As a manual recount of the Aug. 27 mayoral election spurred by Brent VanNorman could begin soon, a local Republican leader thinks the outcome won’t change.
VanNorman came away with 31.84% of the vote in Tuesday’s election, just 438 fewer votes than County Commissioner Karen Keith, who will head to a runoff with top finisher Oklahoma Rep. Monroe Nichols in November.
Speaking to KWGS, Tulsa County Republican Chairperson Ronda Vuillemont-Smith said the recount likely won’t change anything.
“If they find any [votes], they’re not going to find enough to change the outcome of the election,” Vuillemont-Smith said.
Rather, she believes the recount will prove the “the integrity of our voting system.”
The recount will reportedly cost the taxpayers $12,000 a day after an initial fee paid by VanNorman’s campaign, which Vuillemont-Smith said was raised exclusively by VanNorman’s supporters.
VanNorman entered the mayoral race at the end of May. His campaign was confident the late entrance into the race wouldn’t hurt his chances.
What role did endorsements play?
Given VanNorman’s late start, did endorsements from other elected officials come too late?
Conservative Tulsa blogger Michael Bates seems to think so, listing a number of state and local officials he believes should have publicly supported VanNorman.
Vuillemont-Smith, however, is skeptical.
“I don’t know that additional endorsements would have made a difference,” she said.
Days before the election, VanNorman and Gov. Kevin Stitt attended an event at a private location hosted by the group “Women for Tulsa.”
It’s unclear if Stitt made a proper endorsement of the mayoral candidate, but said back in May that he’s “not going to get into that” concerning picking a mayoral favorite. Neither Stitt nor VanNorman’s campaign responded to repeated requests for comment.
The Tulsa County GOP did not publicly endorse VanNorman until Aug. 21, since candidate Casey Bradford was also running as a Republican. However, it was Bradford himself that pushed county Republicans to ultimately solidify his opponent’s endorsement.
“Casey actually called me and asked me to endorse Brent VanNorman,” said Vuillemont-Smith.
Many prominent Republicans did endorse VanNorman, including Tulsa’s U.S. Congressman, Kevin Hern and former Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor, who chairs VanNorman's campaign according to city documents.
VanNorman’s recount request reportedly will not be decided until Thursday. If approved by a judge, it will likely take several days for the recount process to conclude.
KWGS’ Elizabeth Caldwell contributed to this report.
