UPDATED: Heikkila edges out Clark in mayoral race. Ruggiers is a former Norman Public Schools teacher, and he said his election shows that the community wanted to give teachers a voice. Once she returned from the nation's capital, Kish said she was harassed, stalked and doxxed by "leftists" that called her practice numerous times a day for weeks on end, leading her to hire off-duty Norman police officers as security. The turnout in Tuesdays election significantly eclipsed the turnout in 2019. I will do everything in my power to support Mayor-elect Heikkila as he faces these challenges, she said. Were not your typical city that just has an urban feel to it if you look at our map, it goes way past Lake Thunderbird, Clark said. "Therivalry that isset up between the mayor and Unite Norman just looked like there was no end to it.". He said the city needs the silent majority of non-fundamentalists to come into the fold and to make the arguments and to shame people into becoming more moral.. No education information on file. Heikkila received 53.39 percent of the vote, compared to 46.61 for Clark, who was seeking her first reelection after winning in 2019. Breea Clark is Of Counsel at WhitbeckBennett. He moved to Norman in 1978 and was a longtime City of Norman employee who now sits on several Cleveland County citizen boards. I interned for (former President) George W. Bush, and at the state capitol of Kansas.. Four candidates look to unseat Norman Mayor Breea Clark - The Oklahoman "Adequately funding itjust seems obvious.". Department: JCPenney Leadership Program But, we are the county seat and it doesnt need to just be Normans problem, because its a countywide problem, its a nationwide problem. With offices around the country, including in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida, you can choose the right location for you. Click to reveal Previous experiences with similar projects and collaboration at the county level could help alleviate those issues. Currently, the mayor is presented as superior to the rest of the council when the mayor should really be more of a collaborative peer who works closely with all of the other members, he said. state. We believe The As the only non-incumbent candidate who has served on the city council before, Thompson said his two terms representing Ward 1from 2005 to 2009will help him lead the council without the learning curveother candidates might face. Clark received 36.46% of the vote to Heikkilas 32.01%. While on council, Thompson supported the city's first public safety sales tax that funded additional police officers. Breea Clark, the incumbent, had been mayor since 2019. Larry Heikkila was elected as the 61st mayor of Norman in 2022. He also wants the city to cut red tape and speed up the permitting process for businesses in order to spur more development. Saying she couldnt previously support the status quo of policing in Norman, Clark defended her vote nearly two years ago to cut $865,000, or 3.6%, from thedepartments proposed budget request that sought a funding increase. Previously, Blake has served as an intern reporter, senior news reporter, summer news editor and news managing editor. Mayoral and city council elections will take place Tuesday, Feb. 8. Her portrayal as a raging liberal by campaign opponents is wildly untrue and inaccurate, Clark said, given her voting record and past political experience. The city also needs to update its master plan for development that reflects how Norman intends to grow, he said. or anything. As a first-time candidate and a businesswoman not a politician I am proud of the race that we ran. Bill Hickman, the current Norman Ward 4 council member, works as an attorney and small-business owner. At a mayoral forum held by the Norman chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police last month, the candidatesvowed toprioritizepublic safety funding after the Norman City Council, including Clark, in 2020 approved a cut to the proposed police budget an issue that has embroiled the city ever since. Mayor Clark's police budget-cutting seemed to many as a ME-TOO reaction to the groundswell of DEFUND movements following the death of George Floyd. First off, the defunding of the police department, they managed to truly deflate our wonderful police department that used to be a premier agency in Oklahoma, Heikkila said last month. Norman Mayor candidate Larry Heikkila watches as election numbers come in Feb. 8 during his watch party for the general election at Red Rock Canyon Grill. "These people messed with my livelihood, and that is cancel culture and that should never happen in the city of Norman," Kish said. Her mayoral tenure became defined largely by the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide policing debate. Political Experience keyboard_arrow_down. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2008, she started working for the . OU Daily and Crimson Quarterly magazine provide real value to this community both now by covering OU, and In the Norman community, she served on the Norman City Council from 2016-2019 representing Ward 6 in NE Norman and currently serves as its first Millennial Mayor. 32. In-person absentee voting takes place Thursday and Friday, Feb. 3-4. Norman Mayor Breea Clark wasnt always certain she would pursue a second term after a tumultuous three years in office. "If you aren't questioning the actual elections, and if they are free and fair, then I don't think you're paying attention," Kish said. Like Clark, Hickman has dealt with his own public backlashafter using his role asmoderator in a Ward 4 Facebook page to delete comments he judged as personal attacks. Experience: Before her election. faculty, staff and alumni on campus and around the world for more than 100 years? Thompson, who has owned and operated the Norman eatery Midway Deli for 36 years, is mounting an intraparty challenge against Clark. Gender: Female. This is a really important election for Norman, Hickman said, adding that the new mayor will appoint a new city manager and a new city attorney and that he has the necessary experience to do so. She was endorsed by Sallys List and the Red Earth Group, Normans Sierra Club affiliate. The youngest female and first Millennial to hold this seat, she is invested in. I would like to create a rural commission to educate the city folk, if you will, on issues facing our rural community because I dont know what its like to have livestock and run a farm as my profession, and I dont pretend to know. Thompson said he hopes his message of nonpartisan local politics continues to be heard. Were trying to clean water and build roads.. Kevin Stitts endorsement of mayoral candidate Nicole Kish is a wildly inappropriate breach of municipal governments non-partisan nature, Clark said. Clark said the election was not about her nor was it about her opponent it was about improving Norman. Im really excited about the win tonight, Ruggiers said. In addition he holds many technical certifications in Disaster Relief Operations, Occupational Safety, and Construction. In the culmination of two years worth of debate over city leadership, Larry Heikkila defeated incumbent Norman Mayor Breea Clark in todays runoff election, which featured significantly more turnout than the citys 2019 race. The City Charter dictates that if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, candidates who receive the most votes will face an April runoff. Breea serves as the Mayor of Norman, the 3rd largest city in the state of Oklahoma. NORMAN Larry Heikkila won a first term as mayor of Norman on Tuesday, unseating incumbent Breea Clark. Weve never addressed this, ever. While the group also endorsed candidates in Wards 2, 4 and 6, none were elected. Norman residentCasey Holcombrecently filed a lawsuit against Hickman on the grounds of free speech violations. Cockfighting fight turns back time at Oklahoma Capitol, The awkward family affair of Gov. Earlier in the pandemic, some Norman residents criticized Clark for requiring some businesses to closeand imposing capacity limits onbusinesses andpublic gatherings to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Breea Clark (incumbent) Breea Clark Profession: Current mayor of Norman and director of the J.C. Penney Leadership Center at the University of Oklahoma. Members of a Facebook group opposing Normans COVID response sent Clark death threats online in May 2020, and Clark said she was continually targeted and harassed online throughout the pandemic. . Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. The past three months have been a bumpy ride for Clark, 37, a Kansas native who put herself through college at Wichita State and law school at OU. Dunn is the only candidate who does not support the stormwater utility bond. Theyve taken the force from 180 to 150, and their salaries are really low. A total of 22,712 voters cast ballots, with 8,281 for Clark, 7,269 for Heikkila, 4,292 for Thompson, 2,838 for Kish and 32 for Leuck, preliminary results from the Oklahoma State Election Board showed. On campus, she has served on the Universitys Legal Panel, Speakers Bureau and as an interim Pre-Law Club Advisor. racist or sexually-oriented language. Heikkila received 53.39% of the votes, beating incumbent Breea Clark. Office: Mayor (Norman, OK) Track This Politician . Share with Us. On today's date in 1911, record cold temperatures replaced record warmth on the same day. This is amazing. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, won the electiondespitewidely debunked claims of election fraud spread by Trump and his supporters. I dont think people know a single barrel of oil contains 25,000 hours of human muscle power, Dunn said. Breea is registered to vote in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. One of her top issues is addressinghomelessness. "We were the first todeclare a state of emergency," she said. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. Incremental increases based on water usage were also included in the proposition. Norman voters have chosen Larry Heikkila to be the city's next mayor, preliminary election reports indicated Tuesday. She also previously served as interim Pre-Law Club Advisor and was a member of the 2018-2019 OU Leadership Council class. The number of citizens who supported Clark's ouster was 153-percent greater than the number of citizens who voted to elect Clark mayor in 2019.