The Tulsa County Democratic Party is under new leadership.
Community organizer Sarah Gray was elected April 26 to chair the county party, replacing the outgoing chair, Bruce Niemi. In November, Gray ran for Tulsa County Commissioner, losing to Lonnie Sims by 1.64% of the vote.
Democrats suffered major losses across the nation in November’s elections. Polls show the public’s trust in the party has hit new lows.
KWGS spoke to Gray days after taking the helm of the county Dems. Gray said the party has been severely lacking when it comes to connecting with the community. She said earning trust involves recruiting candidates who will knock on doors and will run in elections that have typically been won by unopposed Republicans.
“That’s how you start earning folks’ trust,” she said.
“It’s difficult when you have people like I met in my election who said I was the first candidate to knock on their door in 35 years. We’ve got districts that have went unopposed for so long. People feel ignored and forgotten about and I don’t blame them. I would, too.”
Gray attributed the tight race against Sims to her commitment to door-knocking and wants to emphasize that to future candidates in Tulsa.
“We’re going to be active in finding, like, home-grown, local candidates who are going to do the work– who are going to show up, knock on doors and not just run for office and act like they’ve got all the answers,” she said.
Hudson Harder, who previously ran as a candidate for the Oklahoma House’s 71st District, was elected vice chair of the county Democrats.
