Oklahoma City will elect a new Mayor on Tuesday, 24 February, and all four of the candidates seem to be cut from the same cloth: Nice Guys with just enough gung-ho to get the job done. And, being Nice Guys, they have so far refused to scoff at one another, which perhaps makes for a dull campaign, which in turn might contribute to fairly low turnout — as if the projected rain/snow mix for the day wouldn't do that all by itself.
Still, there are some differences, and they go something like this:
Mick Cornett, 45, current Ward 1 Councilman
Plus: Twenty years on TV has made him an effective communicator
Minus: Twenty years on TV has made him incredibly bland
Marcus Hayes, 27, retirement center social services director
Plus: Fresh face; takes a dim view of the city's propensity for sweetheart deals
Minus: Campaign headed by perennial gadfly/whistleblower/pain in the ass Clyde Madden
Frosty Peak, 62, real-estate broker, former Ward 1 Councilman
Plus: Might raise the room tax, but probably no others
Minus: Goofiest name since Patience Latting (1971-83)
Jim Tolbert, 68, bookstore owner
Plus: Has been in the forefront of the city's semi-renaissance
Minus: Could he possibly be any more Establishment?
Party labels are eschewed in this race; for those who care, Cornett and Peak are Republicans, Hayes and Tolbert are Democrats.
The new Mayor will serve the balance of the term begun by Kirk Humphreys, who resigned to run for the US Senate.
