In Oklahoma Poll, Bartlett holds lead over Taylor
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
Incumbent Dewey Bartlett entered the final week of the mayoral campaign with an 11-point lead on challenger Kathy Taylor, according to an Oklahoma Poll conducted Nov. 1-5 by the Oklahoma City firm SoonerPoll. The survey of 401 likely voters found 49 percent favoring Bartlett, 38 percent backing Taylor and 13 percent undecided.
Bartlett finished eight percentage points behind Taylor in the June primary, 42 percent to 34 percent, with Bill Christiansen taking 23 percent.
Christiansen endorsed Taylor last week, after the end of the polling period.
"Dewey Bartlett has Tulsa headed in the right direction after some of the things that Taylor did," said Tim Belford, who was among the poll respondents interviewed by the Tulsa World. "She got us into debt and things like that."
Belford said ONEOK Field and the new City Hall are examples of unwise spending by Taylor during her 2006-2009 term as mayor.
"Taylor spent too much money," he said.
"He's done a good job with the city's finances," said Richard Freeman. "He's overseen the police and firefighters well. The city is making progress on streets."
Others, though, think Taylor deserves most of the credit for the street improvements, since the current capital improvement package was passed during her term. They also think she is a stronger leader.
"The time Kathy was in before, I really liked the way she ran the city," said Charles Roach. "She had the city going the right way. Since Dewey Bartlett's been in there's been nothing but turmoil."
Brenda Washington said she'll vote for Taylor, but not because she's a big fan.
Continued – Click here to read the entire Tulsa World article
About the Oklahoma Poll
The poll of 401 likely voters was conducted November 1-5 by SoonerPoll.com, using a random digit-dialing technique that included cellphone and landline telephone numbers. Results were weighted by gender, age and party. The poll was sponsored by the Tulsa World. The margin of error is ±4.9 percentage points.
This poll conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. A complete description of the methodology can be found here.
