Truth Test: Mick Cornett Ad

Like his opponents, Former Mick Cornett's ad have been mostly about himself and his record.

This Truth Test takes a look at what Cornett said about his long run as mayor. In his run for governor, Mick Cornett leans heavily on his 14 years as Oklahoma City's mayor. In a recent ad he makes some pretty big claims.

"As a mayor we diversified the economy. Creating nearly 100,000 new jobs and 10,000 new businesses," the ad claimed.

Are those numbers true? Well, it depends on the number.

The first number is a ranking, the ad said Oklahoma City is 7th in the U.S. but doesn't' say what for or where the ranking comes from. We had to reach out to Cornett's campaign to find the list.

In the Wallet Hub list from May, it does rank Oklahoma City at 7th in economic diversity but only if you look at diversity by industry. Oklahoma City ranked overall at number 55 with low ranks in job and worker-class diversity. This claim gets a rating of Misleading.

The other two numbers were a little harder to find. They're both from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Between 2004 and 2018, the years Cornett was in office, Oklahoma City saw an overall increase in jobs by more than 100,000, it was actually closer to 110,000. It is hard to tell whether it was Cornett's policies or the boom of oil and gas in the late 2000’s that's behind the increase. But we'll still give that one a true.

The final number showed another steady incline. Cornett's website said Oklahoma City grew by 9,400 companies and the ad said 10,000. According to the BLS, the actual number is closer to 10,100 new businesses while Cornett was mayor. So that one also gets a rating of true.

For those of you keeping score, this ad for Mick Cornett gets one misleading and two truths.

As always send your Truths that need Testing to us on Facebook, Twitter and truthtest@news9.net.