Have you ever heard the phrase "all politics is local"? In early 2022, the major communities in central Oklahoma will decide who will lead their city as mayor for the next four years.

Candidates apply for school board seats in Cleveland County, Oklahoma

The application period for Oklahoma's 2022 municipal elections ends at 5 pm on Wednesday. The following post outlines the positions of mayors in Oklahoma City, Norman, and Midwest City.

The municipal primary election will be held on Tuesday, February 8, and the general election—if no candidate gets more than 50% of the votes in the primary election—is scheduled for Tuesday, April 5.

The following post outlines candidates applying for the post of mayor in Norman and Midwest, Oklahoma. The candidates are listed in alphabetical order. The Cleveland County Election Commission and the Oklahoma County Election Commission have released a complete list of candidates for the municipal and school board of directors. Voters in other parts of Oklahoma can contact their county election committee to request a list of candidates for school board seats.

Norman politics is boring-no one said. In 2020, a dispute over police funding triggered the formation of a group called Unite Norman, which distributed petitions to try to remove the current mayor and other city council members. The municipal election cycle in 2021 was subject to stricter scrutiny, and two candidates affiliated with Unite Norman won seats.

For Norman’s 2022 municipal cycle, elections will be held in Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8, and the incumbent faces a challenger in Districts 2, 6, and 8. In District 4, four candidates are seeking vacant seats. The full list of candidates for the city council can be found here.

At the same time, the current Mayor of Norman will face three of her own challengers.

Breea Clark: The current Mayor of Norman is seeking her second term. Clark announced her re-election campaign via a YouTube video on April 7, in which she brags about her past record.

"Our community has experienced a lot during my tenure as mayor," she said in the video. "Before the start of 2020, we have made huge investments for our future, from supporting public transportation to investing in public health. We look forward to the future and imagine what our community will become and what it can provide for residents. Service."

The 38-year-old Clark experienced a turbulent first term during which she faced the failure of a recall led by the United Norman Organization, which was after the Norman City Council decided to increase the Norman Police Department’s budget plan by more than 865,000. Established after the dollar was redistributed to other departments. City service.

Clark graduated from the University of Oklahoma School of Law in 2008. She served as the director of the JCPenney Leadership Program in OU.

Larry Hekira: Hekira became Clark's first challenger and announced his campaign in July. His campaign website stated that he was running because Norman needed a mayor to "lead our committee, focusing on Norman citizens and our infrastructure needs...rather than focusing on how the city caters to the homeless. The agenda of the progressive elite. No more!"

Heikkila’s campaign emphasized reducing the city’s homeless population and increasing funding for the Norman Police Department.

"I hope we can go to the park or walk on the street at 11 o'clock in the evening to feel safe, and I don't think we can do it yet," Hekira told Norman Transcript. "If someone tries to hurt you or your children, ten minutes is too long. It's not the police's fault. It's just not enough."

Hekira, 69, retired after serving in the US Navy for 26 years. He also worked in the University of Oklahoma Physics Factory for 9 years and in Norman City for 17 years. He has served on the Cleveland County Consumption Tax Commission, the Equalization Commission, and the Tax Disciplinary Commission. He is also a member of the Cleveland County Bureau of Industry.

Nicole Kish: An optometrist and 22-year Norman resident, Kish has said she also plans to return the reallocated funds to NPD if elected.

"If we don't have a safe city, we won't be able to attract businesses here," Kish told The Transcript. "I absolutely want to return the money from the police department so that they can keep up, because public safety is very important."

If elected, Kish would join her partner, Ward 5 Councilman Rarchar Tortorello, on the Norman City Council. The transcript questioned whether the couple’s potential joint service in the Council was in line with the conflict under the Norman City Charter, but Kish said that was not the case .

"Rarchar and I have known each other for a little over a year, but we are independent thinkers," she said. "We come from different backgrounds. I have been running a business in this city for 22 years, so I have my own views on how this city should be run. I think it should operate like a business. We love each other, yes, but love is Love, business is business."

The 50-year-old Kish made headlines for participating in an attempt at an uprising in Washington on January 6. When a Norman resident spread her picture in the U.S. Capitol, she filed a defamation lawsuit. She claimed that social media posts criticizing her political behavior cost her 53 long-term customers. The lawsuit was dismissed and appealed.

Alice Stephenson-Leuck: Leuck was the last candidate to apply for the mayoral election. She submitted her registration application on December 5. Her campaign will also focus on the homeless and NPD budgets. She told The Transcript that she became involved in politics after Parliament decided to reallocate the proposed budget increase for the police station.

Leuck, 67, also told The Transcript that she believes the increase in homelessness is mainly due to the Riverwind Casino attracting people to the city. The transcript says there is no data to support this claim.

She and her husband were the subject of a story in News September November about their dispute with an insurance company over roof damage.

Bob Thompson: Thompson lived in Norman for 40 years and owned a halfway deli for 36 years. He served on the Norman City Council from 2005 to 2009, representing District 1.

"Recently, local issues have played a secondary role in the national politics of our communities," Thompson said in a campaign video, saying that this shift was "a mistake."

He said in the video: "As the mayor, I intend to take serious steps to ensure that our decision-making process reflects the values ​​we share as a community."

According to his website, the 64-year-old Thompson aims to prioritize a decision-making process based on “community values ​​and procedures that do not provide any oxygen to the parties”.

On the Cleveland County Electoral Commission’s page that outlines candidates for public office, Thompson’s name is listed as "Midway Bob Thompson."

In Midwest City, three men have applied to challenge the current mayor Matt Dukes in the 2022 municipal elections.

Bill Bridges: The 82-year-old Bridges does not seem to have a website or social media. The minutes of the Midwest City Council meeting show that Bridges has spoken at the City Council many times.

Ren Caldwell: This 29-year-old young man applied to run for mayor on December 8th shortly before the deadline. Caldwell is a real estate agent, but so far there seems to be no active online campaign. In 2015, he posted on Facebook that he founded a company called "The Deck Box Club" to sell custom decks and Magic card suits.

Matt Dukes: Dukes, 65, has served as the mayor of Midwest City since the 2016 election. Dukes announced his re-election campaign on December 6. In his announcement, since Dukes took office, Dukes announced his achievements, including a $53 million bond package approved by voters for infrastructure improvements, $117 million in business investment, and the sale of Midwestern city hospitals. funds.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Dukes wrote in the announcement. "We have many problems, and we intend to start programming to correct these problems and work hard to ensure that such problems do not occur again. We must carefully manage our urban resources and promote reconstruction where feasible."

Dukes maintains a Facebook page as the mayor of Midwestern City.

Charles Wallace: According to the website of the Midwestern city of Hoshin Dojo, Wallace is a 39-year-old martial arts instructor and business owner who served as a Marine in Iraq.

The website listed Wallace's nickname as "Mosra," saying that he graduated from a midwestern city high school as a farewell speaker, and stated that he expects to complete the Doctor of Education program in 2022. Wallace submitted an office application on December 8, but there seems to be no online activity.

Voters in Oklahoma City will have four choices for mayor in the February 8 vote. If no one exceeds 50%, the two candidates with the most votes will face off in the general election on April 5.

Carol Hefner: Hefner, 60, announced her candidacy in November. She previously supported another candidate, Frank Urbanic, in a Facebook post in October, which she later deleted. In her statement, Hefner emphasized her conservative qualifications. According to her website, she served as the co-chair of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in Oklahoma.

"It's time for the real conservatives," Hefner said in her statement. "That's why I ran for mayor. Our city deserves bold and energetic leadership, emphasizing the establishment of our stable traditional American values. People see us from a liberal city and want what we have. We don't need one. Liberal progressives trying to change our Oklahoma culture."

Hefner often criticized the current mayor David Holt, who served as a Republican in the state Senate. The city competition is non-partisan. In the only campaign video on Hefner's website, a narrator called Holt "a tool for the Barack Obama-Joe Biden agenda."

In her campaign literature, Hefner promoted her status as a political newcomer. An image on her Facebook page reads: "Carol Hefner has never been involved in politics or government work."

However, in addition to her efforts for the Trump campaign, Hefner also participated in the special election for the 47th District of the Oklahoma State Senate in 2011, and was won by the current Senate Prom. Greg Tritt Victory. Hefner also spoke at several meetings of the OKC City Council to support police funding and oppose the mask regulations.

Hefner works in real estate. According to her website, she is a board member of Little Light School, where parents and children are imprisoned, and a board member of Cavett Camps, which provides services to children with special needs.

David Holt: The 42-year-old Holt easily won the Oklahoma City mayor election in 2018 with 78% of the votes. Holt has brought in more than $600,000 in revenue for his re-election campaign.

Since becoming mayor, Holt's hallmark achievement is the successful 2019 MAPS 4 election campaign, which voters passed with a wide range of advantages.

Holt said on his campaign website: "Because of the vision of the predecessors, I am a member of the generation who chose to build our lives in Oklahoma City." "We must maintain the same optimism. We are also eager to build a great city that brings us here. We must capture the best elements of the past and at the same time inject new energy and new ideas into them. We must update our vision."

Holt supported a mask decree in July 2020 to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus, including a $9 fine. The decree ended in April.

If Hert said, he said he will focus on maintaining the upgrade of core city services, including streets, transit, infrastructure and police and fire protection. He said he will also work hard to incorporate Oklahoma City's diversity into future decisions.

Holt is a lawyer who works for Hall Capital, an investment company. He served on the Oklahoma State Senate from 2011 to 2018.

Jimmy Lawson: Lawson, 42 years old, is the director of licensing services for the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Board and a professor of economics at Ross State College.

He wrote on the campaign website: "I ran for mayor of Oklahoma City because I believe that it is important that all communities have access to resources and plans." "It is important to create a city that values ​​fairness. OKC suffers from homelessness. The problem of an increase in the attributable population. No one should succumb to the fact that they live on the streets. Everyone makes mistakes and we all deserve a second chance."

If elected, Lawson said he would focus on job growth in all sectors, improve programs for the homeless, promote community policing efforts and implement programs to reduce recidivism.

Lawson is also a lifelong friend of Julius Jones. After a high-profile campaign removed him from death row, his death sentence was recently commuted to life without parole. Lawson appeared in the ABC documentary series "The Last Defense", which raised awareness of the Jones case.

Frank Urbanic: Urbanic, 41, is a criminal defense attorney in Oklahoma City and a combat veteran in the United States Air Force. He has served in four deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq and received the rank of major.

Urbanic opposed efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus in a court challenge to the city of Guthrie. He also sued for an executive order to stop restricting the sale of food and beverages at the state and city levels after 11 p.m.

If his website, Urbanic says, Urbanic says he will continue to oppose coronary heart disease eligibility, support law enforcement, improve infrastructure, stop wasted spending, improve public safety, and eventually plan to encourage homelessness.

"Stop any plan to attract the homeless," he wrote on his website. "Implementing best practices for successfully reducing the use of homeless conservative cities. I support the creation of an organization of conservative mayors so that we can share ideas and help promote conservative principles in our communities."

Urbanic stated that he will also focus on basic infrastructure issues, such as streets, and hopes to "end the free fantasy project" and instead "focus on things that affect everyone."

On his law firm’s website, a page outlining the laws of sex offenders called him "Frank Urbanic, a sex offender lawyer in Oklahoma," with the slogan "Don't panic! Call Urbanic."

Although they will not choose candidates for the municipal office, voters in The Village will have reasons to vote on February 8. The community in northern Oklahoma City will decide on a pair of bond proposals: $9.9 million for streets and $3.3 million for parks and entertainment investments.

(Correction: This article was updated at 9:45 am on Monday, December 13th to correct the end date of the OKC Mask Regulations.)