2017 City Council Elections

[Urban Pioneer]

Surprised there isn't a thread on this. I am working on Chris Gordon's campaign in Ward 1 and figured that someone would post about the overall election and the various candidates. Since no one has, here is the city's official press release on the matter.

Thirteen candidates file for Oklahoma City Council primary election Feb. 14

Post Date:12/08/2016 11:38 AM (City of Oklahoma City)
Thirteen candidates filed to run in the Oklahoma City Council election in 2017 for Wards 1, 3, 4 and 7.

The candidates in each Ward will face off in the primary election Feb. 14. If any candidate receives a majority of the votes in that Ward, he or she is elected to office.

If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the primary, the two candidates with the most votes will stand in a decisive general election April 4.

Candidates are elected to four-year terms. The annual salary is $12,000.

The Mayor, who is elected at-large, and one Council member representing each of Oklahoma City’s eight Wards comprise the Oklahoma City Council.

Ward 1 candidates

Jonathan Clour
Chris Gordon
James Greiner (incumbent)
Ward 3 candidates

Larry McAtee (incumbent)
Joe “Sarge” Nelson
Matthew W. Olsen
Ward 4 candidates

Doris Mangiaracina Benbrook
Walter J. Kula
Richard Morrissette
Todd Stone
Ward 7 candidates

T. Sheri Dickerson
Marina Mangiaracina
John A. Pettis Jr. (incumbent)

[TexanOkie]

Tonight, ULI Oklahoma is hosting a City Council Candidates Forum from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Skirvin. It's free and doesn't require any advanced registration. I believe most of the candidates will be attending. More info at the following link on the ULI Oklahoma webpage: http://oklahoma.uli.org/event/okc-co...didates-forum/

[bradh]

I don't know much about ward 4 other than that I bet most OKC citizens forget about it, but it includes such important areas like Tinker AFB and Draper Lake, and (oddly enough) a small slither of riverfront property south of downtown. I need to look more into those candidates.

[baralheia]

Since I live in Ward 4, I'm interested in hearing more information about these candidates. Here's what I know about them so far: Richard Morissette was the democratic representative for my house district until he termed out; I personally thought he did a pretty good job as representative and likely would do well as our voice in the City Council. He's lived in my neighborhood for about 15 years, so that's cool, too. Doris Mangiaracina Benbrook is a professor and co-director of the Center for Cancer Prevention and Drug Development at the OU Health Sciences Center. Looks like she's a Chicago expat; she earned her PhD at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL. While it doesn't appear that she has any political experience (her area of expertise is in biology and chemistry), she's chaired multiple national scientific committees (her CV is impressive!) and I could see her as a positive voice in City Council. I can't find much information about Walter J. Kula aside from he's the current chairman of the Traffic and Transportation Commission for the City of OKC, and also represents Ward 4 to the same commission. I can't find a lot about Todd Stone, either... It looks like he owns a construction company (Dub Stone Construction) that he inherited from his father, and is on the Board of Directors for the South OKC Chamber of Commerce.

Personally, right at this moment I think I'd be leaning toward either Morissette or Mangiaracina Benbrook; With only three weeks until the election, they're the only two that have campaign websites and seem to be actually serious about gaining the office.

[HangryHippo]

I can't find much information about Walter J. Kula aside from he's the current chairman of the Traffic and Transportation Commission for the City of OKC, and also represents Ward 4 to the same commission.

He's out! lol

[LakeEffect]

Morissette has signs up along N Lincoln Blvd in Ward 7 (36th to 50th St). I was confused.

[baralheia]

Todd Stone has mailers out now; at least to my eye, he seems to be, essentially, a local politics version of POTUS. Businessman/outsider sort of claims. Not my cup of tea but he'll probably do halfway well just on those claims alone. I did finally find his website - it's not in the top ten results for "todd stone" or "todd stone okc", and is pretty bare-bones - https://www.stone4okc.com/.

As an aside: Morrissette's website is http://richardforokc.com/. Mangiaracina Benbrook's website is http://www.dorisforoklahoma.com/. Walter Kula has defaulted to Facebook for his campaign site: https://www.facebook.com/WalterKulaOKCWard4/.

[LocoAko]

Can anyone give me more information about the Ward 1 candidates, specifically Gordon? I'm leaning toward him if only to get a fresh face on the council and because I'm very disappointed in Greiner for his vote against Indigenous People's Day (and from the little I know I don't agree with his politics), but I haven't gotten any mailers and can't actually find a whole lot about him. I know this might not be the right place to promote or campaign for either of them, but both of their websites just seem like some bio and a list of generic city interests -- though UP's endorsement does mean a lot. Thoughts on HP? Public transit? LGBT protections? Drawing businesses to OKC? etc. etc.

[betts]

Can anyone give me more information about the Ward 1 candidates, specifically Gordon? I'm leaning toward him if only to get a fresh face on the council and because I'm very disappointed in Greiner for his vote against Indigenous People's Day (and from the little I know I don't agree with his politics), but I haven't gotten any mailers and can't actually find a whole lot about him. I know this might not be the right place to promote or campaign for either of them, but both of their websites just seem like some bio and a list of generic city interests -- though UP's endorsement does mean a lot. Thoughts on HP? Public transit? LGBT protections? Drawing businesses to OKC? etc. etc.

I met Chris and could definitely tell he is knowledgeable about public transit and interesting in promoting it. We didn't talk about LGBT protections, but on every subject we discussed he seemed like an open-minded reasonable person. I don't think he would dismiss anything out of hand - he seemed like the kind of person who listens carefully to all sides and makes a reasoned decision. If I were in his ward I would vote for him over Greiner, definitely.

[Tier2City]

Greiner ran on a anti-lgbt platform four years ago. He was upset about the protections that were put into place by the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance. In fact, I heard he specifically made reference on the radio and other outlets that the lgbt issue was the major motivator for him to run against Gary Marrs. It was that and he had a problem with MAPS 3 and the way the city does economic development. He really doesn’t say much at City Council meetings or try to help his ward. Anybody else would be better pick. Gordon sounds a lot more like what Greiner should be.

[Midtowner]

Greiner is backed by Hobby Lobby money. He sort of tried early on to do the whole Tea Party thing on the City Council. It really was a square peg/round hole situation and he has since sort of faded into the background. I'll be voting Gordon. He actually knocked my door and seems a decent guy.

[Urban Pioneer]

Chris just got endorsed by the Oklahoma City Firefighters.

[Urban Pioneer]

Well, Gordon lost last night by 194 votes. Expect more of the same. For those of you who did support him, we thank you and thank you for your vote.

[riflesforwatie]

Sorry to hear of Gordon's defeat. If I lived in his ward I definitely would've voted for him.

[LocoAko]

Sad. And really, truly depressing to see how low turnout was.

https://nondoc.com/2017/02/15/voter-...ampaign=buffer

Even lower voter turnout affected Tuesday’s OKC City Council races. The following data reflect registered voters per ward and the percentage turnout for those wards that voted Tuesday.

Total OKC registrants: 256,017
Ward 1: 32,853 (4.9 percent)
Ward 2: 41,117
Ward 3: 18,511 (4.1 percent)
Ward 4: 26,532 (5.1 percent)
Ward 5: 11,682
Ward 6: 24,013
Ward 7: 44,400 (6.9 percent)
Ward 8: 56,909

4.9%? Sigh...

[Teo9969]

Sad. And really, truly depressing to see how low turnout was.

https://nondoc.com/2017/02/15/voter-...ampaign=buffer



4.9%? Sigh...

I just want to say that Pettis is a freaking rockstar. Dude turned out 80% of the other 3 wards combined and won 80% of that vote.

He clearly didn't need to do all the work he did and he still crushed it.

[bradh]

It's pathetic and angers me to no end the turnout local elections bring.

[jompster]

Most of those I talked to didn't even know there was an election. They don't get a lot of media attention it seems - aside from a brief mention on the evening news the night before and the ticker the evening of.

[Midtowner]

Most of those I talked to didn't even know there was an election. They don't get a lot of media attention it seems - aside from a brief mention on the evening news the night before and the ticker the evening of.

They all received mailers at the very least. I just cannot understand people who don't pay attention to local races. These have vastly more effect on your day to day than the Presidential race.

[king183]

They all received mailers at the very least. I just cannot understand people who don't pay attention to local races. These have vastly more effect on your day to day than the Presidential race.

Absolutely. I was at a state rep's constituent gathering last week (the type of people who attend these are generally plugged in) and several people said they didn't even know there were races. Ridiculous. It was reported on extensively in The Oklahoman and other local media, so there is no excuse not to know. You had to actively ignore it.

Or, you know, perhaps this is the type of thing each citizen should proactively seek information on rather than depending on someone else to tell you about it.