Voters Decide On 9 Open Tulsa City Councilor Seats, Some Move To Runoff Elections

All nine Tulsa City Council seats were on the ballot, with three districts seeing new faces after the current councilors chose not to seek reelection.

In Council District 1, Vanessa Hall-Harper secured a decisive victory over Angela Chambers, winning 67% to 33%.

In City Council District 2, Anthony Archer and Stephanie Reisdorph will advance to a runoff, as no candidate secured a clear majority. Renee Renner, W.R. Casey, and Aaron Bisogno finished much lower in the five-way race.

For City Council District 3, Jackie Dutton won outright with 12,192 votes. The race was tight, with just around 180 votes separating the winner and the runner-up.

In Council District 4, Laura Bellis emerged victorious. She expressed her gratitude, saying, “I am just so grateful and humbled by the immense support of the community. I've been so focused on trying to get outcomes over seeking attention and just trying to get results for people, no matter what their walk of life is. And I'm just incredibly honored and excited to get to keep collaborating to get work done for people.”

Karen Gilbert, a former city councilor, also won her race over Alicia Andrews in District 5. Gilbert, who previously left the council for a few years, is eager to return, stating, “I've been there. I've done it. I know the needs of the district, and I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work on day one.”

In other council races, Christian Bengel won his District 6 race with 70% of the vote over Uriah Davis.

In District 7, a runoff is needed as incumbent Lori Decter Wright did not secure 50% of the vote. She will face Eddie Huff, who received 44% of the vote. Wright came close with 49%, but it wasn't enough to avoid the runoff.

Phil Lakin easily won the District 8 race, securing 69% of the vote against Chris Cohn, who received 31%.

District 9 was widely anticipated to result in a runoff, and it will. Carol Bush finished with nearly 42% of the vote, while incumbent Jamie Fowler garnered 28%, putting both in a runoff. Bush acknowledged her supporters, saying, “Supporters have been so amazing. We had so many volunteers that helped us at the door. We knocked on 8,000 doors since June 1 in this heat, and they just kept showing up.”

So, there will be three City Council runoffs, along with the mayoral runoff on Nov. 2. Expect more campaigning and door-knocking over the next few weeks.