Five months ago, Tulsa City Council District 9 two-term incumbent Jayme Fowler was running for mayor of Tulsa against well-known and well-financed candidates. As the candidate filing period approached, he suddenly announced a decision to forgo a mayoral bid. Instead, after briefly saying he would sit out Tulsa’s 2024 cycle altogether, he filed for reelection, finished second among five candidates in August and now faces former Oklahoma House Rep. Carol Bush in a head-to-head matchup for another two-year term Nov. 5.
“We took a look at the polling data, and Karen (Keith) was raising money a year before she announced, and Monroe (Nichols) had been raising money, too. I was a little naive in thinking that I could raise a million and catch up,” Fowler said of his exit from the mayoral race. “I looked at the polling data, and I think sometimes we all make decisions that aren’t grounded in logic and are made out of emotion, and I think I got to the point where I said I’m going to drop out of the mayor’s race and run for reelection.”
For Bush, who represented House District 70 for three terms, running for the Tulsa City Council offered a new outlet for the public service she wanted to continue after briefly considering a 2024 mayoral run herself…