Dewey F. Bartlett Jr.

Bartlett's father, Dewey F. Bartlett, was Oklahoma's second Republican governor from 1967 to 1971, and a United States senator from 1973 to 1979.^[5] His mother, Ann Bartlett, is a former First Lady of Oklahoma.^[6] The younger Bartlett attended Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, then received a B.S. in accounting from Regis University and an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.^{[7][8][9][10]} He is the President of the Keener Oil & Gas Company, the successor to a family business previously run by his father,^[9][11] and has served as the chairman of the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board^[12] and the National Stripper Well Association,^[13] as well as a member of the board of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.^[11]

Bartlett served on the Tulsa City Council from 1990 to 1994, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in a 1992 special election. The Tulsa World newspaper suggested that Bartlett lost the race due to extremely negative campaigning.^[14] In 2004 he ran against former state health secretary Tom Adelson for Oklahoma Senate district 33, losing by less than 1,000 votes.^[15][16]

In 2009 he ran again for mayor of Tulsa.^[17] On September 8, 2009, Bartlett won 54% of the Republican primary vote, setting him up for another match against Adelson (who received 94% of the vote in the Democratic primary) and two independents in the November general election.^[18] In the November 10 general election, Bartlett received about 45% of the vote, to 36% for Adelson and 18% for independent Mark Perkins. Bartlett took office on December 7, 2009.^[19]

In May 2011, the Tulsa city auditor issued a report stating that Bartlett had violated two sections of the city's ethics rules by accepting free legal advice from a lawyer who had also represented the city.^[20] Bartlett and his lawyer have disputed this finding.^[21]

In the 2013 mayoral election, Bartlett faced challenges from his Democratic predecessor, Kathy Taylor,^[22] as well as from another Republican, city councilman Bill Christiansen, and several other candidates. In the mayoral primary election on June 11, 2013, the city used a new non-partisan election system for the first time, and Bartlett finished second, with 34.2%, behind Taylor's 42.1% but ahead of Christiansen's 23.1%. Taylor and Bartlett then met in a runoff election on November 12, 2013,^[23] and Bartlett won reelection with 55.7% of the vote.^[24]

In 2016, Bartlett lost reelection to city councilor and fellow Republican G. T. Bynum, who received about 56 percent of the vote while Bartlett had about 38 percent.^[25]