Tulsa mayoral campaigns focus on next month's election

There are just three weeks until Tulsans will head back to the polls to decide who will be the city's next mayor. <br/><br/>Current mayor Bill LaFortune will face off against Democratic nominee Kathy

Saturday, March 11th 2006, 6:34 pm

By: News On 6

There are just three weeks until Tulsans will head back to the polls to decide who will be the city's next mayor.

Current mayor Bill LaFortune will face off against Democratic nominee Kathy Taylor on April 4th. Both candidates are making the mad dash to reel in votes. News on 6 reporter Ashli Sims says both campaigns are feeling the time crunch.

The race for Tulsa's mayor is on and both campaigns have got on their running shoes, because there's not much time before voters head back to the polls.

Matt Gipson, Taylor supporter: "yeah, its getting tight there are a lot of doors to walk there's a lot of people to talk to and get her message out there and there's a lot to do."

Matt Gipson and his wife Meaghan are out knocking on doors for Democratic challenger Kathy Taylor.Taylor finished strong after a hotly-contested Democratic primary, snagging about two-thirds of the vote. "The large win in the democratic primary shows how tulsans feel about Kathy Taylor and her plan to move Tulsa forward. It was a convincing victory and we plan to carry that momentum into the general."

Current Mayor Bill LaFortune is in a slightly different position. He captured his party's nomination but with only 43 percent of the vote.

The News on 6 caught up with LaFortune at the Saint Patrick's Day Run, benefitting Special Olympics. He says his numbers are strong. "I was looking at my total votes versus my opponent in the democratic primary totals and they were very close and there were a significant more republicans who voted so I feel very strong and we'll have a broadbase of support."

LaFortune says he plans on reaching out to all voters selling Tulsa's job growth and Vision 2025 projects. "We're certainly going to reach out to the Republicans that voted for other candidates. We have tremendous support too from Democrats in town. But its really about all of tulsa so we're going to reach out to every single Tulsan to get em on our side."

Republicans do out number Democrats on the city's voter rolls by about 11,000, but this race promises to be close, which means every vote counts.