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The 2005 recall: Five years later

Five years ago tonight, on July 12, 2005, I was at The Embers, a wonderful steakhouse at 81st and Harvard (now gone, sadly), celebrating the overwhelming defeat of the attempt to recall two Tulsa City Councilors, Jim Mautino and Chris Medlock. The recall effort dominated the local political scene for...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 12, 2010 11:22 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

Mayor: Medlock

This has been a hard piece for me to write, which is why it's only now being posted. My apologies. I endorsed Chris Medlock for Mayor in 2006, but if you had told me 18 months ago that I'd be voting for Chris Medlock for Mayor in 2009, I'd have...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 8, 2009 7:00 AM

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

KRMG mayoral interviews

Recently KRMG's Joe Kelley did a 10-minute interview with each of the three Republican mayoral candidates who had previously served in elective office. The ground rules for the interviews display political savvy and a striving both to be fair with the candidates and to get the information that the voters...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 4, 2009 11:51 AM

Medlock gets "A" from NRA, Bartlett didn't answer questionnaire

The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund has given an A rating to Republican mayoral candidate Chris Medlock for his views on Second Amendment rights. Dewey Bartlett Jr did not respond to the NRA questionnaire, receiving a "?" rating. Tom Adelson, the likely Democratic mayoral nominee, also received an A,...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 3, 2009 4:43 PM

Biggest mayoral fundraiser, spender is not on the ballot

Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor, who ended her campaign for re-election early this summer, raised and spent more money on her non-campaign than any of the candidates seeking to replace her. Steven Roemerman and I worked together to sift through the pre-primary campaign reports, and he has posted a spreadsheet summary...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 31, 2009 5:59 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

Bartlett Jr. formally, officially (in a prepared statement) dodges debate with Medlock

On Friday, Republican mayoral candidate Chris Medlock challenged Dewey Bartlett Jr. to debate issues one-on-one "anytime, anywhere." Medlock and Bartlett Jr., both former city councilors, appear to be the leading candidates in the race for the Republican nomination for Mayor of Tulsa. From Medlock's press release: Dewey Bartlett [Jr.] does...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 22, 2009 4:50 PM

<em>Tulsa Beacon</em> endorses Medlock for mayor

Conservative weekly newspaper the Tulsa Beacon has endorsed Chris Medlock for Mayor of Tulsa. The editorial in the August 13, 2009, edition has positive things to say about three of Medlock's rivals for the Republican nomination -- Anna Falling, David O'Connor, and Kevin Boggs, but urges conservative Republican voters to...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 17, 2009 7:52 AM

Run city government like a business?

In a recent blog post, Steven Roemerman scrutinizes mayoral candidate Dewey Bartlett Jr.'s claim that business experience is an important qualification for running for mayor. Bartlett cited Mayor Kathy Taylor's business experience as the motivation for his endorsement of her (presumably referring both to his 2006 endorsement and Dewey Bartlett's...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 16, 2009 9:19 PM

Bartlett dodges questions about Taylor endorsement, non-partisan elections

On Tuesday, the Republican Women's Club of Tulsa County hosted a mayoral candidate forum. Six GOP candidates were in attendance: Dewey Bartlett, Jr., Chris Medlock, Kevin Boggs, Nathaniel Booth, Anna Falling, and Norris Streetman. During the candidates' opening statements, Medlock referred to Bartlett as the poster boy for "Republicans for...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 13, 2009 5:29 PM

Republican mayoral candidate forum Tuesday

Tuesday, August 11, 2009, the Republican Women's Club of Tulsa County is hosting a mayoral candidate forum at its monthly luncheon. According to a press release from the Chris Medlock campaign, this is the last known event at which candidate Dewey Bartlett will appear publicly alongside Medlock, described by the...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 10, 2009 6:49 PM

Medlock for Mayor open house tonight

Tulsa mayoral candidate Chris Medlock is hosting an open house at his campaign headquarters tonight from 5:30 to 7:30. The HQ is at 10203-A East 61st Street in the Mingo Valley Trade Center (west of US 169 on 61st St). If you're running for city office and are planning a...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 6, 2009 7:21 AM

Monday morning local linkage

I'm swamped at the moment, but there's plenty of interesting blogging elsewhere around Tulsa. Here are just a few examples: Mayoral candidate Chris Medlock writes that the Tulsa World buried the story of his opponent, Dewey Bartlett, Jr., voting in support and praising Kathy Taylor's dodgy settlement on the Great...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 27, 2009 10:19 AM

Tulsa Election 2009: Volunteer!

The City of Tulsa election campaign is underway. Municipal races, especially city council races, are driven by grassroots involvement. Candidates need supporters to go door-to-door distributing flyers. They aren't likely to receive massive donations (and you should wonder what's up if they do), so they need lots of small donations...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 23, 2009 8:44 AM

Oklahoma roundup 2009/07/16

Local links of interest: A bunch of new posts up on Choice Remarks, the blog of the Oklahoma school choice movement, including a story about a left-leaning civil rights organization labeling teachers' unions "implacable foes of reform" and a survey of 1200 likely Oklahoma voters, 83% of whom say they'd...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 16, 2009 11:05 PM

Clay Clark withdraws, joins Medlock campaign

Clay Clark, a small businessman and Republican candidate for Mayor of Tulsa, issued a press release this morning announcing that he is withdrawing from the race to unify conservative Republican support behind former City Councilor and radio talk show host Chris Medlock: Announced Republican Mayoral Candidate To Join Medlock Campaign...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 10, 2009 9:06 AM

Medlock launches mayoral campaign

Former City Councilor and KFAQ talk show host Chris Medlock announced today at the Tulsa Press Club that he is running for Mayor of Tulsa. In 2006, Medlock ran an insurgent primary campaign on a shoestring budget against incumbent Bill LaFortune, finishing second with a respectable 34% in a four-way...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 8, 2009 9:52 PM

MedBlogged interview

I had the honor of being the first interviewee on The Chris Medlock Show podcast. Chris and I talked about my column on the history and future of Downtown Tulsa Unlimited and other downtown development issues. Visit Chris Medlock's MedBlogged to download the current podcast and catch up on earlier...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 16, 2009 12:42 AM