Poll shows Bartlett, Taylor nearly even in Tulsa mayor's race

By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer

Mayor Dewey Bartlett and former Mayor Kathy Taylor are virtually even going into Tuesday's city election, with former city councilor Bill Christiansen hanging a not-too-distant third, according to an Oklahoma Poll conducted June 1-5.

The survey of 400 likely voters showed Taylor with 36 percent, Bartlett with 35 percent and Christiansen with 20 percent.

Jerry Branch was favored by one poll respondent, Lawrence Kirkpatrick by none. Nine percent of respondents were undecided.

Under the city's new non-partisan election system, Tuesday's balloting will determine Tulsa's next mayor if one candidate receives a clear majority of the vote.

Complete question wording and topline results

If two candidates combine for a majority, they will advance to the general election on Nov. 12.

If no two candidates combine for a majority, as many as are needed to reach a majority will compete in an Aug. 13 runoff.

Tuesday's election may be officially nonpartisan, but voter preferences clearly followed party lines in the Oklahoma Poll, which was conducted for the Tulsa World by SoonerPoll.com. Republicans Bartlett and Christiansen combined for 78 percent of the GOP vote.

Taylor, a Democrat, got 61 percent of the Democratic vote.

But, significantly, Bartlett and Christiansen combined for 28 percent of the Democratic vote compared to just 15 percent of Republicans who say they're for Taylor.

Continued – Click here to read the entire Tulsa World article

About the Oklahoma Poll

The poll of 400 likely voters was conducted June 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.