Elizabeth Nicolas is a candidate in Ward 1 in the upcoming City Council election on Tuesday, February 10th.
The interview with Nicolas took place just hours after the official reopening of Dewey Avenue, which included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a speech by Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell, and a parade of classic cars. Nicolas said that the celebratory moment was like a weight lifted.
“It seems like it’s been a long process, but we knew ahead of time it was going to be…we didn’t expect all the rain or all the delays that we had, but I think it’s going to be great for downtown,” she said.
Elizabeth Nicolas is the incumbent, but the upcoming election is not a re-election campaign, because she was appointed by the other council members following the sudden resignation of John Suggs in 2022.
Nicolas has been serving for about 3-and-a-half years, but by the time she came onboard the city council, the 2020 GO Bond was already in full swing.
“The new fire station was a ribbon-cutting that we got to do,” she said. “That fire station had already been built, some things had already been going, and some were still in process, like Dewey Street.”
Nicolas was born in Sapulpa. “In the hospital here, kind of tells you how old I am,” she said. “I taught school for 30 years, my father was a Sapulpa police officer, and he spent his entire career here.”
Despite her deep roots in the town, Nicolas said she never had any aspirations about joining the City Council.
“Never even thought about it,” she said. “I was kind of shocked to get the phone call. Then I got another phone call, and they said ‘would you like to meet with us?’ I decided, well, it’s no harm in meeting these nice folks.”
It must’ve been a good meeting—Nicolas was sworn in at the next city council meeting.
“I love Sapulpa,” she said. “I’ve never wanted to leave. I’m a fifth-generation in Creek County, so we’ve been here for a long time. I love that hometown-feel it has. Because my dad was a police officer, I see it as sort of a Mayberry, but others tell me ‘no, it’s really more like Bedford Falls.’“
Given that she has a few years of experience as a city councilor, we asked Nicolas what her proudest achievement was.
“That’s hard, because a city councilor never does anything, really, on their own,” she said. “All decisions are made by the ten of us. We don’t always agree, but it’s always a group decision.”
Still, she said that the relationships she’s formed since joining the city council would be high on her list. “Building relationships with my constituents, police, firefighters, the people that work at City Hall, all the city employees, getting to know people in areas of my ward that I didn’t know before.”
Nicolas said that for her, the personal aspect of being a city councilor was the most appealing.
“You get that phone call where they ask, ‘Can you help me with this?’ or maybe there’s something coming up on the agenda that’s going to affect them personally. It’s always rewarding when you feel like you’re making a difference for that person. You try to put yourself in their shoes, and you go back to the city council and say, ‘let’s look at it this way.'”
Keep up with our 2026 Election Coverage at sapulpatimes.com/elections
She also says that building relationships should be taken into account when Ward 1 residents cast their votes.
“(Being on City Council) It’s a learning experience, and that’s why I think the experience I have is important, because it’s a process to learn all these things. It’s a process to build relationships with your city manager, with your city attorney, with all the staff, constituents you might not have known before then. It’s all a process. And I’m trying to learn to be patient.”
Nicolas has already been endorsed by several community leaders and organizations, including the Sapulpa Fire Department and the Sapulpa Police Department’s FOP.
As for what’s coming up, she brought up the recent groundbreaking at the Booker T. Washington Rec Center, and she also unveiled that the City is once again working on a new splash pad at Kelly Lane park—a project that fell into limbo after the closing of the nearby D-Luxe Properties food truck park.
Watch the full interview and get more insight from City Councilor Nicolas:
2026 City Council Election Information
Wards 3 and 5 are also being contested, and those elections will take place on Tuesday, April 11th. Wards 2 and 4 do not have contenders, so the incumbents in each of those seats (Vice-Mayor Carla Gunn and Mayor Craig Henderson, respectively) will retain their positions for another term.
Sapulpa City Council Election Candidates
Ward 1
- Elizabeth Nicolas (Incumbent)
- Brandon Mull
- Mike Harris
Ward 2
- Carla Gunn (Incumbent)
Ward 3
- Alexander Hamilton (Incumbent)
- Charlie Leroy Harrison
Ward 4
- Craig Henderson (Incumbent)
Ward 5
- David Mortazavi (Incumbent)
- Kent Glesener
