned out to vote for the PSO franchise, which passed by a 76-24 split, but I suspect that number was boosted a bit by the school board and bond issue elections happening in some areas.

Polls will be open today, Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. The Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter tool will let you know where to vote (and if you have a reason to go to the polls) and will show you a sample of the ballot you'll see. Here's the complete list of elections today across Oklahoma.

Below are my thoughts on some of the races in the Oklahoma school board and municipal primary election on February 8, 2022.

This is last-minute and thrown-together, I am sorry to say. Someone decided to foment a crisis, which landed atop an intense work load, plus the final push of a busy MIT admissions interview season, which ended yesterday.

Serious challengers to the status quo have emerged in several school board races in the Tulsa metro area. These candidates are committed to serving the best interests of students and their parents, rather than the agendas of administrators or unions or overly-influential, control-freakish "philanthropic" organizations. Parent Voice of Tulsa has identified the strongest pro-parent and pro-student candidates in each race, listed below.

Tulsa School Board, Office No. 7: Tim Harris. The retired district attorney, a conservative Republican, is running for an open seat. He has been endorsed by Parent Voice of Tulsa, the Republican Party of Tulsa County, former Congressman Jim Bridenstine, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, retired college president Everett Piper, and many other conservative voices.

His principal competitor is a registered Democrat who has no history of voting in school board elections and has the backing for prominent left-wing institutions and donors, including the outgoing GKFF-connected board member, along with a number of other GKFF-affiliated donors, former Democrat Mayor Kathy Taylor, and the Tulsa County Democratic Party. Voting for her would be to vote for keeping failed Superintendent Deborah Gist, for accepting more strings-attached "grants" from foundations, for keeping kids in masks or out of the classroom, failing to learn via Zoom.

Union School Board Office No. 2: Shelley Gwartney. Gwartney has four children in Union schools and has been very involved as a volunteer in the district and the community. Her website goes into detail on the issues that matter to conservative parents and taxpayers. Gwartney has also been endorsed by the Republican Party of Tulsa County and Parent Voice of Tulsa.

Broken Arrow School Board Office No. 2: Debbie Taylor. Taylor is mother to four BA graduates and grandmother to 9 current students in the Broken Arrow Public Schools. Taylor is also supported by Parent Voice and the Republican Party of Tulsa County in her race for the open seat.

City of Tulsa franchise election for PSO: NO. While most Tulsa voters will not have the opportunity to vote for school board, there is a citywide election. Voters will decide whether to continue to grant PSO a franchise to use its right-of-way -- including the right-of-way along your back fence -- for the next 15 years. Here is the description on the ballot:

Do you approve the City of Tulsa's Ordinance No. 24695, granting an electric franchise to Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), so that PSO may use and occupy the streets, public ways and public places of the City for installing, operating and maintaining poles, wires and other equipment, for the purpose of furnishing electricity to the public? PSO will charge its consumers a reasonable, regulated fee for the electricity furnished. PSO must abide by the terms and conditions set forth in the Franchise Ordinance. PSO will pay fees to the City of Tulsa for the use of the public ways, as calculated in the Ordinance. This franchise will last for fifteen (15) years.

You will not find any reference to this election on the CityOfTulsa.org homepage, but Ordinance No. 24695 can be found on Municode, which hosts the city charter and ordinances. Here is a copy of the proposed City of Tulsa PSO franchise, which was approved by the City Council on November 17, 2021, and signed by Mayor G. T. Bynum IV the following day. Included in that PDF is a "redline" version showing how the new franchise differs from the one that has been in force since 1997, a quarter-century ago. The new franchise has a shorter term, only 15 years; it raises the franchise fee from 2% to 3% of gross receipts, a cost that will undoubtedly be passed on to Tulsa residents and businesses; it does not provide a way to revisit the franchise fee during the 15-year term; and it has a provision that would allow the City to order burying lines below ground, but the City (read: Tulsa taxpayers) would have to cover the extra cost.

As a rule, I think that voters ought to punish attempts by public officials to sneak something past them by putting it on a special ballot, and at the same time incurring the cost of of a special election and the burden on the election board and its volunteers. Whatever the positive or negative aspects, it ought to be on the same general election ballot we use to elect city councilors and the mayor. So I recommend a NO vote on the PSO franchise.

Catoosa Public Schools bond issue: NO. The bond issue would replace the current Cherokee Elementary School building (on the west side of Cherokee Street, built circa 1960 and formerly served as the junior high, middle school, and upper elementary) with a new building, which would also eliminate the district's use of the Helen Paul Learning Center, which was built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s and is just about the only historic building left in all of Catoosa. The administration is silent on what will happen to the Helen Paul building. I confess a personal interest: All but one of my classrooms from kindergarten to 8th grade have been demolished. The only one left is the classroom on the southeast corner of the intersection of the main corridor and the original entrance, where I was in Mrs. Helen Paul's 2nd grade class. This is also the only one of my mother's kindergarten classrooms remaining in Oklahoma. New facilities may be nice, but some of us recall the sparkling new J. W. Sam Elementary building from about 25 years ago, which was closed because of shoddy construction. I would vote no and demand some answers about historic preservation and construction quality. There is also an open school board seat on the ballot.

Also on today's ballot across the Tulsa metro area:

• Sand Springs: Two City Council races
• Bixby: $43 million bond issue for a performing arts center
• Coweta: A revote, due to failure to comply with public notice requirements, of last September's one-cent sales tax election
• Sapulpa: Vote to make the "temporary" 2% sales tax permanent
• Bixby Public Schools: Two bond issues, Prop No. 1 for $110 million to include a new high school building; Prop No. 2 for $4.5 million for student transportation
• Jenks Public Schools: Two bond issues totalling $14,025,000.

Remember that voting "no" on a bond issue is a way to send a vote of no confidence in your school's board and administration, even if you don't have the opportunity to vote directly for a board member.

Down the turnpike, Oklahoma City at-large city councilor David Holt (he has the ceremonial title of "mayor"), who has made his living as a professional schmoozer and never had a real job (as far as I can tell), is running for re-election. He is opposed by Carol Hefner, who is running as a conservative, pro-free-market, pro-public-safety candidate; Frank Urbanic, a lawyer who successfully challenged Holt's attempts to shut down city businesses during the pandemic; and Jimmy Lawson, an activist pushing for criminal justice "reform" and "equity." Carol Hefner has the endorsement of the Oklahoma County Republican Party, the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) and Oklahoma Second Amendment Association (OK2A). If no one gets 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff in April.

Holt refused to debate his challengers.

Unless conservative voters in Oklahoma's cities eject progressive mayors and councilors from office, these progressive mayors will continue to prioritize policies aimed at turning these cities "blue," moving Oklahoma toward a future where, like Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, and many other states, corrupt "progressive" urban centers will control elections for the whole state. We need mayors and councilors in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Norman (we already have them in Broken Arrow!) who will make their cities attractive to conservatives who are refugees from other states.

Two Tuesdays from now, February 8, 2022, will be the first round of school board elections in Oklahoma for those races with at least three candidates. (Races with only two competitors will happen on April 5, along with any runoffs from the February 8 election. The Tulsa Public Schools Office No. 4 race between incumbent Democrat Shawna Keller and Republican challenger E'Lena Ashley will be on the April 5 ballot.)

On February 8 in the Tulsa metro area, there will be school board elections in Broken Arrow, Catoosa, Union; school bond issues in Bixby and Jenks; two city council seats in Sand Springs and one in Sapulpa; a PSO franchise renewal vote in the City of Tulsa; and city propositions in Bixby, Coweta, and Sapulpa.

This past two pandemic years, a growing number of parents and citizens have become aware of how bureaucrats and unions have taken control of our public schools and appear to be running them for their own convenience and in support of their own ideologies of social transformation. School board members are too often rubber stamps for administrators, when they should be holding the administration accountable to run a school district in accordance with the community's values and priorities. Tulsa's school board majority has been quick to insulate the superintendent from any consequences of her mismanagement by extending her contract beyond the reach of newly elected board members.

Groups like Parent Voice Oklahoma and their Tulsa chapter are organizing to elect better board members. It's all well and good for the legislature to ban indoctrination in accord with Critical Race Theory/Intersectionality and to ban mask mandates in schools (most countries didn't impose masks on school children), but we need good school board members to ensure that district administrators not only comply but cooperate with these democratic expressions of community values. If every district had a majority of good school board members who reflect community values, we might not need state laws to keep the public school administrators from going off the rails.

This year voters in the Tulsa school district could reclaim community control over our schools. In 2020, District 6 voters unseated a 24-year seat-warmer and elected Dr. Jerry Griffin, an experienced educator who is not shy about asking challenging questions politely and proposing ideas for improvement. In 2021, Pastor Jeannettie Marshall was re-elected in District 3, despite the massive funding advantage enjoyed by her opponent, who was backed by donors connected with the foundations that exert considerable control over TPS. Marshall had been a lone voice on the school board, the only member willing to vote against the 2020 scheme to extend controversial and unsuccessful Superintendent Deborah Gist's contract before newly elected board members could have a say in the matter. Two more seats could cinch a majority of board members committed to accountability and genuine educational excellence.

Longtime Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris is running for the open seat in Tulsa School Board Office No. 7, currently held by Suzanne Schrieber. Harris served 16 years as District Attorney for Tulsa County, retiring at the end of his term in 2014. Harris then taught constitutional law and criminal procedure at ORU for five semesters. After finishing first in the 2018 Republican primary to replace Congressman Jim Bridenstine, Harris fell short in an expensive runoff race with Kevin Hern.

In 2017, Harris served as chairman of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Foundation, raising money for body cameras for patrol deputies. Sheriff Vic Regalado hired Harris in 2019 as general counsel for the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, where his responsibilities include civil rights and compliance issues at the county jail, covering issues as wide-ranging as keeping rival gangs separate, religious requirements for food and clergy, and access to health care, education, and a law library.

Harris was an advocate for children throughout his career in the District Attorney's office. As First Assistant DA under David Moss, Harris was part of a three-man team that developed a better way to care for children who came into contact with the criminal justice system as victims or witnesses. During Bill LaFortune's time as DA, Harris created a dedicated prosecution team for crimes against children with specialists in every courtroom, with Harris serving as the first Director of the Crimes Against Children Division.

Tim and his wife Tiari met as students at ORU and have been married for 37 years. They have two adult children and, as of a couple of months ago, a grandchild.

Harris had been praying about an opportunity to return to public service in some form or fashion, and on the second day of the filing period he heard a news report on the radio about an open seat on the TPS. After learning that it was for the district where he lives, he consulted with his wife, looked up the filing requirements, and put his name in.

As he delves into the details of curriculum and operations at TPS, Harris sees that this conservative city in the heart of the Bible Belt is being hit by the same wave of corrosive ideology, educational fads, and mismanagement that is sweeping over the rest of the nation. Curricula shaped by critical race theory and Marxist economics are taking the place of the skills and knowledge Tulsa students need to succeed. Harris told me about curriculum aimed at K-12 students that decries "environmental racism" and the "oppressive nature of standard English."

Meanwhile in many classrooms, teachers are reduced to proctoring students as they do lessons on screens. The result: 60% of 4th graders not reading at a 4th grade level. In 2019, state assessments showed that only 18% of TPS students were "proficient" or "advanced." And yet we have a highly paid superintendent that continues to be granted contract extensions by a weak, pliable school board. During his time in the DA's office, Tim Harris noticed that many of the criminals who came through Tulsa's courtrooms had passed through Tulsa Public Schools without being educated beyond an elementary level. While a lack of knowledge doesn't excuse crime, it makes it much more difficult to obtain honest employment, and a school system that fails to teach self-control along with basic knowledge further damages its graduates' chances to succeed.

As a prosecutor who has seen the tragic results of failed public schools, as a long-time volunteer serving young people, as an administrator with responsibility over a complex organization, and as a devout Christian husband, father, and grandfather, Tim Harris has the values and experience we need on the Tulsa school board. I urge you to vote for him on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, and to volunteer your time to help get him elected.

This is a reworking of a post from two years ago, but it has been updated with current information about open seats and candidates, and there is some new information below.

END OF FILING UPDATE, 2021/12/08: 5 of the 17 seats in Tulsa County had only one candidate (Berryhill, Collinsville, Glenpool, Liberty, Sperry), and one seat (Keystone) had no candidates file. The two Tulsa Public Schools seats drew two and four candidates, respectively. Former District Attorney Tim Harris and three other candidates will run for the open Office No. 7 seat being vacated by Suzanne Schreiber, and E'Lena Ashley will challenge incumbent Shawna Keller for Office No. 4.

In city races, two council seats and the mayor's office in Collinsville each drew only one candidate; likewise a single Owasso council seat drew a single candidate. Sand Springs Office No. 1 drew 3 candidates, and Office No. 2 drew 2.

We are in the midst of the annual filing period for public school board positions in Oklahoma, which ends Wednesday, December 8, 2021, at 5 p.m. Most K-12 school districts will have a single seat, Office No. 2, up for election to a five-year term. Dependent districts (Keystone is the only one in Tulsa County) have three seats that rotate through three-year terms. Skiatook, in far-north Tulsa County, also has Office No. 5 on the ballot. Tulsa Tech has Office No. 3 up for election, and the incumbent has drawn a challenger.

After two days of filing in Tulsa County, out of 17 seats up for election, 11 seats have drawn one candidate, only 5 have drawn two or more candidates. No one has filed in Keystone school district.

Filing is also open for a number of municipalities; candidates have filed for city office in Collinsville, Owasso, and Sand Springs.

(Here is the current list of candidates for Tulsa County school board seats. And here's where you'll find maps showing school district and election district boundaries.)

School board filing always comes at a busy and distracted time of year. As I've written before, it's almost as if school board elections were deliberately scheduled to escape the notice of potential candidates and voters.

The school board primary election will be held on February 8, 2022, for those seats where there are three or more candidates. If no one wins a majority of the vote in the February election, a runoff will be held on April 5, 2022. If a seat draws only two candidates, the election will be held on April 5, 2022.

The Tulsa district, largest in the state, has two out of seven seats up for election to a four-year term, Offices No. 4 and 7.

Tulsa Election District 4 is the east portion of the Tulsa school district, roughly south of Admiral and east of 89th East Ave. The current member for District 4 is Shawna Keller, a Democrat. She has filed for re-election and has not yet drawn an opponent.

Tulsa Election District 7 is the southern edge of the Tulsa school district, east of the river and south of 51st Street, plus the Patrick Henry neighborhood between 41st, Harvard, Yale, and I-44. Suzanne Schreiber, an employee of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, is the incumbent and is registered as a Democrat, but she has not yet filed for re-election. Susan Bryant Lamkin, an independent, has filed for the seat.

If you're a conservative, you should give serious thought to running for school board, even if you have no school-aged children, even if you have children that are homeschooled or in private school, even if you've never had a child in the public schools. The public school system exists to serve all citizens by educating the children of the community, so every citizen has an interest in the curriculum being used, the way discipline is handled, the condition of the school buildings, and the credentials, skills, and philosophical presuppositions of the teachers, principals, and administrators. Property owners support the school system through ad valorem taxes, and so they have a reasonable interest in the proper and efficient expenditure of those funds. So do all citizens who pay state income and sales taxes, which provide funds to supplement local property taxes.

If you are, like me, a homeschool or private school parent, you will have experience and valuable insights with successful, classical alternatives to the faddish and failing teaching methods, priorities, and content currently in use in the public schools.

The pandemic period has been an apocalypse -- an unveiling -- with remote learning and work-from-home giving parents a clear picture of how little their children are being taught, and how corrosive to society and civilization are the ideas that are being taught in our public schools. Parents began to ask pointed questions at school board meetings across the country, most notably in Loudoun County, Virginia, where parents launched a recall effort against board members. The National School Boards Association wrote Democrat U. S. Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter comparing protesting parents to "domestic terrorists" and asking for the Justice Department to invoke the Patriot Act, and Garland echoed the NSBA's language in a memo directing the FBI to investigate protesting parents, triggering a nationwide outcry and leading 17 state school board associations to cancel their membership in the NSBA.

Here in Oklahoma, Reclaim Oklahoma Parental Empowerment and Parent Voice Oklahoma, with local chapters like Parent Voice Tulsa, are among the groups supporting parents and taxpayers as they seek to reassert civilian control over our taxpayer-funded schools. Although school board ballots don't list party affiliations, the Tulsa County Republican Party is ready to help school board candidates who are registered Republican and who seek to bring conservative principles to public education.

Tulsa Public Schools daily attendance is plummeting. In the 2015-2016 school year, Tulsa ADA was 36,415.56. In 2020-2021, it was 26735.36. Even before COVID, TPS was losing students: ADA was 33,043.90 in 2018-2019, a 10% drop in three years. By comparison, Jenks ADA was 10,787.50 in 2015-2016. 11,768.39 in 2018-2019, and 11495.86 in 2020-2021. (Average Daily Attendance and Average Daily Membership data by district can be downloaded at the State Department of Education website.)

It seems that a substantial number of families move from the Tulsa district to the suburbs when their children reach kindergarten, or, if they stay, many opt for homeschooling or private schools. Those numbers make a strong case for new leaders in the Tulsa district. And if the school board is going to be strictly representative, at least two of the seven members should have children in homeschool or private school, and a majority should be conservative.

Filing is simple: A notarized declaration of candidacy, and a signed copy of the statutory requirements for school board candidates. For this office there is no filing fee. You can view the Oklahoma school board filing packet online. And although school board elections are officially non-partisan, the local and state Republican Party organizations will provide assistance to registered Republicans who are candidates for non-partisan office. (I suspect the same is true of the Democrats.)

There was a time when it was generally agreed that schools existed to transmit knowledge and the values of the community to the rising generation, working alongside parents. At some point, as part of the Gramscian long march through the institutions, the public schools were infiltrated by Leftists who saw them as a venue for missionary work, converting children away from the values of their parents, away from the ideals that made America a prosperous and peaceful nation. The Left has influence over schools of education, textbook publishers, teachers' unions, and continuing education for teachers, administrators, and board members.

If you live in a suburban or small-town district, you might suppose your district is safe from Leftist influence. Think again. Through their college training, their teachers' union newsletter, continuing education courses, peer relationships, and curriculum, your districts' teachers and administrators work in an atmosphere of Leftist presuppositions about the world. It takes strength, conviction, and vigilance for a conservative educator to be conscious of that atmosphere and to resist its influence.

There are, it must be said, many good conservatives, many devout Christians serving in Oklahoma's public schools. But they need support in the form of school board members who will set policy and curriculum and ensure that the paid staff adhere to it. Conservative school board members should not give undue deference to "professionals" who have been trained to see education through a Leftist lens. The subject matter taught, the methods used, and the values undergirding it all should be firmly under the control of our elected representatives on the school board.

Education is necessarily ideological, because it rests on presuppositions about knowledge, truth, goodness, and beauty. The ideology of the public schools should reflect the ideology of the community.

If I were running, here are some of the planks that would be in my platform:

• Introduce the classical trivium as the philosophy and method of instruction in schools that are currently failing. That includes a heavy emphasis on memorizing facts in the elementary years, which gives children a sense of mastery and accomplishment and provides a solid foundation for subsequent learning.
• Instill pride in our city, state, and country. America has its flaws, but it is a beacon of liberty and opportunity that inspires hope in hundreds of millions of people around the world who wish they could live and work here. Our children should understand the aspects of our culture and history that have made our country prosperous and peaceful. The "black armband" view of history should have no place in our schools. We would uphold the state's ban, passed this year as HB 1775, on teaching the racist ideas that collectively come under the heading of critical race theory and praxis.
• Keep the Land Run re-enactments in our elementary schools. It's a fun and memorable way to introduce students to our state's unique history. There is an activist in Oklahoma City who managed to convince historically ignorant principals and school board members there that the '89 Land Run was an act of genocide. Oklahoma City, founded by the '89 Land Run, no longer has reenactments of that event, because of a zealot who pushed her slanderous revision of history on ignoramuses in charge of the schools.
• Return music to the elementary grades. An early introduction to classical music and learning to make music by singing have tremendous developmental and behavioral benefits.
• Review all federal grants and determine whether the cost of compliance and the loss of independence is worth the money.
• Young people who foolishly believe that swapping sexes will solve their deep unhappiness deserve pity and guidance. It is utter cruelty to humor their misplaced hope that "changing gender identity" will cure their misery. Leadership at each school should craft a way to accommodate these deluded young people with compassion and dignity, while protecting the dignity of everyone else, and while affirming the biologically undeniable reality of the two sexes.

Our public schools need principled, intelligent conservative leadership. Will you step forward to serve?

FROM THE ARCHIVES: My 2015 post on school board filing included links to two important articles about the leftist direction of your local public school board, particularly on sexual morality and gender identity.

Stella Morabito wrote, "Ask Not Who's Running For President, Ask Who's Running For School Board," citing the recent battle in Fairfax County, Virginia, over transgender policy as one among many reasons.

Walt Heyer, a man who underwent sex-change surgery and then, realizing that the change failed to give him the happiness he had hoped for, changed back, wrote about the Obama Administration using its perverted interpretation of Title IX to force public schools to trample their students in the transgender war against science and reason.

My 2019 post included several then-current examples of leftist ideology on sexuality and race running amok in public schools.