Tulsa World Profiles Campaign Staffs
Workers in Tulsa mayoral campaigns see candidates’ other sides
BY ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer
A civil engineer who worked in Iraq. A former college football player. Students eyeing political careers.
The people who run Tulsa’s mayoral races behind the scenes – those handling the candidates’ talking points, coordinating phone calls and arranging appearances – have diverse backgrounds and different reasons for doing the job, but they all share one belief: They’re working for Tulsa’s greater good.
“It’s tough, but it’s tough for all the right reasons,” said Monroe Nichols, a city staffer under former Mayor Kathy Taylor’s administration who now serves as her campaign manager. “You do get to come to work every day, and you know you get to do what you’re doing for the right reasons.”
Mayor Dewey Bartlett, 66, a Republican, will face Taylor, 57, a Democrat, in the Nov. 12 general election.