Learn more about the candidates in the upcoming OKC mayoral election

Photo: Steve Johnson/OKC Convention Center

Registered voters who live in the City of Oklahoma City will have the opportunity to vote in an important election on Tuesday, Feb. 8. Four candidates filed to run in the Oklahoma City mayoral election, including the incumbent Mayor David Holt. Other candidates include Carol Hefner, Jimmy Lawson and Frank Urbanic. 

The Chamber asked all four candidates to complete a survey that would ascertain their stance on the MAPS program, economic development programs, and more. All four candidates responded. Read on for a summary of their responses and for their responses when asked about their top priorities if elected Oklahoma City's mayor. 

Mayor David Holt, Mayor of the City of Oklahoma City

Chamber: If elected as Oklahoma City mayor, what would be your top priorities? 

Holt: As Mayor for the last four years, I have focused on improving core services, continuing our investments in quality of life, and including the diversity of our city in our decision-making. Success in these endeavors inevitably leads to economic development and strong population growth.  Thanks in large part to the close partnership I have enjoyed with this Chamber and our city's business community, we have been incredibly successful in all these areas, even in the face of historic external challenges.  Today, we have the lowest unemployment in city history, our population growth has soared, making us the 22nd-largest city in the United States, and we are continuing to make massive investments in our core services and quality of life.   The latter would not be possible without the Chamber's support of "Better Streets, Safer City" in 2017 and MAPS 4 in 2019.   In the next four years, we will continue our partnership, we will continue this work, and we will build upon our successes.  Our community is being presented with remarkable opportunities every week that we would have only dreamed about twenty years ago.  In the next four years, we'll implement "Better Streets, Safer City" and MAPS 4 as promised, we'll work together to meet challenges that face our city -  such as the future of public education and public transit - and we'll seize the many opportunities coming our way.   And we'll do it all together, as One OKC.  

I am grateful for the work this Chamber does, for the long partnership between this Chamber and City Hall, and the personal support this Chamber has given me in my service.   I look forward to what the future holds for all of us.   Even though we have come so far so fast, I firmly believe the best is yet to come.

Read Holt's full responses to the Chamber's survey. 

Carol Hefner, Commercial Real Estate Developer

Chamber: If elected as Oklahoma City mayor, what would be your top priorities?

Hefner: Oklahoma City needs attention to a myriad of issues that have impacted our growth and economics negatively.  It is time to remove red tape and roadblocks. Government's responsibility, at all levels, is to protect life, liberty and property. 

• To that point, I fully support and will promote Law and Order.  Our police and fire must be supported fully from city hall.
• Reducing the red tape that is hampering private enterprise and forward momentum.
• Encouraging and empowering the private sector and faith community to embrace social issues.

Read Hefner's full responses to the Chamber's survey.

Jimmy Lawson, Professor at Rose State College

Chamber: If elected as Oklahoma City mayor, what would be your top priorities?

Lawson:

• Address the growing needs of the homeless. Provide more access to resources such as housing, mental health services, and employment opportunities.
• Criminal justice reform. Create opportunities at the municipal level to reduce incarceration and provide more diversion programs.
• Create new jobs for the OKC market. Diversify the type of industries in which can be accessible by the average citizen.
• Provide educational resources to our youth in OKC. Give them access to mentors, financial literacy, and other life-changing resources."

Read Lawson's full responses to the Chamber's survey.

Frank Urbanic, Attorney at Urbanic Law Firm/Air Battle Manager on AWACS in USAF-R

Chamber: If elected as Oklahoma City mayor, what would be your top priorities?

Urbanic: My top priority will be to represent all citizens of Oklahoma City. Many pay into the system who aren’t seeing a return on their investment. Businesses need to be supported—not shut down. Money spent on empty streetcars should be spent on our streets, which are in terrible condition. The streetcars must go. There is more to our city than downtown. The Cleveland and Canadian County parts of OKC must be recognized and appreciated. Right now, those parts of OKC are suffering from “taxation without representation.” That will change when I’m mayor.

If we want a city of, by, and for the people, we need a mayor who recognizes that shutting down small businesses and churches is clearly unlawful. I will eliminate the possibility of that ever happening again.

Unless we want to live in a city that resembles San Francisco, Seattle, or Portland, we need a mayor who knows that the principles of the citizens of Oklahoma City do not match the principles of those cities. One way to show that is to properly address the homelessness in our city. This lack of leadership has caused the problem to skyrocket. My plan is to take the best practices of cities that have been successful in reducing homelessness and apply them here. Eliminate incentives drawing the homeless here.

Law enforcement must be respected. With the cost of living increasing, wages should likewise go up. The proper funding of fire, police and the other hardworking employees of OKC is crucial.

OKC’s Riot Control and Prevention Act must be amended to put a check on the mayor’s power during an emergency. The mayor should not have unlimited authority to call whatever he wants a disaster. The City Council should have the authority to terminate an emergency declaration."

Read Urbanic's full responses to the Chamber's survey.

Election information

If the winner of the Feb. 8 general election earns a majority of the votes, that candidate will be sworn-in to a four-year term as Mayor in April. If no candidate receives a majority, the two candidates with the most votes will stand in a decisive runoff election April 5.

All Oklahoma City voters are eligible to vote in the election. To find your polling location, look at your voter ID card or use the Oklahoma State Election Board website at ok.gov/elections.

The deadline to register to vote in the election is Jan. 14. Visit ok.gov/elections to download a voter registration application.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot for the primary election is 5 p.m. Jan. 24.

Early voting for the general election is 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 3-4.