With Carol Bush the only Tulsa City Council member voluntarily retiring in 2026, the race to replace her in southwest Tulsa’s District 9 is between sports broadcaster Shawn Tiemann, political newcomer Ben Johnson and longtime politico Pete Regan. All three candidates had supporters in attendance at an Aug. 10 Tulsa Press Club forum, which packed a second-story church in a Brookside strip mall where turnout exceeded parking.
Similarly to the District 7 forum, a night of general candidate consensus was broken by a question about the Tulsa Police Department’s use of Flock cameras. Recently featured in both a Washington Post story and on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight, critics of Flock’s automated licensed plate readers have raised concerns the cameras have been used by law enforcement for inappropriate reasons, such as stalking exes.
Regan was the sole candidate to argue in favor of expanding Flock cameras, while acknowledging the concerns about potential abuse.
“As much as I hate to say it because it drives me nuts, I’m for it, and let me tell you why: I’m for it because neighborhoods have it as well. We caught two murders, that’s a double homicide. It took three hours to catch them,” Regan said. “There need to be privacy protections, guardrails, weekly audits, and severe punitive punishment if somebody has misused it. It has happened around the the country and maybe even the state. But right now, I think the police are handling it very well. And with precautions, I feel like it’s another tool to keep us all safe. Our police officers are also our neighbors (…) and I don’t love it, but I’m for it, and that’s why.”
Johnson offered the opposite view.
“Absolutely not. It’s a violation of the Bill of Rights. And my wife is a prosecutor, and she herself would say it’s a violation of a number of the first 10 amendments of the constitution,” Johnson said. “That data that they collect can be sold to anyone. It is not subject to a search warrant. It is not subject to any government oversight. It is literally what the book 1984 was written to warn against.”
Tiemann appeared to stake out a position between the two, arguing that existing cameras need more regulations.
“I mean, there needs to be regulations. It’s just like the data centers. Sure, they can be used for good, but unless you’re putting regulations on it, you’re going to see stories pop up in the city of Tulsa — like you’ve read in other parts of the country — where local law enforcement are tracking ex-wives or girlfriends,” Tiemann said. “Flock cameras can be used for good, as with any technology, but there has to be regulations put in place.”
While there has been no Flock-stalking allegation raised against a Tulsa-area law enforcement officer, TPD has drawn criticism for Flock use during protests, and cameras can be accessed outside of local jurisdictions by other law enforcement. Additionally, Flock cameras appear to operate in a legal grey area in Oklahoma owing to state law barring law enforcement from using automated license plate readers for anything beyond enforcing “the Compulsory Insurance Law or as otherwise permitted by law.”
At least one Oklahoma judge has found the statute bars prosecutors from using evidence collected through automated license plate readers at trial.
“Based upon the unequivocal wording of [Title 47, Section 7-606.1(F)] that ALPR data ‘shall not be used by any individual or agency for purposes other than enforcement of the Compulsory Insurance Law,’ the court excludes the use of ALPR information, or any inferences derived therefrom at trial,” District Judge Leah Edwards wrote.
However, at least one high-profile criminal case in Oklahoma used a “license plate recognition search” to obtain probable cause for a search warrant.
On the issue of tax increases, Tiemann and Johnson both indicated they would consider a sales tax increase proposal, while Regan would not and called the tax “regressive.” On the proposed hotel and motel tax increase, all three candidates agreed they support the increase from 5 percent to 9.9 percent, although Tiemann would like to see it raised even higher.
“[Tulsa’s lodging tax] is too low if you’re comparing us with other cities,” Tiemann said. “Why are we stopping at 9.9? I mean, I want to see the reasons why we’re not just putting it at 12 or 14 percent.”
All three candidates expressed support for the data center moratorium, and each opposes the Tulsa Police Department cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
With three candidates on the Aug. 25 ballot, a Nov. 3 runoff is possible. In order to avoid a runoff, a candidate will have to secure more than 50 percent of the vote in August.
The following cheat sheet offers an overview of Tulsa City Council District 9 candidates and is derived from publicly available information, such as campaign websites, social media pages, news articles and podcast appearances, as well as the Tulsa Press Club forum hosted Aug. 10. Candidates are listed alphabetically.
Ben Johnson
Age: 44
Background/profession: Ben Johnson was born and raised in Tulsa, and he graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Delaware. His mother worked for the Tulsa Tribune.
After college, Johnson worked for AmeriCorps and as an EMT before returning to Tulsa in 2014. He spent six years as a 911 dispatcher, and two-a-half years in the city planning department before becoming a stay-at-home parent.
Platform: Asked his priorities at the Tulsa Press Club forum, Johnson said his “main priority would be housing and affordability issues.”
“The mayor wants to build 6,000 affordable housing units for the city, and I think that’s a good down payment. I don’t think it goes near far enough,” Johnson said. “The realtors estimate the city needs 13,000 housing units at a minimum just to accommodate existing growth, to say nothing of bringing down rents and and prices for people that want to become homeowners. And to tackle that, I would start with the zoning code and zoning reform to make it easier to build houses within the city.”
Johnson, whose website proclaims he is “the only candidate telling you how he’ll vote,” also argued his working-class experience as a city employee made him the best candidate for the office.
“I think that it’s important that District 9 be represented by someone that has punched the clock at the start and the stop of every shift, that has worked nights, worked weekends, worked holidays for the safety of the people of the city,” Johnson said.
Links: Website | Facebook | LinkedIn
Pete Regan
Age: 56
Background/profession: Pete Regan was raised in Tulsa, where he graduated from Edison High School. Regan said he worked “38 hours a week” while attending high school to help support his family.
“My dad left in sixth grade, and we had to start supporting my mom, who did not know who the President of the United States was,” Regan said at the forum. “I worked 38 hours a week while I was at Edison, building crates for the Ford glass plant and got home three nights a week past midnight. The great news is, I’m a high-energy person, and there was always love in the house.”
He went on to attend the University of Central Oklahoma, where he first met and worked for former Gov. George Nigh, according to a 2006 campaign profile. In 1993, he went to work for U.S. Sen. David Boren (D-OK). From 1995 to 1998, he ran the Oklahoma Senate Democrats’ campaign committee while attending law school, later working for former U.S. Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK2) in 2004.
Regan unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 2006, losing the Democratic runoff election to Jari Askins. The race generated an amusing interview moment after he criticized Askins for not voting to tax strip clubs.
In the 20 years since, Regan has been appointed to various state positions by Govs. Brad Henry, Mary Fallin and Kevin Stitt, including the Oklahoma Transportation Commission. He currently serves as a Regent for Tulsa Community College and as a member of INCOG. He works for WSB, a civil engineering firm, and has been the longtime director and congressional liaison of the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance.
Platform: Asked his priorities if elected at the Tulsa Press Club forum, Regan emphasized public services and infrastructure.
“Public safety, safe neighborhoods, clean neighborhoods, and infrastructure,” Regan said. “There is a backlog in permitting and I think there is a way to work with your business partners. Right now, I serve on the mayor’s — well actually for four or five different mayors — I’ve served on blue ribbon task forces, including infrastructure.”
While Regan has a long history in Democratic politics, he stressed his bipartisan appointments from both Democrats and Republicans.
“I’ve worked with Democrats and Republicans. Gov. Stitt put me on TCC while at the same time Mayor Monroe (Nichols) put me on that blue ribbon task force,” Regan said.
Links: Website | Facebook | LinkedIn
Shawn Tiemann
Age: 48
Background/profession: Shawn Tiemann was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and has spent 25 years as a sports broadcaster.
He moved to Tulsa in 2007 to work on the Sports Animal Tulsa radio. He has worked as a media relations professional and has done play-by-play for a variety of minor league baseball franchises. According to his profile for Playmaker PXP, a service that allows parents to purchase professional sportscaster play-by-play audio over clips of their children’s sport highlight videos, Tiemann has worked as a “jack-of-all-trades” in the radio world and has won “numerous awards as a sports talk show host and a news director.”
“I like to read non-fiction books, watch films, eat ice cream in the winter and hot soup in the summer,” Tiemann noted on his Playmaker PXP profile, which carries a $75 price tag, one of the higher fees on the site.
Tiemann currently works as a fundraiser for Vertical Raise. He is also the play-by-play voice for Bixby High School football and for Rogers State University’s basketball program.
Platform: Asked his priorities if elected at the Tulsa Press Club forum, Tiemann said homelessness was his primary issue.
“It just breaks my heart when you see people that are homeless. And dealing with that as an issue is very complex, but it has to be done with empathy, without judgment, and build on what we’ve already started in the city of Tulsa,” Tiemann said. “Public safety, as Pete had mentioned, is huge. Neighborhood growth and development for me is pretty big. Animal welfare services is huge, too. We need more animal control officers.”
A tennis enthusiast, Tiemann stressed his background in sports journalism as uniquely qualifying him for the office.
“Having over 25 years in the broadcast and media industry allows me the wisdom to know the right questions to ask, even though I might not necessarily have all the right answers,” Tiemann said.
