OKC's Ward 7 city council seat now to be decided by runoff in April
Ward 7 residents will have to return to the polls April 1 after the election for the vacant city council seat Tuesday did not result in any candidate winning more than half of the vote.
According to unofficial results from the Oklahoma State Election Board, Camal Pennington received 45% of the vote, while John A. Pettis netted 30%, with 54 out of 54 precints reporting.
Masood A. Haqq received 15% of the vote, and Andrea Holman finished with 9%. Since no candidate earned more than half of the total votes Tuesday, Pennington and Pettis will face off again April 1.
"My community is so important to me," Pennington said in a statement on social media ahead of the Tuesday election. "I've dedicated my life to civil service so the same opportunities I was given are also available to the next generation of change-makers in Ward 7. I am an attorney, non-profit executive director, father and husband, and I have the experience and heart to serve as your city councilman."
The election for the Ward 7 seat was heavily contested after former Councilwoman Nikki Nice announced last year she would leave the position to mount her own successful run for Senate District 48, replacing the retiring George Young.
The campaign season drew four competitors for Ward 7, each of them prominent leaders in their own ways.
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Pettis launched a campaign last fall for reelection to the Ward 7 seat, after having previously served in the position from 2013 to 2018. He'd resigned from the role amid charges of embezzlement and failing to file state tax returns. He later pled guilty to a misdemeanor tax evasion charge after the embezzlement charges were dropped. As part of an arrangement with prosecutors, he paid a $5,000 fine and agreed to never seek office again.
But Pettis has said the charges against him were politically motivated so that he would lose his bid for an Oklahoma County commissioner seat at the time. He's sought expungement of the case and mentioned last month that the experience gave him a better understanding of the need for criminal justice reform. His campaign has focused on previous successes during his prior time in the council position.
"My vision for Ward 7 is simple — economic development and jobs, high quality and consistent public transportation, better streets and sidewalks, and safe parks for our children to play in," Pettis says on his campaign website. "My life experience has adequately prepared me for the job. I will continue to fight for Ward 7 to get its share of city bond projects that will lead to high-quality jobs and sustainable growth opportunities for local businesses. It's time to continue to improve the quality of life for all residents of Ward 7."
Haqq, who originally hails from Atlanta, is co-founder of Peace of Mind Pediatrics and current board secretary for the OKC Black Chamber of Commerce. A published author, Haqq is also a leader in the local Muslim community and has emphasized how the ward should prepare for better development opportunities that could come from upcoming city plans to host Olympics events.
"I didn't know what to expect, but I learned a ton, and I feel like so much of the trajectory has changed for the better, no matter what," Haqq told The Oklahoman late Tuesday night. "Either way it goes, the work is going to get done, I'm going to be in the middle of all of that which needs to happen, and I'll be doing it as a private citizen."
Holman, a local neighborhood advocate who once recruited minority teachers for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, was also the last to file for candidacy in December. She said she campaigned in the hope that she could secure a better "seat at the table" for Ward 7 and more respect for the community's needs.
"Respect, to me, is that you don't wait until the last minute to tell me that we have a bill or we have some taxes or bonds that are going to be coming at our front door and no one tells us about them until the ninth hour," Holman told The Oklahoman last month. "That's what we've been experiencing as a community, and that's a problem. There's no stability."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Ward 7 city council seat down to April runoff between two candidates
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