TULSA’S ELECTION HQ: City Council races, Charter amendments on Aug. 23rd ballot

People who live in the city of Tulsa will have more to decide on August 23rd beyond the highly publicized and historic Senate races.

Tulsa residents will also decide who gets to serve on the Tulsa City Council and on three proposed Charter Amendments.

Proposed City Charter Amendments

Proposed City Charter Amendment No. 1 | Mayor’s Salary, to be Set by Ordinance

For more than 20 years, the mayor of Tulsa has made $105,000 annually, according to the city. That number comes from a 2001 ordinance. The proposed amendment updates the City Charter to reflect that salary. Currently, the Charter has language dating back to 1990 that refers to the mayor’s old annual salary of $70,000. The discrepancy has caused some confusion, so this amendment seeks to clear that up. The amendment does not change the mayor’s salary.

Proposed City Charter Amendment No. 2 | Residency Requirement for Candidates, 365 Days

This proposed change would require candidates for mayor and city auditor to live in Tulsa for at least one year before they can run for those offices. Currently, candidates are required to live in Tulsa, but there is no specific length of time required.

Additionally, city council candidates would be required to live in the district in which they plan to run for at least one year. Currently, that requirement is only 90 days.

Proposed City Charter Amendment No. 3 | City Auditor 4-Year Term

If passed, this would change the length of a Tulsa city auditor’s term from two years to four years, effective December 2026. It would also stagger the auditor’s term so that the mayor’s and auditor’s elections and terms are offset by 2 years.

Tulsa City Council Elections

All nine Tulsa City Council seats are up for grabs on August 23rd.

Each race, with one exception, has an incumbent on the ballot. District 4 Councilor Kara Joy McKee announced she would not seek reelection.

The candidates are as follows:

COUNCILMEMBER - COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 VANESSA HALL-HARPER (i), DAVID HARRIS, FRANCETTA L. MAYS

COUNCILMEMBER - COUNCIL DISTRICT 2 AARON L BISOGNO, JEANNIE CUE (i)

COUNCILMEMBER - COUNCIL DISTRICT 3 DANIEL JOSEPH GROVE, CRISTA PATRICK (i)

COUNCILMEMBER - COUNCIL DISTRICT 4 LAURA BELLIS, MICHAEL BIRKES, MICHAEL FEAMSTER, WEYDAN FLAX, MATTHEW FRANSEIN, BOBBY DEAN ORCUTT

COUNCILMEMBER - COUNCIL DISTRICT 5 MYKEY ARTHRELL (i), LATASHA JIM, ADIL KHAN, GRANT MILLER, TY WALKER

COUNCILMEMBER - COUNCIL DISTRICT 6 CHRISTIAN BENGEL, CONNIE DODSON (i), LEWANA HARRIS

COUNCILMEMBER - COUNCIL DISTRICT 7 JERRY GRIFFIN, KEN REDDICK, LORI DECTER WRIGHT (i)

COUNCILMEMBER - COUNCIL DISTRICT 8 SCOTT HOUSTON, PHIL LAKIN (i)

COUNCILMEMBER - COUNCIL DISTRICT 9 LEE ANN CROSBY, JAYME FOWLER (i), CHAD HOTVEDT

If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote on August 23rd, that candidate wins the election. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, all candidates receiving the greatest number of votes totaling 50 percent will be placed on the ballot for a run-off election in November.

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