2026 Tulsa City Council election

It's disheartening just to watch what's been happening at Tulsa City Hall, and even more disheartening to write about it. There was a time when I relished digging into the latest issue before the Council, but that was back when we managed to get some good councilors elected on a regular basis, people with integrity and a backbone. It felt possible to make a difference. It hasn't felt like that since the big changes to the election system before 2016. I appreciate those who continue to post about Tulsa politics on social media, people like RealitySnark (formerly Snarkio) on X, RobertDInTulsa, who monitors the scanner and covers local crime news on X, and This Is Tulsa Too on Facebook. Restaurant reviewer and restaurateur Steve Pisonero recently launched a Facebook group about the homeless blight in Tulsa; all the politically correct folks are appalled, but the people who participate in the discussion are genuinely trying to grapple with real causes and real solutions, not the expensive and unrealistic approaches that keep gender-studies majors employed at non-profits in the Homeless-Industrial Complex. Tuesday, August 25, 2026, is the City of Tulsa general election. Six of the nine City Council seats are contested; City Auditor Nathan Pickard and Councilors Laura Bellis (District 4), Christian Bengel (District 6), and Phil Lakin (District 8) were re-elected without opposition. A candidate receiving more than 50% of the vote on August 25 has been elected. If no candidate gets more than 50%, there will be a runoff on November 3 between the top candidates whose votes total more than 50%. This is slightly different from a traditional two-candidate runoff in that, if there are more than four candidates and the vote is evenly split (e.g. 24%, 23%, 20%, 18%, 15%), there may be a three-candidate runoff. Unlikely, but possible this year in District 1. I am not thrilled with our choices. I can only surmise that fewer and fewer Tulsans think the city is worth fighting for, that anything can be done to stop the slide. Many of the challengers look like they jumped in last minute, which is honorable -- I filed for my first council race at 4 p.m. the last day of filing -- and think campaigning consists of nothing more than a website and forum appearances, which is ineffective. The lack of enthusiasm is evident as you drive around Tulsa. In Council Districts 3 and 7, I saw no indication that a campaign was underway. There were a few yard signs for candidates in the Republican runoff, a few for statewide Democrat candidates, but there were no signs for either the incumbent councilor or challengers. I saw exactly one sign in District 5, supporting incumbent Karen Gilbert. All three candidates are active in District 9, an open seat. Things have been just as quiet on social media. The most energy and enthusiasm has been in District 1 where four candidates are challenging the incumbent. I saw signs around the district for all but one of the five candidates in roughly equal numbers. If we're to have any hope of returning Tulsa city government to sanity, the first step is to break up the Mean Girl Clique on the City Council. At a recent City Council meeting, while a citizen spoke about the need for independent ethics oversight of the Council, Councilors Vanessa Hall Harper, Jackie Dutton, Lori Decter Wright, Laura Bellis, and one redacted non-councilor engaged in ridicule of the speaker over a group chat, giggling and trading looks. Their behavior appalls former councilors across the political spectrum. This isn't the first time they've been caught in this childish behavior. They're on the record labeling conservative Tulsans as "actual fascists," but Bellis, Hall Harper, and Decter Wright teamed up with GT Bynum to keep one of their council colleagues from working for a living because he dared to oppose a tax increase. That seems pretty fascistic to me. If Hall Harper, Dutton, Decter Wright, and Bellis lack the impulse control to wait until after the meeting to share their snarky comments, they don't belong on the City Council. Bellis, alas, is unopposed, but defeating the other three would be a good start. The second priority -- and this aligns with the first one -- is to replace as many philanthropocrats and non-profiteers as possible with people who work for a living. If it seems like I'm grasping at straws in these recommendations, it's because I am. There's not a single candidate running this year that ticks all the boxes -- or even most of the boxes. If we want high-quality candidates to run for council there needs to be a high-quality organization recruiting them a year ahead of time, preparing them to run, marshalling resources to support their campaigns, and continuing to provide support once they're elected. With those qualifications in mind, let's look at each race in turn:
- August 22, 2026 at 10:06PM
2026 Tulsa City Council election
Click the headline to read the full story.