On June 28, 2016, I, along with thousands of other Tulsans, voted for city councilor, GT Bynum, to be Tulsa's next mayor. The very same day, I celebrated with the same Tulsans as his win was announced. Bynum secured the position as mayor when early polls gave him a secure lead, leaving two term incumbent mayor, Dewey Bartlett, with no other option than to concede. When asked what his biggest accomplishment was during his campaign, Bynum responded with "the greatest accomplishment was showing others that you can win an election in 2016 by a significant amount by running a positive campaign, focusing on issues of the future."
Since the beginning of campaign season, GT, his family, his team, and his supporters have been dedicated to running a clean campaign that would not tear his opponents down. They wanted to let Bynum's message and ideas speak for themselves, even when opponent Dewey Bartlett drug him through the mud. By doing so, Bynum won over countless supporters including the Tulsa Firefighters, the Tulsa police department, and the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association. Conservatives and democrats alike joined together to spread his message and raise awareness. He used his bipartisan ideology to be a candidate able to serve every citizen of any political affiliation. Bynum wants a better Tulsa for every citizen, present and future, and has promised to work toward goals to uplift and grow the community every day.
GT Bynum's success against a two-term incumbent mayor shows that politics do not have to be centered on hate and divided by party lines. Nationally, politicians are driving wedges between people in order to polarize us and win our votes. Their goal is to make us hate their opponent so much that we forget to listen and forget to think. These politicians running in bigger races play in the mud just to make their opponents look weak and undeserving. They stress the differences between red and blue so much that we forget a middle exists. National politics are so polarized that we don't focus on the issues and how to fix them, instead we just vote for our party and hope for the best.
I am so proud of Tulsa today for fighting back against those polarized ideologies. GT Bynum's message is very bipartisan, and focuses on creating a better tomorrow. By voting for him, Tulsa sent a message that its citizens deserve more than party lines. They deserve someone who will work for the people and inspire change. They deserve someone who will leave the city better than he found it. They deserve a true leader who is willing to innovate and to unite. I think Tulsans got exactly what they deserve with GT Bynum as their new mayor.
