'I'm humbled': Waco native elected as Tulsa's first African American mayor

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A Waco native is making history by becoming the first African American to be elected as the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

And he says he owes a lot of his success to the Central Texas community.

Monroe Nichols was born in Waco and was a student at Reicher Catholic School.

College took him to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he says it didn't take long for him to feel at home because the people and the town's rich history were comparable to his home turf.

And for Waco and Tulsa alike, Monroe says the people and the history have been his motivation.

He got offered a job right out of college to work as a mayor aid for the mayor at the time. And on Tuesday, he ended up making history himself.

"I got my first job there. And to walk into the mayor's office not as a mayor's aid but I'll be walking back in as the mayor," Nichols says. "It was just really cool to experience and feel the love from Central Texas coming all the way up to Tulsa to celebrate as we did something that is historically significant."

Nichols says African Americans have a rich history of trailblazing in Tulsa, and he's ready to get to work to keep that momentum going. He says he owes his success to people who helped him on his way to the top.

"The history of the Greenwood district, Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre. There's part of our story here in Tulsa that is rich with the greatest history of innovators and entrepreneurs who were Black," Nichols explains.

"It was just really awesome to fill the love from Central Texas up here last night as we were getting the results. Humble. It's just really cool. You think about all the people who helped you get there."