First term In 2017, Holt announced his candidacy for mayor of Oklahoma City. He was elected mayor on February 13, 2018, defeating Taylor Neighbors and Randall Smith in a nonpartisan race, and sworn in on April 10. He resigned from the state senate before taking office. At the time of his swearing-in, Holt was 39 years and one month old, making him Oklahoma City's youngest mayor since 1923 and the youngest mayor of a U.S. city over 500,000, as well as Oklahoma City's first Native American mayor. In 2019, Holt and city leaders opened the city's new streetcar system, a project funded by MAPS 3. Holt's second year in office brought the development and passage of MAPS 4, a $1.1 billion initiative to address 16 priorities.
The Oklahoman called Holt "the architect" of the "most ambitious MAPS ever". The initiative received 71.7% of the vote on December 10, 2019, a modern record for a sales tax vote in Oklahoma City. MAPS 4 includes funding for a variety of city priorities. In 2019, Holt was elected to the leadership of the
United States Conference of Mayors and named vice-chair of the International Affairs Committee. In 2020, he was elected a trustee of the United States Conference of Mayors and to the board of the
National League of Cities. As mayor, Holt has emphasized diversity and community inclusion. In 2019, he joined leaders of five other cities in signing an agreement to form Oklahoma's first Regional Transit Authority (RTA), with plans to build a metropolitan rail system in the years ahead. Holt enacted a number of firsts in Oklahoma City history: designating "Indigenous Peoples' Day" and "Pride Week" and issuing public statements that Oklahoma City is a diverse community where many residents are immigrants or descendants of immigrants. He has joined official celebrations commemorating the city's civil rights movement and included a $26 million civil rights center in the MAPS 4 initiative. The city also added a diversity and inclusion officer to its staff. On the day that the first local COVID-19 case was identified during the
pandemic, Holt proclaimed a state of emergency, issued a "
shelter in place" order for Oklahoma City, and maintained an aggressive response throughout the crisis. When the city experienced a second peak in the summer of 2020, he supported a mask ordinance. Eleven months into the pandemic, Oklahoma City had a death rate lower than all but six other large cities, and 27% lower than the rest of Oklahoma. In the
Houston Law Review, Matthew Welsh wrote that, during the pandemic, Holt hid replies on social media that questioned the vaccine's efficacy or Oklahoma City's vaccination rate. Holt also hid replies that included profanity or asked that he pick up yard signs after a campaign. Welsh argued Holt's actions likely violated the
1st Amendment. During the
2020 protests following the
murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Holt attended protests. He met with Black Lives Matter leaders and created a task force to look at law enforcement policies and a task force to look at reinstatement of the city's Human Rights Commission. On April 19, 2020, the 25th anniversary of the
Oklahoma City bombing, Holt spoke at the ceremony. In March 2021, he opened a $288 million convention center. In May 2021, Holt authored and passed legislation to repeal 85% of Oklahoma City's occupational licenses. In July 2021, he and other Oklahoma City leaders announced their support for the expansion of
Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City's largest employer. In September 2021, Holt and tribal leaders opened the new
First Americans Museum, a $175 million facility dedicated to telling the Native American story. In June 2021, a publicly released poll of Oklahoma City voters found that Holt was favored by Republicans 54%-19% and by Democrats 61%-12%. The pollster wrote, "In today's political environment, it is very unusual to see a candidate who is able to draw such support from members of both parties." In April 2022, Holt led a delegation of 12 mayors to Israel, where they met with various officials, including the mayors of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Second term Holt was reelected to a second term on February 8, 2022, receiving 59.8% of the vote in four-way, nonpartisan race, 40 points ahead of his nearest competitor. The election featured the largest voter turnout for an Oklahoma City mayoral election since 1959, and Holt received more votes than any candidate for Oklahoma City mayor since 1959.
Marty Walsh in Oklahoma City, May 2022 Holt's second term began in May 2022. The next month, Holt broke ground on the city's first Bus Rapid Transit line, a 9.5 mile, $28.9 million transit project. In July 2022, the Oklahoma City Council recreated a Human Rights Commission, which it had lacked since 1996. Adoption resulted from a task force Holt created in the summer of 2020. The new Human Rights Commission passed 5–4, with Holt casting one of the five affirmative votes. In November 2022, Holt supported a bond issue for public education, a nearly $1 billion proposal for school infrastructure. The two ballot questions each received over 60% approval from voters. In May, it was announced Holt would serve as dean of the
Oklahoma City University School of Law starting July 1, 2023, while also remaining mayor. In June 2023, Holt was elected president of the
United States Conference of Mayors for 2025–2026. In August 2023, Holt spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the 60th anniversary of the
March on Washington. In September 2023, Holt announced a plan to publicly fund a
new arena in downtown Oklahoma City in exchange for a commitment from the
Oklahoma City Thunder to stay in Oklahoma City beyond 2050. A supporter of the arena proposal, Holt said the team would leave Oklahoma City without a new arena. Under the agreement, taxpayers would pay at least $850 million of the cost of the arena while the team, valued at $3 billion, would pay $50 million. Holt and other proponents of the proposal argued that the team's presence in Oklahoma City was vital for the city's "big league" status and worth $580 million per year to the city's economy. Opponents argued for the potential resources to be used directly on infrastructure or social services. Economists who specialize in the study of
stadium subsidies strongly criticized the deal and were skeptical of its purported benefits. In a December 2023 referendum, 71% of Oklahoma City voters approved a six-year sales tax to fund the arena. In 2025, Holt announced that two sports, encompassing seven events—canoe slalom and softball—will be staged in their entirety in Oklahoma City during the
2028 Summer Olympics. Oklahoma City is the only city outside southern California slated to host the entirety of a sport during the 2028 Summer Olympics. In June 2025, Holt became the 83rd president of the
United States Conference of Mayors.
Third term Holt was reelected to a third term on February 10, 2026, with 86.49% of the vote in two-way, nonpartisan race, defeating Matthew Pallares. His share of the vote was the second-highest in city history, behind
Mick Cornett's 87.6% in 2006. ==Political positions==