Tom Adelson

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American politician from Oklahoma

title: "Tom Adelson" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["democratic-party-oklahoma-state-senators", "21st-century-members-of-the-oklahoma-legislature", "state-cabinet-secretaries-of-oklahoma", "educators-from-oklahoma", "politicians-from-tulsa,-oklahoma", "1965-births", "living-people", "oklahoma-lawyers", "lawyers-from-tulsa,-oklahoma", "dedman-school-of-law-alumni", "edison-preparatory-school-alumni", "jewish-american-people-in-oklahoma-politics"] description: "American politician from Oklahoma" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Adelson" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician from Oklahoma ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Tom Adelson
image name	Tomadelson.JPG
state_senate	Oklahoma
district	33rd
term_start	November 2004
term_end	November 2012
predecessor	Penny Williams
successor	Nathan Dahm
party	Democratic
birth_date	1965
birth_place	Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
alma_mater	Stanford University,
Dedman School of Law
profession	Attorney,
educator,
public administration
height	5 ft 10 in
spouse	Bernadette Adelson
residence	Tulsa, Oklahoma
office2	Oklahoma Secretary of Health
governor2	Brad Henry
predecessor2	Howard Hendrick
As Secretary of Health and Human Services
successor2	Terry Cline
term_start2	2003
term_end2	2004
::

Tom Adelson is an American politician from Oklahoma. He was an Oklahoma State Senator representing the 33rd Senate District, located in Tulsa County, from 2004 to 2012. Adelson is a Democrat who was first elected in 2004. Prior to his election, Adelson served Governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry's first Oklahoma Secretary of Health from 2003 to 2004.

Adelson was the Democratic nominee for mayor of Tulsa in the 2009 election, but lost the general election to Republican nominee Dewey F. Bartlett Jr.

Adelson currently serves as the Vice President for Innovation at The University of Tulsa.

Biography

Before running for the state senate, Adelson served as Oklahoma's Secretary of Health under Governor Brad Henry. He is an adjunct teacher at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, where he teaches political philosophy. He has four children: Emily, Andrew, Sam and Jack. His father is Dr. Stephen Adelson, a Tulsa pediatrician. He graduated from Edison High School, Stanford University and SMU's Dedman School of Law.

State senate

Adelson was first elected in 2004 to replace outgoing Senator Penny Williams. He defeated Republican Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr. by less than 1,000 votes. During the 2007 session, Adelson passed notable health care legislation. Adelson's 'All Kids Act' covers children whose families' income is between 185 and 300 percent more than the federal poverty rate. The expanded Medicaid coverage would help about 42,000 children in Oklahoma gain access to health care. The program signed into law by Governor Henry will be funded by revenue from the increase in the tobacco tax. During his tenure he was the only Jewish member of the Oklahoma Senate.

Leadership roles

In January 2009, Adelson was an Assistant Minority Floor Leader. He is a member of the Business and Labor Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Health and Human Services Committees.

On April 12, 2012, Adelson announced that he will not run for re-election when his current term expires.

2009 Tulsa mayoral election

On July 1, 2009, Adelson announced his candidacy for mayor of Tulsa, after current Mayor Kathy Taylor (D) decided not to seek re-election. Adelson was considered the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, while 11 candidates sought the Republican nomination, including Dewey F. Bartlett Jr., whom Adelson had narrowly beat in the 2004 state senate election. On September 8, 2009, Adelson received 94% of the vote in the Democratic primary, setting him up to face Bartlett (who got 54% of the Republican primary vote) and two independents in the November general election. In the November 10 general election, Bartlett received about 45% of the vote to Adelson's 36% and 18% for independent Mark Perkins.

Election results

2009 Tulsa mayoral election

|party = Democratic Party (US) |candidate = Tom Adelson |votes = 24,211 |percentage = 36.34 |party = Republican Party (US) |candidate = Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr. |votes = 29,948 |percentage = 44.95 |party = Independent |candidate = Mark Perkins |votes = 11,913 |percentage = 17.88 |party = Independent |candidate = Lawrence Kirkpatrick |votes = 560 |percentage = 0.84 |votes = 66,843 |percentage = 100 |percentage = 29.84}}

Democratic Primary Election September 8, 2009 ::data[format=table]

Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic Party (United States)}}"		Tom Adelson
Democratic Party (United States)}}"		A. Burns
Democratic Party (United States)}}"		Paul C. Tay Jr.
Democratic Party (United States)}}"		Robert Arizona Gwin Jr.
Democratic Party (United States)}}"		Prophet Kelly Lamar Clark Sr.
::

State senate elections

General Election November 4, 2008 ::data[format=table]

Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic Party (United States)}}"		Tom Adelson
Republican Party (United States)}}"		Gary Casey
::

General Election November 2, 2004 ::data[format=table]

Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic Party (United States)}}"		Tom Adelson
Republican Party (United States)}}"		Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr.
::

Democratic Primary Election July 27, 2004 ::data[format=table]

Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic Party (United States)}}"		Tom Adelson
Democratic Party (United States)}}"		Tim Gilpin
::

References

[https://utulsa.edu/about/executive-staff/ "Executive staff], [[The University of Tulsa]]", Retrieved 2022-11-10.
Jennifer Mock. (June 4, 2007). "Governor signs health insurance bills". Oklahoman.
Barbara Hoberock. (June 5, 2007). "Henry signs 2 health laws". Tulsa World.
(May 27, 2008). "Do religious beliefs influence lawmakers’ decisions?". [[The Journal Record]].
[http://newsok.com/tulsa-senator-says-he-wont-seek-re-election/article/3665737 "Tulsa senator says he won't seek re-election"], [[Associated Press]] in ''[[The Oklahoman]]'', April 12, 2012.
P.J. Lassek, [http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090701_11_0_Democr250049 "Democratic senator announces Tulsa mayoral candidacy"], ''[[Tulsa World]]'', July 1, 2009.
P.J. Lassek & Brian Barber, [http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090719_11_A11_Tulsas228679 "GOP battle may mark race: Eleven candidates will face each other in the Republican mayoral primary"], ''[[Tulsa World]]'', July 19, 2009.
Brian Barber, [http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=262&articleid=20090909_11_A1_Rpbiaa983428 "Bartlett, Adelson advance: Two candidates will join ballot with independents"], ''[[Tulsa World]]'', September 9, 2009.
[http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=262&articleid=20091110_11_0_Democr679277 Bartlett to be Tulsa's next mayor], ''[[Tulsa World]]'', November 10, 2009.
(2009-11-10). "Election Results November 10, 2009 (Summary)". Tulsa County Election Board.
(October 2010). "2009 Primary Results". Tulsa County Election Board.
"2008 General Results". State Election Board.
"2004 General Results". State Election Board.

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