So Dewey Bartlett is the new mayor of Tulsa

[SXSW]

I know there are many here who didn't support Bartlett but now that he is elected we need to get behind him.  The main thing we as citizens need to do is push him to continue the momentum of PlaniTulsa.  I do hope his experience running a business will help him run the city as we face a major budget shortfall and reversing that needs to be a top priority. 

[guido911]

Who in this forum should be on suicide watch? 

[Hoss]

I'm not so sure what the big deal is.  Partisan politics doesn't play much into municipal office.  You do remember LaFortune, right?  And the fact that even the semi-right wing were bashing Bartlett as a RINO right off the bat.  I doubt much will change, but any of the three candidates that answer would have applied as well.

[rwarn17588]

So much for those who pooh-poohed that poll. The undecideds largely split evenly for the mayoral candidates by election day, so the poll was pretty much on the money.

And, as many people learned in during the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, the dropping use of land lines doesn't affect poll accuracy much.

[cynical]

The real oddity was that the voters overwhelmingly approved a charter provision that requires the city auditor to be a CPA or a Certified Internal Auditor, then elected a candidate to that office that doesn't meet those qualifications over an incumbent who did.  I guess they weren't paying attention, didn't read about the candidates, and didn't want to believe that the Republicans would nominate someone who didn't meet those qualifications.  Of course, he doesn't really need to meet them until 2011.

Otherwise, there were no surprises except possibly Roscoe Turner's margin over David Patrick, he didn't get a majority.  Turner seems to win every other election, but I'm not sure he's won this one yet.  Because I wasn't paying attention, is there a runoff if no candidate gets 50%+1?  The city charter seems to be silent on this issue.  

[pmcalk]

^No runoff.  If that were the case, there would be a runoff between Dewey & Adelson.

Even though I was an Adelson fan, I congratulate Dewey.  I know that he is a good guy, and I just hope that he chooses smart, good people to work with.

[JustSayNo]

Bartlett as mayor...a real misstep for Tulsa. We almost got it right, taking back the council - but we blew it on the chief executive. How sad that we passed on the chance to elect a real leader with a genuine sense of principle and desire to serve.

Don't give up on us, Tom.  Surely we'll wise-up soon!

[Conan71]

^No runoff.  If that were the case, there would be a runoff between Dewey & Adelson.

Even though I was an Adelson fan, I congratulate Dewey.  I know that he is a good guy, and I just hope that he chooses smart, good people to work with.

I honestly can't really see where either administration between Bartlett and Adelson would have differed vastly on priorities and issues.  Let's face it, Dewey more or less served at will under Mayor Taylor.  He was going to endorse her until she bailed.  Adelson was the obvious serious Democrat party loyalist to replace the outgoing Mayor.  He'd played well with mid town voters as a State Senator.

For as bright a guy as Tommy Adelson is, he comes off as incredibly inarticulate or shy.  He had to have too much media coverage to run for a city-wide position and he wilted under the bright lights.  I also think his handlers made some serious mistakes in strategy.  They should have kept their cool and not gone back after Dewey for his attack ads.  He should have ignored the ads and continued to campaign on issues.  There was never any reason to get pissy with Joe Kelley.  I think Tom was wrongly led to believe that Joe Kelley would be biased or hostile against the Democrat candidate.  I suspect Kelley is conservative, but I've always seen him as being fair to all candidates unless that candidate is a troll, like Paul Tay.  Now there's a recording of Adelson bragging about giving almost $100K to Obama.  That's NEVER going to play well for a U.S. House seat or Senate seat.  He will get totally ripped over that.  Wow, sorry to keep going on, but that was a painfully disappointing performance as a candidate. 

We will get a better public speaker out of Dewey.  I suspect both men run in similar circles and have similar influences for the order of business in the city.  In all honesty, I don't think there's one particular lobby or special interest which would have lost either way.  These are both guys who would represent development/developers and our major players in banking, the newspaper, and downtown real estate.  Adelson might bring some more depth of thought, but he has a hard time communicating it.  I would also hope that Bartlett will engage Adelson to help get some more of our sales tax returned to us from the Senate in OKC.

[OurTulsa]

I'm most concerned with his (at least what I've seen and read in his surveys) lack of embrace and enthusiasm for PlaniTulsa.  Not saying he won't get it and support it eventually but I don't get the feeling that he's going to aggressively pursue it's implementation.  This guy thinks that good economic development lies out there in the some 30 sq. miles of undeveloped land remaining in Tulsa (from an Oct. World survey).

I'm sure he's a likable guy - so was/is Bill LaFortune.  I want my Mayor to get me and others excited about being a Tulsan!

[FOTD]

For as bright a guy as Tommy Adelson is, he comes off as incredibly inarticulate or shy.  He had to have too much media coverage to run for a city-wide position and he wilted under the bright lights.  I also think his handlers made some serious mistakes in strategy.  They should have kept their cool and not gone back after Dewey for his attack ads. He should have ignored the ads and continued to campaign on issues.  There was never any reason to get pissy with Joe Kelley.  I think Tom was wrongly led to believe that Joe Kelley would be biased or hostile against the Democrat candidate.  I suspect Kelley is conservative, but I've always seen him as being fair to all candidates unless that candidate is a troll, like Paul Tay.  Now there's a recording of Adelson bragging about giving almost $100K to Obama.  That's NEVER going to play well for a U.S. House seat or Senate seat.  He will get totally ripped over that.  Wow, sorry to keep going on, but that was a painfully disappointing performance as a candidate.  

Marvin and Hillary did the boy in....you are correct about those retaliation ads....

C Streeters have set this deal up for Dewey....his handlers are the worst of worse....and they all are Jimminy Inhofes people. Tulsa is a sheeples paradice.

Actually, Dewey owes Perkins big time....he took %18 away and %70 of that number would have voted for TA making him Mayor....

Perkins is "The Spoiler"!


Now....on with the fun! PollStar, FOTD!

[brianh]

Darn, an ABLE commission apologist.  That issue aside, I will support him.  Guido's new avatar is awesome by the way.

[SXSW]

This guy thinks that good economic development lies out there in the some 30 sq. miles of undeveloped land remaining in Tulsa (from an Oct. World survey).

While I would much rather see infill development in existing neighborhoods and especially in and around downtown I do think it's important to develop the undeveloped land on the NW side and that will only happen if the Gilcrease Loop is finished.  Families will build new houses somewhere, it might as well be in the city of Tulsa with the nearest commercial center being downtown.  If the Gilcrease Loop were finished it would be nice to see a greenbelt around it with a biking trail like the Creek South Loop.  I truly think the NW side would be a great place for new neighborhoods if TPS invests in renovating/expanding the schools in that area, including Central HS, and if downtown continues to revitalize making it more attractive to live closer to it.  It's a really scenic area with the nearby hills, the Centennial Gardens and trails plus close proximity to Keystone and Skiatook lakes

I think the citizens can have an effect on how Dewey sees PlaniTulsa by showing him we care about it and want it implemented.  I think the council is behind it too which helps.

[rwarn17588]

I honestly can't really see where either administration between Bartlett and Adelson would have differed vastly on priorities and issues.  Let's face it, Dewey more or less served at will under Mayor Taylor.  He was going to endorse her until she bailed.  Adelson was the obvious serious Democrat party loyalist to replace the outgoing Mayor.  He'd played well with mid town voters as a State Senator.

For as bright a guy as Tommy Adelson is, he comes off as incredibly inarticulate or shy.  He had to have too much media coverage to run for a city-wide position and he wilted under the bright lights.  I also think his handlers made some serious mistakes in strategy.  They should have kept their cool and not gone back after Dewey for his attack ads.  He should have ignored the ads and continued to campaign on issues.  There was never any reason to get pissy with Joe Kelley.  I think Tom was wrongly led to believe that Joe Kelley would be biased or hostile against the Democrat candidate.  I suspect Kelley is conservative, but I've always seen him as being fair to all candidates unless that candidate is a troll, like Paul Tay.  Now there's a recording of Adelson bragging about giving almost $100K to Obama.  That's NEVER going to play well for a U.S. House seat or Senate seat.  He will get totally ripped over that.  Wow, sorry to keep going on, but that was a painfully disappointing performance as a candidate. 

We will get a better public speaker out of Dewey.  I suspect both men run in similar circles and have similar influences for the order of business in the city.  In all honesty, I don't think there's one particular lobby or special interest which would have lost either way.  These are both guys who would represent development/developers and our major players in banking, the newspaper, and downtown real estate.  Adelson might bring some more depth of thought, but he has a hard time communicating it.  I would also hope that Bartlett will engage Adelson to help get some more of our sales tax returned to us from the Senate in OKC.

+1 on the analysis.

I should add that I thought the turning point in the race was when Bartlett came out swinging against Adelson immediately after the primary. I suspect that Bartlett, when he ran against Adelson for state senate and lost, thought he could coast on his name.

Bartlett wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, and it was Adelson who, strangely enough, seemed to coast.

Adelson's campaign seemed strangely passive for a long time. It's almost as if he acted like a football team in early in the fourth quarter with a lead that suddenly went conservative with its play-calling and ditched the strategy that got it the lead in the first place. Bartlett knew he couldn't rest on his laurels, started hammering Adelson, and forced him into a number of big errors.

[Bledsoe]

Actually, Dewey owes Perkins big time....he took %18 away and %70 of that number would have voted for TA making him Mayor....

Perkins is "The Spoiler"!

I agree--look at the map and numbers from the World this morning:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20091111_16_A10_hUnoff920232

When you look at the Brookside precincts on the east side of Peoria you see good margins for Perkins in mid-town.  I think these were the "Taylor Republicans" that voted for her over Bill in 2006.  In a two-way race she carried almost every one of those precincts--15 out of 18 in HD-71.  This area also did well for Obama, Rice and Roth in 2008-full of moderate Republicans.

For example--Brookside Baptist Church-Pct. 66-area north and east of 36th & Peoria-south of 31st east to Lewis.     

2006   KT 409                              BL 286  Total  695
2009   TA 228 + MP 112 = (340)     DB 302  Total  642

See also Pct. 67-Trinity UMC, 3737 S. Peoria     

2006  KT 296                           BL 247   Total 543
2009  TA 176 + MP 97 = (273)  DB 227  Total 500

In this kind of 3-way race, Dewey was able to position himself on the right (despite the inside baseball of him being regarded as a RINO) and with Perkins running, those moderate mid-town Republicans who were totally turned off by Dewey were given the option of Perkins rather than forced to vote for Adelson or stay home or undervote.

The Adelson strategy seemed to be to peal Republicans off from the right in south Tulsa --more Medlock than Medlock on the south Tulsa bridge- going on KFAQ- talking about Dewey as a tax and spender.  This might have worked in a two-way race, but the Inhofe-Coburn-Obama triangulation was just too strong in those solid R areas.  In a 3-way race for the moderate mid-town voter, they were split-- and the solid south held for Dewey. 

At least for much of south Tulsa it appears we have a firm partisan nationally polarized electorate.  It seems to me that Bartlett's handlers decided this was true and stayed mostly on message (a deceptive and negative one) but still on message for the duration.

Note:  There were also some interesting Perkins numbers in the near east side of north Tulsa--see Pct. 11-3200 blk of E. Tecumseh--DB-62, TA-112, MP-60; Pct. 17 -714 N. Harvard--DB-40, TA-80, MP-28. Not sure what this suggests.

[rwarn17588]

Actually, Dewey owes Perkins big time....he took %18 away and %70 of that number would have voted for TA making him Mayor....

Perkins is "The Spoiler"!

I don't buy it. The poll before the election showed that Perkins was peeling voters from Adelson and Bartlett equally, and the breakdown on election night showed that this trend largely continued. I see no evidence whatsoever that Adelson would have gained 70 percent of the Perkins voters. You could make a strong argument that all the Republicans complaining about Bartlett being a RINO (see Michael Bates) were a huge chunk of Perkins voters.