Last Updated on December 9, 2022, 12:43 PM | Published: December 8, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY — Incumbent Ward 2 City Councilman James Cooper has filed a Petition for Contest of Candidacy against Chris Cowden, one of the three candidates challenging Cooper in the upcoming election in February.
According to Cowden’s attorney, Cooper is contesting Cowden’s candidacy based on the fact that Cowden has not been registered to vote in Ward 2 for a full year before filing his declaration of candidacy.
Cowden’s attorney claims he has lived in the ward “for many years” and Cowden says that he has lived at his current address in Ward 2 “since 2017.”*
According to the City of Oklahoma City website a,
- Councilmember – must have been a registered voter at an address within the ward for at least one year immediately preceding the filing of a declaration of candidacy.
No fewer than 13 candidates have filed with nine campaigning well before filing for seats in Wards 2, 5, 6, & 8.
The hearing before the Oklahoma County Election Board in their offices will be Tuesday, December 13 at 10 a.m.
Cooper
UPDATE – 11:15 p.m. Dec. 8 — Attempts earlier to contact Cooper were unsuccessful. But, after publication, Free Press eventually reached Councilman Cooper by phone and asked why he filed the contest.
“Not my decision,” Cooper said. “I took, as you know, four years ago, at my request, the oath of office on our country’s Constitution and Declaration of Independence — my personal copy. My mother, and Commissioner Blumert administered this oath. And that’s because I’m a writer and a teacher, and I value every single word of those documents. And, our city has a charter as our Constitution, and I will uphold it and that’s what it is.”
Cowden
In a phone call with Free Press late Thursday, Cowden said, “we were aware of it at around 5:30 [p.m.]. And quite honestly, we had anticipated it.”
His attorney, Robert Gifford was with Cowden at the time of our call and joined the interview.
“You know, it’s very common in any election that the easiest thing to do is try to disqualify somebody,” Gifford told us. “And that’s the first tactic in any campaign. So, you know, Chris saw this coming and he was ready for it.”
Gifford said that Cowden had been living in Ward 2 for “many years” and had just never changed the address of his voter registration until “June, July” of this summer.
Cowden said that he grew up in Nichols Hills and was registered to vote at an address there before changing his registration in the middle of the summer, which would make it less than the year-before requirement.
Cowden insisted, though, that he has lived in OKC Ward 2 “for years.”
Attorney Gifford said that if they lose the hearing at the Election Board on Tuesday, they would go “directly to the [Oklahoma] Supreme Court” because time is critical in a campaign especially since the vote is in February.
A press release was placed on the Oklahoma County Election Board’s website late Thursday with information that the Petition for Contest of Candidacy had been filed by Cooper and that the hearing before the County Election Board would be December 13, 2022.
There is no information on that press release that says on what grounds Cooper is contesting Cowden’s candidacy.
*This statement has been clarified. In our original report, we quoted Cowden as saying he has lived in OKC “for years.” Cowden did say that he has lived in his current residence “since 2017” and his attorney said “for many years.”
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
