Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt will serve a third term as mayor after easily defeating challenger Matthew Pallares on Tuesday.
With 105 of 279 precincts reporting, the 46-year-old mayor held more than 86 percent of the vote against Pallares. Election results are unofficial until they approved by the State Election Board.
Holt’s percentage of the vote increased from his 2022 reelection victory when he faced three challengers. In that election, Holt earned 59.8 percent of the vote. He was first elected to office in 2018.
OKC mayors are paid $24,000 per year and serve four-year terms. They preside over meetings of the OKC City Council and serve as one of its nine voting members. Holt also serves as dean of the Oklahoma City University School of Law.
For Holt, his successful reelection bid continues a string of successes. In October, city voters approved a $2.7 billion general obligation bond package to fund a slate of municipal projects. In 2023, voters approved a $1 billion publicly owned arena that will serve as the new home of the OKC Thunder, the reigning NBA champions. Several Olympic events are coming to the city in 2028.
Holt said in an interview last month that he ran for a third term in large part because he sees much left to be done to advance the city.
“There’s a lot to implement once you serve two terms,” Holt said. “You get the ball rolling on a lot of things that you need to see through: finishing the MAPS projects, getting the $2.7 billion in core infrastructure started, and obviously seeing the arena through to its completion. That’s the biggest project in city history by far. So that’s slated to open in 2028, and the Summer Olympics are here in 2028, and that is obviously a major priority. Part of it is wanting to finish up what we started.”
Holt identified transportation as one area he would like to focus on in his third term. The Regional Transit Authority is working on a light rail and commuter rail plan that could link the metro area’s largest suburbs, but he would also like to see the city’s public transit system continue to evolve.
“I think, as a community, we’ll probably need to continue to escalate a conversation about public transit and how we can commit to that,” Holt said last month. “I think that is a conversation that will continue to evolve over the next term.”Â
Pallares, 34, said he decided to run to give voters a choice rather than simply rubber-stamping Holt into another four-year term. Among Pallares’ priorities were clamping down on private equity firms buying up single and multi-family homes in the city and improving access to public transit.
Edmond Public Schools, other districts approve bonds
Other residents in Oklahoma County cast their ballots Tuesday in school district elections and a mayoral matchup in Midwest City.
Voters approved two bonds proposed by Edmond Public Schools to complete a pair of new schools and purchase new buses and vehicles. For the proposition funding the new schools’ construction, 6,972 people voted in favor out of 8,757 votes cast, good for a 79.62 percent approval rate. Of the 8,759 votes cast regarding the second proposition, 7,015 were in favor, or an 80.09 percent approval. School bond proposals in Oklahoma must receive at least 60 percent support to authorize the sale of bonds that are paid back over time from property taxes.
The two EPS proposals marked 63 consecutive bond approvals for the district. The Post Oak Elementary and Horizon Middle School campuses will both be located on the southeast corner of Air Depot Boulevard and Covell Road, with Post Oak set to open this fall. Horizon is currently scheduled to open by fall 2028.
Three other school districts passed bonds Tuesday:
- While only 47 Crutcho Public Schools residents voted on a bond for gym expansion and HVAC improvements, the proposal passed with 87.23 percent support. Similarly, 89.13 percent over Crutcho voters supported a bond transportation improvements;
- Deer Creek Public Schools District voters supported construction of a new high school building and indoor practice field, with 80.39 percent among a total of 3,324 votes; and
- With support from 67.43 percent of 2,241 voters, the Eastern Oklahoma Technology Center District will renew internet and virtual learning services for Nicoma Park Public Schools, Harrah Public Schools, Jones Public Schools and Luther Public Schools.
Meanwhile in Midwest City’s mayoral race, Rick Rice won outright in a three-way race against Rita Maxwell and Espaniola Bowen.
Rice, coming in with 52.36 percent of Tuesday’s 3,354 votes, has served as assistant city attorney, assistant mayor and city councilor, and he has also spent time on the city’s planning commission. Maxwell currently holds the Ward 3 city council seat, and Bowen served in the same seat from 2018 to 2022. Maxwell finished second with 906 votes, while Bowen earned 692 votes.
Beyond the mayoral race, Midwest City had one council seat up for grabs. Brian Triger was elected to the Ward 1 seat with 242 votes, good for 61.11 percent support.
The founder of Triger Media and the IT company Oklahoma Systems Group, Triger defeated Frank Young, an Air Force veteran and retiree of the Oklahoma Department of Safety. Young received 154 votes (38.89 percent) despite receiving endorsements from former Mayor Matt Dukes and former Ward 1 Councilwoman Susan Eades.
In a three-person race to serve on the Metro Technology Center Board, Cristina Arianna Rivera will be the next representative of Office No. 4 after she earned more than 60 precent of the vote to defeat Charlie Ludden and Steven Charles.
From 12 votes cast, an even 75 percent of Valley Brook residents approved a new sales tax of 1.5 percent to fund capital expenditures benefitting the small town, which is primarily known for its strip clubs and police department. Valley Brook’s existing sales tax rate had been 3 percent.
(Update: This article was updated at 11:04 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, to include additional Oklahoma County election results.)
