For the first time in memory, Oklahoma City’s fire fighters and police officers are announcing a historic joint endorsement of an incumbent Mayor, urging Oklahoma City residents to cast their votes to re-elect Mayor David Holt.   Both endorsements result from unanimous votes held at meetings of their membership.

“We are proud supporters of Mayor Holt and believe that his re-election will help us to continue providing exemplary fire service,” said Cameron Weems, President of OKC Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 157.  “Mayor Holt has been a strong supporter of our fire fighters and we look forward to continuing to work with him in the years ahead.”

“We are proud to endorse Mayor Holt’s re-election,” said Mark Nelson, Vice President of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 123.  “Mayor Holt has stayed calm in challenging times and has continued to chart a path forward for our community that unites us as ‘one OKC.’  We appreciate his continued support of law enforcement as well as his genuine care for the people of Oklahoma City.”

“I am honored to accept this joint endorsement and I’m grateful for it,” said Mayor Holt. “When city leaders, fire fighters and police officers are all working together, the winners are the people of Oklahoma City.  I’m proud of the working relationship we have established over the last four years.   It’s based on respect, communication and transparency, which has built trust.  When you get to that level, you can have hard conversations and you can be innovative.  Through our partnerships, we have worked together to not just fully fund police and fire, but to increase funding.  We have worked together to improve response times, to add more fire fighters, more police officers, more fire stations and better police and fire equipment.  We have worked together to ensure that we’re being innovative and empathetic, and that we’re meeting the public safety needs of all our residents.  That work continues and we’re all dedicated to it, because we’re all here for the same purpose – to serve the people of Oklahoma City.  I look forward to continuing this work for the next four years.  Thank you to the men and women who serve our city as fire fighters and police officers.”

The campaign to re-elect David Holt as Oklahoma City’s mayor filed its third quarter report before the October 31 deadline and revealed that as of September 30, the final day of the reporting period, the campaign had raised a total of $616,430.52 towards Holt’s 2022 re-election. That is the second-highest total in OKC mayoral history (behind the $780,000 raised by Mayor Mick Cornett in 2014). Over 700 donors have contributed to the campaign so far. There are two other announced candidates for mayor who were active during the third quarter. One filed a report showing $11,700.00 raised for his campaign, while the other reported having raised a total of $3,913.00.

“I continue to be grateful for the overwhelming support from so many,” said Mayor Holt. “This support will give us the opportunity to tell the story of OKC’s remarkable success and remind voters of their opportunity on February 8th to continue OKC’s renaissance for another four years.”

A recent publicly-released scientific poll conducted by CHS & Associates showed that 53 percent of voters are already committed to re-electing David Holt as Mayor. Incumbents are generally considered “safe” when that number is above 40 percent. When looking at voters who have voted in at least two of the last three municipal elections, the percentage rises as high as 65 percent. The same poll showed that Republican and Democratic voters both hold Mayor Holt in high esteem, with favorable / unfavorable ratings among Republican voters at 54 to 19 and among Democratic voters at 61 to 12.

Mayor Holt’s re-election was also recently endorsed in an unprecedented and historic joint announcement by the police officers and fire fighters of Oklahoma City.

Mayor Holt was elected with 78 percent of the vote in 2018, the highest percentage for a non-incumbent mayor since 1947. His signature initiative – MAPS 4 – received 72 percent of the vote in 2019, the highest percentage of support for a sales tax in modern OKC history. A recent scientific poll conducted by the City of Oklahoma found that 75 percent of residents feel the city is heading in the right direction.

The mayoral election will be held on Tuesday, February 8th.