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Christiansen announces he won't back Bartlett for Tulsa mayor

Former Councilor and mayoral candidate Bill Christiansen announced today that, having met this week with Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr to discuss his concerns, he has decided not to endorse Bartlett Jr. According to Christansen, Bartlett told him he doesn't have a platform for his second term in office and...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 19, 2013 3:19 PM

Bill Christiansen statement on election results, possible endorsement

From the Christiansen campaign office: Bill Christiansen ran for Mayor of ALL Tulsa and ran because he wanted to represent the citizens of Tulsa not special interest groups. He was out spent nearly 10-1 and started out at 9% and consistently raised to 24%. These may be worth boasting about...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 12, 2013 5:11 PM

Tulsa Election 2013: Primary results

All the precincts are in. You can download the precinct-level results for the June 11, 2013 elections statewide here. It's the last link on the page, it's a zip file, and it contains a CSV file that you can open in your spreadsheet program or query with your database software....

Posted by Michael Bates on June 12, 2013 12:11 AM

Gun Owners of America endorses Bill Christiansen; cites Bartlett obstruction of permitted carry in parks

Press release from Gun Owners of America from yesterday: GOA Throws Support for Christiansen in Race for Tulsa Mayor Gun Owners of America has endorsed Bill Christiansen, a businessman and former Marine, for Tulsa mayor in the primary election on Tuesday, June 11. Christiansen is challenging the current mayor of...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 11, 2013 12:10 PM

Bill Christiansen for Tulsa Mayor

Another day, another mendacious attack mailer from Dewey Bartlett Jr. If I had known there were enough Tulsans who objected to rising city budgets, county tax initiatives, the City Hall move, the Great Plains Airlines bailout, and accepting Federal stimulus money to justify a mail piece targeting those concerns, I...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 10, 2013 9:27 PM

Dewey Bartlett Jr defended One Technology Center purchase

One of Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr's principal attacks against his rival, former City Councilor Bill Christiansen, is that Christiansen agreed to then-Mayor Kathy Taylor's plan to borrow $67 million in revenue bonds to buy the One Technology Center building to serve as a new City Hall, with the bonds...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 8, 2013 7:57 AM

Eagleton rates Tulsa mayor candidates

Mayoral candidates Dewey Bartlett Jr. and Kathy Taylor are "indistinguisable" with regard to policy and the candidates of choice for fans of crony capitalism, while former City Councilor Bill Christiansen "worked harder than a reasonable person would have" on behalf of his constituents and easily reaches across racial, cultural, and...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 2, 2013 2:48 PM

Why is Dewey Bartlett Jr raising money in Oklahoma City?

And why is the Oklahoma Republican Party promoting the fundraiser of one of three Republican candidates in the Tulsa mayor's race? (UPDATE: See below.) Oklahoma City seems like a very odd place for the Mayor of Tulsa to have a fundraising event. Why not pay a Tulsa hotel and Tulsa...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 22, 2013 10:22 PM

TulsaNow mayoral surveys online

Grassroots civic group TulsaNow sent a questionnaire to the candidates for Mayor of Tulsa; Bill Christiansen and Kathy Taylor responded. There were multiple attempts to contact incumbent Dewey Bartlett Jr, but he did not respond. Question topics include delays in PLANiTULSA implementation, police department scandals and rising costs, park demolitions,...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 22, 2013 8:35 AM

Tulsa County Republican Convention 2013: Christiansen, Vuillemont-Smith win straw polls

Today, March 23, 2013, the Tulsa County Republican Party held its biennial convention at the Jenks High School Performing Arts Center. In the spring of each odd-numbered year, Oklahoma Republicans gather in precinct caucuses, where they elect precinct officers and elect delegates to the County Convention who elect a county...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 23, 2013 11:41 PM

Roscoe Turner endorses Bill Christiansen for Mayor of Tulsa

Former City Councilor Roscoe Turner has announced his endorsement of his long-time Council colleague Bill Christiansen in the 2013 race for Mayor of Tulsa. Christiansen will face two other announced candidates, incumbent Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. and former Mayor Kathy Taylor. From the Christiansen campaign news release: In welcoming...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 27, 2013 7:20 PM

Bill Christiansen opposes Vision2

In a Thursday press release, former Tulsa City Councilor Bill Christiansen, the only announced candidate for next year's mayoral election, announced his opposition to the Vision2 Tulsa County sales tax scheme on the November 6, 2012, ballot. In his statement, Christiansen, who served on the Dialog/Visioning Task Force Steering Committee...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 4, 2012 7:45 PM

Primary post-mortem: Some initial thoughts

A few thoughts before turning in: Thanks to news director Dan Potter and the KRMG news team for the chance to contribute to tonight's coverage of the primary election. It was a pleasure, and I look forward to the next opportunity. Many thanks to Chris and Cheryl Medlock for their...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 9, 2009 1:17 AM

The 2009 District 8 race

District 8 is a tough race for me. During his seven years on the City Council, Bill Christiansen has disappointed me over and over again. Early on, he worked to undermine and oppose some positive initiatives from my reform friends on the Council -- for example, the future growth task...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 7, 2009 10:52 PM

Tulsa campaign roundup

Steven Roemerman has a couple of new entries about local elections worth your attention. He follows up on a question that a talk show host asked him when he called in to express his support for Chris Medlock: "Do you really think Medlock can beat Tom Adelson?" Roemerman answers that...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 6, 2009 6:28 PM

The 2009 Build PAC boys

Build PAC is a political action committee registered with the Tulsa City Clerk. The PAC shares an address with the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Tulsa. In 2005, Build PAC Issues was the single biggest contributor to the attempt to recall City Councilors Chris Medlock and Jim Mautino. The recall...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 3, 2009 2:35 PM

Republican Assembly endorses Medlock

The Tulsa Area Republican Assembly, a conservative Republican organization affiliated with the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, has endorsed Chris Medlock for the Republican nomination for Tulsa mayor at their nominating convention this morning. The group's rules require a positive vote from two-thirds of its members, so in several races...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 29, 2009 2:23 PM

KWGS to air District 8 debate

KWGS-FM 89.5 will air a debate between the candidates for Tulsa City Council, District 8, tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18, 2009, at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Studio Tulsa, the station's daily public affairs program. This is an interesting race: Incumbent Bill Christiansen, first elected in 2002, is seeking a...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 17, 2009 8:31 AM

Adelson in, Christiansen out, Medlock maybe; Council races shape up

Democratic State Sen. Tom Adelson announced on Wednesday his anticipated candidacy for Mayor of Tulsa. Reports of the announcement hint that many of Mayor Kathy Taylor's Democratic supporters during the 2006 primary were in attendance in support of Adelson. It will be interesting to see if Democrats who supported Don...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 2, 2009 11:49 PM

A lengthy mayoral survey -- on behalf of Bill Christiansen?

A survey firm called me yesterday evening. It was a very lengthy survey about the upcoming Republican primary for Mayor of Tulsa, and it seems likely that it was on behalf of Tulsa City Councilor Bill Christiansen's campaign for Mayor, as there were many specific questions about him, his record,...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 29, 2009 5:39 PM