Conservatives Lose Oklahoma City Council Races

The votes tallied and as the smoke clears, the Chamber candidates pulled off a significant win, seeing the incumbents Meg Salyer and Pat Ryan sail to victory.  The upset for conservatives, however, aren't just the Salyer and Ryan victories...it was the defeat of Brian Walters from Ward 5.

Walters, one of the only candidates for any public office to dare to say anything derogatory about the MAPS 3 initiative, was defeated by a whopping 450 votes.  David Greenwell defeated Brian Walters in a time when the Tea Party is attempting to exert itself in local races and these defeats will not sit well with conservatives.

The fragmented Tea Party organizations are going to find themselves in world of hurt if they can't put together a cohesive message and more unity.  There are too many different sects in Central Oklahoma and the rank-and-file conservative just doesn't know who to believe or to get behind.  The hardcore activists are in the loop, but what made the Tea Party successful in the 2010 campaign was a unified message and fear on the part of establishment Republicans.  The Tea Party is dangerously close to becoming a paper tiger in Oklahoma and this City Council election underscores that reality.

Sorry, folks, but that is just the way it is.