Election Night WTH? Moment

At our watch party, my supporters and I were glued to the television awaiting each change in the polling numbers. We had two televisions going in different rooms; one on KJRH Channel 2 and the other on KOTV Channel 6. At one point, around 8:15 in the evening, KOTV locked up with about 55% of the vote counted. Same for KJRH.

We went to the radio in my office and tuned into KRMG, on which Michael Bates and Dan Potter were commenting on the election. They were reporting me with 37% of the vote, with a chance to still win the race if the numbers that the TV stations were reporting didn't include west, east and north Tulsa. Suddenly, you could hear Dan Potter seem a little perplexed as my percentage dropped to 30%. It was about this time that we thought, that's it, we've lost. Within five minutes, KRMG had called the race for Bartlett and I called Dewey to concede just after that.

Wednesday night, my wife and I decided to watch Tuesday's episode of America's Got Talent, which she had recorded on our DVR. While watching the show, the numbers from the previous night's election were scrolling along the bottom of the screen. I was suddenly struck by an odd feeling about one of the sets of figures. I provide a screen capture of those numbers below.

As you can see, it shows that with 54% of the vote in,

I was receiving 6,665 votes to Bartlett's 9,072. I officially received a total of 7,004 votes on the night. That would mean, that in the remaining 46% of the precincts, I would only receive another 339 votes, to Bartlett's more than 3,000! I stopped dead in my tracks and paused the DVR. "In what part of the city would I only get less than 10% of the vote," I asked?

KJRH stayed locked in at 55% for some time after this was reported. Then it jumped to 69%. I froze the picture and took a second screen capture. (See below).

As you can see, I dropped from 37% of the vote, to 31%. That isn't too unbelievable with the passage of an additional 14 percent of returns coming in. But check out the vote totals.

I went from 6,665 votes with 54% reporting, to 5,269 votes with 69% reporting. That is a DROP of 1,396 votes!

I will be contacting KJRH to see if anyone can explain to me what happened. Stay tuned for breaking developments.

Bartlett Finds Republican Supporters

I'm very happy that Dewey Bartlett, Jr. has found some Republican support for this candidacy for mayor. I was getting a little worried for him.

At a press conference called Tuesday night, Bartlett, Jr. announced the support of Todd Hiett, Fred Jordan, Mike Mazzei, Brian Bingman, Dan Sullivan, Ron Peters, Terry Simonson and Don Burdick.

This "unprecedented" action, which happens all the time, deserves very little time, but it does deserve a quick analysis. So let's take a look at who stood by him.

• Four of the endorsers, Hiett, Jordan, Mazzei and Bingman don't even live in Tulsa and can't vote for Dewey.
• Sullivan and Peters are the two Mid-Town Tulsa state reps. It would be political suicide to not support the candidate from Dewey's source of votes.
• Former county chairman Terry Simonson now works for the County Commissioners. I'm out there calling for the voters not to renew the Vision 2025 tax when it comes back up for a vote. Vision 2025 is a county tax, so no surprise there.
• Then there's Don Burdick (aka Little Donny Downtown), a man who lives downtown, moved Republican headquarters downtown for two years and moved the Tulsa Republican Men's Club to the Summit Club downtown.

Throw in that Mazzei represents Bixby, Jordan represents Jenks and Bingman represents Sapulpa, and you get a pretty good idea who they think will support the regionalism that helps the suburbs to the detriment of Tulsa.

There is statewide conservative group that gives Republican legislators ratings on their voting records. To give you some perspective, Owasso State Senator Randy Brogdon scored a 90 rating from this past session. Mazzei scored a 32, while Bingman and Peters rated a much more impressive 40!

But all in all, it's good Dewey has found some friends.

Burying Great Plains

The Tulsa World buried my campaign’ press released story about Dewey Bartlett's enthusiastic vote, while a member of the Airport Board, for Kathy Taylor's $7.1 million giveaway of Tulsan's property taxes to Bank of Oklahoma.

The settlement, voted on in a "Emergency Meeting" on June 26, 2008, was payment of the principal in full for the debt the Airport Board owed to Tulsa Industrial Authority, which in turn owed the money to BOk. The City of Tulsa was in no way a party to that lawsuit, but the mayor chose to make Tulsa a defendant so that she could legally dip into Tulsa's sinking fund, which is paid for by city property taxes.

The World hates to report on anything regarding Great Plains Airlines, so they buried the story. But hey, at least they covered it! We have been unable to find any record that the World reported on the emergency meeting, or Bartlett's vote. Here is the full text from Sunday's story:

Medlock questions Bartlett: Republican mayoral candidate Chris Medlock is questioning why fellow GOP mayoral opponent Dewey Bartlett Jr., as a Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust member, voted for Mayor Kathy Taylor's $7.1 million lawsuit settlement regarding Great Plains Airlines.

"Dewey Bartlett is claiming to be a conservative Republican," Medlock said in a pres

s release, "but he supported a Democrat mayor in one of the single biggest giveaways of taxpayer money in this city's history. Bartlett needs to explain his wasteful actions to the voters.

"This was $7.1 million of city property taxes that Tulsa didn't owe," Medlock said, "but which Kathy Taylor paid in full, to the Bank of Oklahoma."

Taylor, whom Bartlett endorsed, appointed him to TAIT. He just resigned from the board to run for mayor.

Bartlett called Medlock's press release "political rhetoric" and declined to comment further.

Let’s see if we have this straight. Dewey Bartlett is saying that a Republican opponent asking why he joined a Democrat mayor is giving away millions of taxpayer dollars is “political rhetoric?" How interesting.

He isn’t denying that he voted for the proposal as we havevideo of him doing just that on YouTube. He isn’t denying that he praised the mayor for her actions, because the video tape clearly shows he did!

So rather than just answering the question and addressing why he did it, he chose to listen to his campaign handlers and came back with the classic “non-responsive response.”

Dewey Bartlett (R) was named to the Airport Board by Kathy Taylor (D). Kathy Taylor thennames former airport Marketing Director Mary Smith (R) to the Airport Board to replace Carl Clay (R) who was an outspoken critic of the Great Plains/BOk settlement. Mary Smith was part of the team that sold Great Plains Airlines to the public, when they went after and secured $30 million in state tax credits. Mary Smith is now Bartlett's Campaign Treasurer!

Please understand, that what Dewey did was to help the current Democrat mayor (Kathy Taylor) brush under the table the single biggest scandal of the previous Democrat mayor (Susan Savage). The Bartlett campaign team made up two-fifths of the vote that needlessly gave away our property taxes to the tune of $28 for every man, woman and child in the city, and he won't even respond to the Tulsa World, who will do everything to put his response in the most positive of lights? Don't you think it's time for KRMG and KFAQ to invite Bartlett back on the air to respond to this action in this giveaway, as well as his support of Kathy Taylor's re-election before the Republicans had selected a candidate?

Don’t we expect more candor from someone who wants to be our next mayor? If he won't answer for his actions as a mayoral appointee, how can we trust that he'll answer for his actions as our mayor?

Separating Oneself From the Pack

With nineteen candidates declaring for the Mayor's race, it's going to be harder and harder to get the kind of attention that can separate one candidate from the others.

The funny thing is, I kept thinking I was getting into the race quite late. We purposely chose to announce late, to make sure I wasn't jumping into a crowded field. Who knew that by announcing my intentions to run a full week before the end of filing, that I would end up being the second of eleven candidates. That's right, nine candidates filed in the last week.

Oh well...can't imagine there being another nine Urban Tulsa Weekly profiles, so I guess I didn't wait too long.

Many thanks to UTW writer Mike Easterling, who very faithfully and accurately recreated our hour long conversation. I think it does a very good job of capturing why I am running and I hope you'll take a few minutes to read it.

Everyman's Candidate?

Dewey Liked Rudy 2000 Times!

With all of the controversy about Dewey Bartlett, Jr endorsing Democrat Kathy Taylor before the Republicans chose a candidate to run against her, it is refreshing to find that Mr. Bartlett also endorses Republicans. In 2007, he gave a $2,000 donation to pro-choice presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

While I greatly respect what Mayor Giuliani did in liberal New York City as a mayor, I and many Tulsans were less than enthusiastic about having him as our president.

It does indicate one thing that seems clear. While stating that he is pro-life, Bartlett sure does support a lot of pro-abortion candidates.

Calling a Press Conference

Press Conference

Tulsa, Oklahoma [Tuesday, July 07, 2009]--Former Tulsa city councilor and radio talk show host Chris Medlock will hold a press conference on Wednesday, to announce his intentions regarding the upcoming Tulsa mayoral race.

Time: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 at 10:00 AM

Location: Tulsa Press Club
415 S. Boston Avenue (Lobby)

Medlock will make a brief statement and then take questions from the press.

###

Is Bill Christiansen Out of the Mayor's Race?

I just got a confirmation from a second reliable source that District 8 Tulsa city councilor Bill Christiansen will not be entering the race for mayor. If this proves true, it is likely that the detailed polling that he conducted over the weekend didn't come back as very promising to his chances.

Stay tuned for more specifics.

Bartlett Evades Campbell's Question About Mayor

Dewey Bartlett is now running for mayor of the City of Tulsa. As such, he made an appearance on 1170 KFAQ's Pat Campbell Show on Monday. Bartlett promised Campbell that unlike Kathy Taylor, if elected he would come on Campbell's show and answer tough questions. I have a suggestion for a follow up question Campbell can ask Bartlett the next time he's on his show.

Here is an exchange that occurred between Campbell and Bartlett from the twenty minute interview. To hear the audio, click here.

Campbell: Now during your announcement the other day, you mentioned—and I want you to explain this too—if Kathy Taylor had not dropped out of the race, you wouldn’t have thrown your hat into the ring. Now why is that? Is that because she had such deep pockets, or was it because you were satisfied with the job she was doing?

Bartlett: Well…she…I think the main reason was that she has a strong support in the community. I think her election was pretty much a done deal. And I think….

Campbell: If she had run for re-election?

Bartlett: If she had run for re-election…yes. And I think it would have been very, very difficult for anybody to have a good campaign against her. She has extremely deep pockets and exhibited that in the first time that she ran for office. So I…anyway…that was the reason.

Now compare Bartlett's statement on KFAQ with the quote from Mayor Taylor's re-election campaign web site, which just hours after Bartlett's appearance on The Pat Campbell Show, has been pulled from www.taylorfortulsa.com. The link to the page is still on Michael Bates' story on Bartlett on his Batesline.com, but it now leads to an "error page." Click on the photo above to see Bartlett's glowing endorsement of Taylor, which I captured before his KFAQ performance.

Bartlett says,

"Tulsa has always had a history of great leadership from the business community. Kathy's tireless, visionary style is yet another example of non-partisan leadership that focuses on the future of Tulsa. I am proud to support her re-election efforts." Dewey Bartlett Jr., President Keener Oil and Gas Company

Can we infer from the fact that this page has been pulled from Kathy Taylor's campaign site that Dewey is no longer proud of his support for her re-election? Can we infer that Kathy Taylor is okay with his change of heart?

But the most important question now that Bartlett is announced for mayor, why is he trying convince conservative voters that he would've run against Kathy Taylor, as a republican, if she didn't have such deep pockets, when it is clear that he so enthusiastically supported her re-election?

I'll leave that for you to decide.

Are Dewey's and Kathy's Campaigns One and the Same?

Silly question that title, right?

Well Bartlett is praising Taylor and saying he hopes to continue to run things as she has done. But the same campaign? Get serious!

Well, take a look at the composite photo I created of yard signs from the two campaigns. Taylor's and Bartlett's signs are different color schemes, but check out the little graphical element in the upper-left corner. Pretty much the exact same thing!

Earth shattering? No. Intriguing? I think so.

So did Mayor Taylor merely hand over the baton?

New Show: TCMS for June 16, 2009

NEW SHOW: The latest installment of The Chris Medlock Show is in the can and ready for listening. Chris spends the entire show discussing the upcoming mayor's race in the City of Tulsa, including where he is on whether or not he'll run. Also discussed is who is officially in, who is out and who still has not made up their mind.

To download, click here.

Or listen directly using the app below:

Randy Brogdon To Appear On Bill O'Reilly

Owasso State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Randy Brogdon will be on tonight's O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, tonight at 7 PM and 10 PM. Brogdon will discuss steps he hopes to take in the case of a McAlister judge and D. A. that gave a convicted child rapist only a one year sentence for the rape of a 5 year old girl.

I will have audio on Tuesday's The Chris Medlock Show.

Hudson, Florida Calling Mr. Medlock

Took a political phone poll today out of Florida this afternoon. First question I was asked was did I know when the Mayoral primary would be held? Second question was, "are you aware of the name, Chris Medlock?" Third question was, "Would you say you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion of Chris Medlock?"

I said I knew who he was and had a VERY favorable opinion of him!

They asked about me, then about in order, Dewey Bartlett, Howard Barnett, Bill Christiansen, John Smaligo and Jim Williamson. No mention of Rick Westcott, Clay Clark or Bill LaFortune.

I'm torn between thinking this might be a poll by Bartlett and/or Barnett, or that it is one of the candidates not mentioned doing the polling to determine who is the strongest potential opposition.

Smaligo's name was a bit of a surprise, as I haven't heard his name mentioned in connection with the race until this poll.

If you see a phone call from Hudson, Florida, take it. It's a poll.

Flattering Results From Two On-Line Polls

Some interesting and flattering results from the very non-scientific Internet polls conducted by the two talk radio stations. Both stations put a listener poll up on Monday morning and I waited at least 48 hours before commenting, but the numbers have remained pretty consistent for the past 24 hours or so.

Obviously I'm as aware as anyone that these are fuzzy snapshots that indicate a percentage of avid supporters and not the more passive voter that isn't a talk radio listener. The numbers can also be skewed by campaigns that actively try to drive supporters to the site to vote. But one can argue that such networking is also an early indicator of a candidate's ability to get out the vote on election day.

I'm not surprised that I am leading in the KFAQ poll. After all, I was on the air on the station relatively consistently for the past five years. However, I must admit to a bit of a happy surprise that I'm doing so well on KRMG, which was my competitor station for two years. I guess it goes to show that a conservative is a conservative, regardless of which station they prefer.

My favorite, non-scientific number from the KRMG poll is derived from adding the numbers for Bill Christiansen, GT Bynum, Rick Westcott, Bill Martinson, all current city councilors. Their combined support in the poll adds up to 18%, six percentage points behind my numbers. Again, worth nothing really, more than just a smile.

Word is that GT Bynum has been meeting with some of Bill LaFortune's people to discuss a run. Most speculated that Bynum, because of age and experience, would hold off for another four years before making a run for the Mayor's office. But Kathy Taylor's departure has obviously caused him to re-look at a race this year, fearing that the winner this time might be a fellow Republican who could prevent him from running from eight or more years.

This rumor about Bynum makes his "deciding" vote to support the money interests behind the downtown baseball stadium look even more disappointing to the cynics out there.

It's going to be interesting to see how the next few weeks shake out with regard to who gets out and who stays in. For my part, I've been actively making calls as time allows and am giving a lot of thought and prayer toward whether or not I should enter the race.

The numbers from these listener polls are encouraging, though.

TCMS: Susan Savage and St. Sen. Randy Brogdon

The newest edition of The Chris Medlock Show is now available. Is former Tulsa mayor Susan Savage spouting Kathy Taylor's talking points? Audio from an interview with Joe Kelley on KRMG suggests she is.

Is the Tulsa Chamber wanting to change more than just the strength of the mayor, in Tulsa's form of government? Is all the chatter coming out of Mayor Taylor's camp indicative of an attempt to do away with partisan elections in the city? If you can't beat the Republicans, fix it so no one knows the candidates running are Democrats.

All this, plus a half hour with State Senator Randy Brogdon, who is running for governor. He talks about the race, the past legislative session and Governor Henry's vetoes.

To Download, CLICK HERE.

TCMS: Friday, June 5, 2009

The latest edition of TCMS is available with an extensive discussion of Thursday's announcement that Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor will not be seeking re-election. Why is she not running? What if anything does she have up her sleeve? Will she challenge John Sullivan? Who will be running for mayor now that she isn't.

Plus discussion of Thursday's vote by the City Council on the downtown ballpark assessment district and who lost a great opportunity to prove his conservative chops.

Also, if you listen to the show before the next Tulsa World comes out tomorrow, or perhaps on Sunday, you can hear whether I will or will not be considering a run for mayor.

To download, Click Here.

Kathy Taylor Bows Out

KOTV the News On Six is reporting that Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor will not seek re-election. The station's website reports that Taylor will be making an official statement in a television spot to begin Friday. In it, she states that she is "a business person not a mayor."

Rumors have been circulating for weeks that Taylor was interviewed in Tulsa by representatives of the Obama administration for a position in the Commerce Department. Taylor had served as Oklahoma's Secretary of Commerce in the Brad Henry administration prior to running for mayor. In fact, it is something that I had publicly speculated upon as far back as two years ago, that she might be seeking such a post, should a Democrat win the seat.

Obviously, this takes what was considered to be a tight race with few GOP candidates eager to take on Taylor's money, to a race that could draw several Republicans seeking the nomination.

More on this as facts become known.

Rep. John Sullivan Checks Into Betty Ford Clinic

First District Congressman John Sullivan has checked himself into the Betty Ford Clinic to treat his "addiction to alcohol." The announcement was made in a relatively brief email statement that went out from Sullivan's campaign address, not from his congressional office.

The statement and corresponding press release went out shortly before 5 pm on Friday. It is a common Washington D.C. practice to release bad or damaging news just before the close of business on the last day of the week, in order to shorten the press cycle.

The statement stat

es that Sullivan will be taking a leave of absence from Congress, but does not state for how long. It merely states that Sullivan looks "forward to returning to serve and work for [his constituents] in the House of Representatives as soon as possible."

It remains to be seen what kind of impact this action will have on Sullivan's political career. Checking into a clinic for rehab never helps, but is far less damaging than if he had been arrested for an alcohol relat

ed offense. Voters are generally very forgiving of those who recognize a problem and seek help.

However, this development will likely have some of the sharks in the Democratic Party pool swimming a little more aggressively, now that they can smell Sullivan's blood in the water. The next few months will be critical ones for Sullivan. First he must successfully complete treatment. Then, he'll have to go about the process of getting before supporters to explain the situation. If he fails to be contrite, it is likely he will lose the lion's share of support he might have from the conservative base of the local party.

Sullivan was already in damage control mode of late, due to his affirmative vote on the first round of stimulus money last fall.

The following text is the complete statement sent out by the Sullivan campaign to supporters:

A Message to the Constituents of the First District of Oklahoma

Today, Congressman John Sullivan released the following statement:

"Last night, I checked myself in to the Betty Ford Center in California to treat my addiction to alcohol.

To ensure my success in this fight, I’ve decided to take a temporary leave of absence from Congress. I value my relationship with the citizens of Oklahoma’s First Congressional District, whom I am privileged and honored to have served for the past eight years. So, I wanted to be open and honest on this tough situation.

I ask for your continued support and prayers as I face the challenges that lay ahead. I look forward to returning to serve and work for you in the House of Representatives as soon as possible.

My family is going through a difficult time right now and I ask that you respect their privacy and keep us in your thoughts and prayers. With God’s help and strength, I will get through this most challenging time in my life."

# # #

[More] Congressman Sullivan's communication's director, John Tidwell, sent me a copy of the press release that was sent out to the media. The text of the document is identical to that sent to supporters and constituents. The media release was sent out by the congressman's D.C. office. As noted above, the notice to supporters was sent via a campaign account.

Friday, May 29th Edition of TCMS

NEW PODCAST: Listen to my lengthy interview with Charlie Biggs, editor and publisher of the Tulsa Beacon newspaper. We discuss the 2009 Oklahoma Legislative Session and statewide politics. Plus my take on the mayoral polling that is going on in Tulsa. Click the link below or iTunes to hear the latest show.

Click Here:

Mayoral Polling Going On

I got a call this afternoon from a DC area code. Usually I don't pick up such calls from outside area codes, because they almost always end up being irradiating telemarketer calls. But I had a feeling this time it would be political in nature and I was right.

It was a poll.

The call asked if I had a positive, negative or neutral opinion of four of the six Republican Tulsa city councilors; Martinson, Christiansen, Eagleton and Westcott. I was then asked if each of the four were the GOP nominee against Kathy Taylor in the general election, would I vote for the councilor in question, or Mayor Taylor.

I had received word that Rick Westcott was doing polling and would wait for the results to determine if he would run for Mayor this year. It is unlikely that Westcott would be conducting a poll on his own that also tested the electability of three other GOP councilors. So, it appears to me that the four councilors might be pooling resources to see which of the four would be the best candidate to take on Taylor.

I have placed calls to both the Tulsa County Republican chair, Sally Bell, and state chair Gary Jones to find out if either or both organizations are behind the polling. Jones said my call was the first he'd heard of the polling. He also said something intriguing. "You mean those guys still haven't figured out which one of them they're going to run?" Jones asked?

I would very much doubt that the local party would conduct such a poll, since they already spent more a substantial sum on a poll earlier in the year, which is currently a controversial topic inside the county GOP, since no one knows for sure who authorized the expenditure. That poll included the same four councilors as today's polling, with the addition of South Tulsa Citizen's Coalition spokesperson Michael Covey.

The fact that only the councilors are included in this poll, without any other possible candidates, surely indicates that those elements of the local GOP who are happy with the current council's "mamby-pamby," no public disagreement approach. Looking at the four, there isn't a single reformer in the bunch.

Color me skeptical about the whole lot of them.

TCMS: Wednesday, May 27

Hear the latest edition of The Chris Medlock Show...fresh off the uh...the uh...microphone. Topics include the Wall Street Journal implying Oklahoma AG Drew Edminson is involved in a racket, and the growing scandal around the downtown baseball park. Click on the link below to listen.

Click here.