Tulsa County Republicans to prioritize partisan labels for city elections

After Republicans were shut out of the general election for Tulsa Mayor, County Party leaders plan new focus to restore partisan labels to candidates in municipal races.

Wednesday, August 20th 2025, 6:34 pm

By: Emory Bryan

TULSA, Okla. -

The Tulsa County Republican Party plans to ensure voters in city elections know the party affiliation of candidates on the ballot. Though there are no restrictions on how candidates advertise, the election ballots do not indicate political parties.

City of Tulsa voters approved a petition to make municipal elections non-partisan in 2011.

Republican Party Chair Melissa Myers said the 2024 Tulsa Mayor's race prompted the party to make partisan elections the top priority for the coming year.

"So this last time for mayor, we ended up with two very Democratic candidates, and now we're seeing the consequences of that. We need to have more choice, and we need to have a Republican candidate," she said.

Republican Brent Van Norman ran for Mayor but finished third, which was affirmed in a recount. Van Norman is now Vice-Chair of the Tulsa County Republican Party.

Myers said Republican vote fatigue led to some voters "not doing their due diligence" in checking out candidates.

Myers also said the Party would work to prevent open primaries and do more vetting of candidates to ensure they adhere to party standards before they get support.

Emory Bryan

Emory Bryan is a general assignment reporter for News On 6. He began his news career covering the school board for his hometown radio station and worked on the newspaper staff in college before making the switch to television. Emory joined the News On 6 team in 1994.