Author: David Holt, mayor of Oklahoma City. Date published: 2025-08-20. Date linked: 2025-08-21.

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When I took office in 2018 (and for as long as anyone can remember), the mayor’s conference room at City Hall was adorned with the images of our 34 former mayors. All 34 were white, and 33 were men. In the room where it happens, those images were a stark reminder that our aspirations for equal opportunity have fallen short. Those mayors were also overwhelmingly representative of how political power in Oklahoma City has historically emanated from the more affluent Northwest quadrant (where I grew up and live).

I’m a lifelong Republican who believes in meritocracy, but meritocracy cannot be exclusionary. Every person depicted on that conference room wall was a qualified and well-intentioned public servant, but there were women, people of color and leaders from other parts of the city who could have also been competent mayors. Heavy layers of history, exclusion, bigotry and glass ceilings stood in their way.

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