The Frontier fact-checked Tulsa mayoral candidates Karen Keith, Monroe Nichols and Brent VanNorman after their Aug. 8 debate at Cain’s Ballroom hosted by NonDoc and KJRH. Casey Bradford; Kaleb Hoosier; John Jolley and Paul Tay are also candidates in the race but didn’t meet polling requirements to participate in the debate.
We used public records, interviews and other reporting to examine the accuracy of candidates’ answers to debate questions.
2 News Oklahoma (KJRH) is scheduled to show the debate on TV at 9 p.m. Thursday. Tulsans will vote on a new mayor Tuesday, Aug. 27.
Claim: Tulsa County Commissioners only found out about problems at the Tulsa County Center for Juvenile Justice when allegations of abuse surfaced publicly.
Keith said: “We found out about those latest allegations at the same time that you did.”
Fact check: Mixed
Keith told The Frontier she didn’t know about allegations of sexual abuse at the detention center until reports surfaced in May.
However, Keith was aware of allegations of unnecessary confinement, failure to abide by mandatory reporting guidelines, and lack of proper education for children at the facility in 2022 and 2023, when she was notified of inspection results from the Office of Juvenile Affairs, emails show. The Office of Juvenile Affairs notified Keith in May 2023 that it had placed the facility on probation for deficiencies.
Keith told The Frontier that she met with Juvenile Affairs officials in August 2023 and was under the impression that conditions at the facility were up to par by December. The Office of Juvenile Affairs lifted the facility’s probationary status in January.
“Karen and the other commissioners additionally relied on the state court judges to operate the facility in accordance with OJA policy and requirements,” a representative from Keith’s campaign said.
— Ashlynd Huffman
Claim: Nichols co-authored a bill to direct $50 million toward upgrading Arkansas River levees to protect against flooding.
Nichols said: “One thing I did was co-author the bill to bring the levy funding here to Tulsa, $50 million dollars.”
Fact check: True
Nichols was one of 21 co-authors of HB 2890, which appropriated $50 million to support levee improvements along the Arkansas River. Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the bill in May.
— Garrett Yalch
Claim: Nichols missed a vote on the bill in the Legislature that directed $50 million in funding for Tulsa levee upgrades.
Keith said: “I do appreciate that Rep. Nichols came here and walked the levee and tried to understand what was going on there, but when the vote came out of committee, he did what’s called ‘walk the vote,’ and it concerned me for a minute.”
Fact check: True
Records show Nichols didn’t vote on the Tulsa levee repair bill that he co-authored when it came up for consideration on the floor of the House of Representatives on May 28.
After the mayoral debate, Nichols told The Frontier that he took issue with Keith saying he “walked the vote,” a term used to describe when a lawmaker walks out of the room to avoid voting on a controversial bill.
Nichols initially said he missed the vote because he was in Tulsa to meet with unhoused people with the nonprofit group Housing Solutions.
But video and voting records show that Nichols voted for the bills that came up for consideration immediately before and after the Tulsa levee bill.
Nichols then said he had misremembered his schedule for that day and actually missed the Tulsa levee vote because he was in a work meeting for the nonprofit StriveTogether that morning, where he works as director of policy and partnerships. He provided a screenshot of his schedule for the day that showed the work meeting around the time of the vote. The schedule also showed he had scheduled a meeting in Tulsa with Housing Solutions later in the day as well as an appearance on a local radio show.
“I still maintain I did not walk the vote. I just had to leave the floor for a meeting,” Nichols said in a text message.
— Brianna Bailey
Claim: Tulsa’s designation as a “welcoming city” for immigrants” means it does not enforce some laws.
VanNorman said: “I would go 180 degrees on the ‘welcoming city’ issue, because I believe it’s one step toward a sanctuary city. We live in a constitutional republic, there’s something called the rule of law, and we have to follow the law. And my understanding of a ‘welcoming city’ is that we’re picking and choosing laws to follow.”
Fact check: False
The Welcoming America program certifies 24 cities and counties around the country as welcoming, meaning they have policies and programs “reflecting their values and commitment to immigrant inclusion.” A Welcoming America spokeswoman said the program doesn’t encourage cities to act outside their legal jurisdiction or in violation of existing laws.
A spokesman for VanNorman’s campaign said in an email that VanNorman is concerned about Tulsa’s involvement given the fact that some sanctuary cities like Portland and Chicago are in the Welcoming America network.
The program’s criteria for assessing local governments include a standard that local law enforcement agencies don’t have policies where the main purpose is deporting or detaining immigrants.
Immigration is regulated by the federal government, but some states have passed their own immigration laws. A federal court has temporarily blocked an Oklahoma law signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt this year that would criminalize “impermissible occupation” for willfully entering the state without legal authorization to be in the country.
Tulsa has no policy to stop enforcing state law because of the Certified Welcoming designation, a spokeswoman for the city said. The designation doesn’t affect how city officials cooperate with the federal government on immigration and it also has nothing to do with Tulsa becoming a sanctuary city, she said.
— Ari Fife
Claim: Nichols passed a bill to expand a tax credit for affordable housing that wasn’t previously available to developers in Tulsa.
Nichols said: “I passed a bill to expand the Affordable Housing Tax Credit. Before I got elected, if you were in Tulsa and a developer, you were not eligible for the tax credit at that point.”
Fact check: True
Nichols authored a successful bill in 2019 that eliminated population restrictions on a tax credit for affordable housing developers. The tax credit was previously limited to counties with fewer than 150,000 residents, meaning it wasn’t available in Tulsa.
— Brianna Bailey
Claim: Tulsa needs 130 more police officers.
Keith said: “We’re 130 police officers short.”
Fact check: True
Tulsa Police Department Captain Richard Meulenberg told The Frontier that staffing numbers shift over time with retirements, but as of August, there were 140 open positions.
— Dylan Goforth
Claim: People can call 211 and get mental health assistance.
VanNorman said: “There’s another number you can dial right now. I believe it’s 211, but most people don’t know that, so they dial 911.”
Fact check: Mostly true
It’s true that people can call 211 to connect with service providers for things like housing, mental health care and food resources.
But 211 is not for emergencies — the mental health emergency line is 988.
Still, a representative for 211 of Eastern Oklahoma said if a person called 211 in a mental health crisis, staff would connect them with the correct number.
— Kayla Branch
Fact check rating system:
True: A claim that is backed up by factual evidence.
Mostly true: A claim that is mostly true but also contains some inaccurate details.
Mixed: A claim that contains a combination of accurate and inaccurate or unproven information.
True but misleading: A claim that is factually true but omits critical details or context.
Mostly false: A claim that is mostly false but also contains some accurate details.
False: A claim that has no basis in fact.
