Lee E. Cooper, Jr. takes Ward 7 Oklahoma City Council seat

-- To serve until next election after Nikki Nice resigns to take Oklahoma Senate seat.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Lee E. Cooper, Jr., a former councilman, has been appointed by the Oklahoma City Council to once again serve as councilmember for Ward 7.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Cooper was sworn in by District Judge Anthony Bonner as his wife held the Bible with friends, parishioners, family, and other pastors from the community watching from the gallery. At the end of his oath, a loud round of applause and shouts greeted Cooper.

He then took his Ward 7 seat on the horseshoe as the Council proceeded with the day’s agenda.

“Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and the rest of the council for this distinct honor and privilege,” said Cooper in his remarks on taking his seat. Acknowledging his fellow pastors who were present, Cooper said, “We recognize it as a responsibility to give back.”

He will remain in office until April 29, 2025, when the next elected City Council member takes office for Ward 7.

Incumbent Nikki Nice resigned the Ward 7 seat on November 12 to take her seat in the Oklahoma Senate. The Council was required under the Oklahoma City Charter to select a new council member.

Cooper
Pastor Lee E. Cooper, Jr. after taking the Ward 7 City Council seat Dec. 3, 2024 (B.DICKERSON/Okla City Free Press)

The seat will be filled by a regular election on February 11, 2025, with a potential runoff on April 1, 2025. The deadline for filing is December 2-4.

This is not the first time Pastor Cooper has filled the Ward 7 seat on the Oklahoma City Council. In 2018, Cooper became a member of the City Council to fill the seat until the next election after the resignation of Councilman John Pettis.

In the past, he has also been a Planning Commissioner and a member of the city’s Urban Renewal Authority and Redevelopment Authority, appointed by Mayor David Holt.

In addition, Mayor Holt asked him to co-chair a project to honor the city’s sit-in movement, with a monument anticipated in 2025.

“Ward 7 needs someone who can immediately step into the role and make an impact, and thanks to his previous experiences, Councilman Cooper clearly meets that need,” Mayor Holt said. “And since there is no election, it was also important that the person we appoint be held in the highest regard, and that certainly describes Councilman Cooper.”

Councilman Cooper has served as pastor of the Prospect Missionary Baptist Church since 1987. He earned a doctorate of human letters from the University of Virginia at Lynchburg in 2005.

Cooper has also served as a board member on the One Church One Child Advisory Board, past president of the Progressive Oklahoma Baptist State Convention, board member of KIPP Reach College Preparatory School and chaplain of the Oklahoma State Senate. He has served on the Education and Publication Board of the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the Southwestern Urban Development Corporation Executive Board. He was the first Black member of the Capital Baptist Association Committee and the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.


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Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.