Last Updated on February 15, 2023, 12:38 PM | Published: February 15, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) – With the early municipal results in, City of Oklahoma City voters re-elected all three incumbents to continue representing their wards on the City Council, while one close race in Ward 5 heads to an April runoff to determine a winner.
According to the unofficial election results from the Oklahoma State Election Board, the incumbents in Wards 2, 6, and 8 will continue to serve on the nine-member OKC City Council for another term. In Ward 5, the candidates with the most votes will compete in a runoff April 4 since no candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote.
Ward 6
In the tightest race of the night, Hamon secured a second term for central OKC Ward 6 over newcomer Marek Cornett by nearly 300 votes.
Cornett, the daughter-in-law of former OKC mayor Mick Cornett, who was favored by the Chamber of Commerce and the Fraternal Order of Police, lost the race with 45.6 percent of the vote.
In an interview with Free Press following her victory, Hamon said the hardest part of the race was trying to address the advertisements that came against her in the final month of the race.
Hamon comes out of the election having survived attack ads, texts, and mailers funded by shadowy dark money PACs. Cornett claimed to not know much about them but at the same time did not denounce what they were saying, either.
Hamon said that she was reluctant to argue with the talking points too much because “their framing is fundamentally mistaken.”
And, what was learned during door-knocking and campaigning was that, “there’s some untapped energy that I think is sort of discounted in Oklahoma,” Hamon told us.
Ward 8
In another hotly contested race of the night, incumbent Mark Stonecipher secured his seat for the northwest OKC Ward 8 seat with 53.1% of the vote. Warne trailed behind with 37.1%, losing by a little over 800 votes. Frank Urbanic finished last with 10 percent of the vote.
Warne said that regardless of the results, she’s proud of the strong support she’s received and the work she’s done to ‘lay the groundwork’ for the next person.
“We made him sweat for a little bit,” Warne said in an interview with Free Press. “I have put so much time and effort into running a thoughtful, intentional campaign that is rooted in honesty and integrity, and I know that I have not modified who I am as a person, or my values, and that is a big win in my book.”
Ward 2
Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper will continue to represent the north-central OKC ward for another four-year term after defeating two newcomers in a landslide victory Tuesday night.
The results show Cooper easily won with 76.9 % of the vote, followed by Weston Storey with 16.7 % and Alexander DeShazo with 6.5%.
Following the win, Cooper said he’s listened to Ward 2 residents’ concerns and he will continue to work towards addressing their needs for the next four years.
“I know we’re making some good moves in those directions and the work continues,” Cooper said.
Ward 5
Thuan Hieu Nguyen and Matthew Hinkle will advance to a runoff after winning the most votes out of the field of candidates to represent the south-central OKC Ward 5.
Hinkle, a longtime Oklahoman and southside resident, took the lead with 40.4 percent, while Nyugen finished with 34.8 percent.
The other two challengers, Audra Beasley and Jeff Owen, ended the race with 12.5 percent and 12.3 percent.
In the interview with Free Press, Nguyen said he looks forward to competing against Hinkle. He said that running a grassroots campaign, without the support of special interest groups, can be challenging but he’s confident that he’ll win in April.
“We’re not supported by special interests, we are for the people,” Nguyen said. “We work harder, we work smarter and that’s the thing — that’s what’s going to get us to win this race.”
The two will face each other again on April 4 to succeed David Greenwell, who has held the seat for over a decade.
Councilmembers-elect are sworn in on the first Tuesday following the receipt of the election results.
Election results are still subject to change and are not considered final until they’re certified by the appropriate election board. Results will be certified by county election boards not earlier than 5:00 p.m. Friday, February 17, according to the State Election Board.
Brianna Garcia is a freelance journalist covering local politics and culture for Free Press. She has a degree in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma.
