Oklahoma elections: Oklahoma City Council election voter turnout higher than expected

“It's hard to brag on 11 to 12 percent because we'd like 100 percent,” Oklahoma County Election Board Secretary Doug Sanderson said. “This is respectable, all things considered.”

Expected turnout for such a race would normally be somewhere between 9 to 12 percent, said Keith Gaddie, a political science professor at the University of Oklahoma. “This is at the high end of normal.”

In Oklahoma City Council Ward 2, with six candidates on the ballot, 11 percent of registered voters cast a ballot Tuesday. An April 5 runoff between Charlie Swinton, a senior banking officer, and Ed Shadid, a doctor, will decide who will succeed outgoing Ward 2 Councilman Sam Bowman.

In Ward 5, which saw political newcomer David Greenwell defeat incumbent Brian Walters by about 450 votes, turnout was 12 percent.

About 11 percent of registered voters turned out in Ward 6, where incumbent Meg Salyer easily defeated tea party backed Adrian Van Manen and challenger Jessica Holstein.

And in Ward 8, where incumbent Pat Ryan garnered nearly 73 percent of the vote in defeating tea party candidate Cliff Hearron, turnout was 12 percent.

“The more visibility there is, that usually coincides with a larger turnout,” Sanderson said.

Political consultant Sarah Taylor, who is working with Shadid's campaign, said she expected a lower turnout.