Tulsans have elected Monroe Nichols as their next mayor.
According to unofficial results, Nichols received more than 55.62% of the 137,173 votes over challenger Karen Keith to earn the city’s top office. He will assume his new role Dec. 2.
Nichols will be the first Black mayor in the city’s history.
“If there is anyone out there who still questions if Tulsa is a place where big things are possible — if there’s anybody out there who doubts that no matter who you are you can make an impact — tonight, you got your answer,” he told the crowd at his watch party Tuesday night at the Greenwood Cultural Center.
A Democratic state representative, Nichols ran his campaign on ending homelessness, advocating for youth and making Tulsa the safest big city in the country. He competed against Keith, a Democratic county commissioner whose vision for Tulsa closely mirrored current mayor G.T. Bynum’s.
Nichols and Keith sparred near the end of the mayor’s race, particularly over whether Keith failed to protect incarcerated youth from abuse and neglect in the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice. Keith argued responsibility of the center fell on the courts until the commissioners took it over in July, although the commissioners knew the center was out of compliance as early as May 2022.
"She did not have responsibility for that, so I'm afraid that's what's defeating her tonight," said Beverly Hoster, a friend of Keith's who attended her watch party Tuesday night at Stokely Event Center.
Nonetheless, Keith urged her supporters to now support their new mayor.
"This is historic for our city, and I’m very excited for the possibilities. And I think it’s great recognition for some of our citizens who have never really felt like they’ve been represented, and so this is really great in the long run," she said.
Although both Democrats, Keith ostensibly had more support from conservative voters leading up to Tuesday. A campaign flyer put out just before the election featured her and Brent VanNorman, the self-proclaimed conservative candidate in the mayor’s race who lost his bid in August.
But according to Nichols’ campaign team, the mayor-elect made a point to make people feel included.
“Everything that he has said along the way is that we’re going to do this together. It doesn’t matter which part of town you live in. It doesn’t matter what political party you are. You know, he’s made it a real point to make sure that we’re going to do everything we do, we’re going to improve Tulsa and we’re going to do it together,” said Amanda Clinton, Nichols’ communications director.
In a statement Tuesday night, Bynum congratulated Nichols for his victory.
"This is the greatest honor Tulsans have in our power to bestow on one of our neighbors. Mayor Nichols has my full commitment to do all I can to help him launch his Administration successfully on December 2nd. I am excited to begin that transition, and we are scheduled to meet on Thursday to kick things off," Bynum said. "I also want to thank my friend Karen Keith for loving our city enough to put her name forward as a candidate, and for running a campaign that attracted the support of thousands in our city. Karen has our city’s gratitude for all she has done — and will continue to do — for Tulsa."
Tulsa's mayors are nonpartisan. The city has a strong mayor form of government, meaning the sitting mayor is charged with administrative duties.
