G. T. Bynum

G. T. Bynum (born 1977) is an American politician and lobbyist from the state of Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, Bynum is the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to becoming mayor, he served as a city councillor for Tulsa's ninth district.

Bynum attended Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Villanova University. He served as student body president in his senior year at Villanova and founded a school club for Republicans.

Bynum worked as a staffer for United States Senators Don Nickles and Tom Coburn from 2000 through 2006. He returned to Tulsa to work for a real estate auction company. He was laid off in 2009, and opened a lobbying firm, working on behalf of municipalities and businesses.

In 2008, Bynum won election to a two-year term representing District 9 on the Tulsa City Council. He was re-elected three times. In 2011, his colleagues appointed him Council Chairman. He served as Chairman through 2012. Bynum ran for mayor of Tulsa in 2016, and defeated Dewey F. Bartlett Jr., the incumbent mayor, in the June 2016 election by a 56 percent to 38 percent margin. By receiving over 50% of the vote, he avoided the August runoff election. He was inaugurated as mayor on December 5, 2016. He is the third-youngest person to serve as mayor of Tulsa.

Bynum and his wife, Susan, have two children. His second child was born two weeks before he was laid off in 2009.

Robert J. LaFortune, the mayor of Tulsa from 1970 through 1978, is Bynum's grandfather. Bynum's uncle, Bill LaFortune, also served as mayor, and Bynum is related to R. N. Bynum, who served as mayor from 1899 to 1900.