Published: June 09, 2008 06:05 pm         

Filing period closed Wednesday

County commissioner, sheriff and state reps draw opponents

Ada — The filing period primary elections in July closed Wednesday evening. In individual Oklahoma counties, declarations of candidacy were made for the offices of the court clerk, county clerk, county sheriff, and county commissioner district 2. On the state level, 24 of the 48 State Senate seats (those with odd-numbered districts) were open for candidacy, as were all 101 seats in the State House of Representatives. Nationally, Oklahoma United States Senator Jim Inhofe’s seat is up for re-election, and all five of the Oklahoma United States Representatives will be subject to the 2008 election as well.

Marilyn McDaniel of the Pontotoc County Election board reported that three individuals have declared candidacy for the county commissioner district 2 seat. Incumbent Carl Wages will be running against Harvey H. Wilson and Danny Davis. All three men filed for candidacy on Monday. In the bid for county sheriff, incumbent Pete Peterson filed for re-election on Monday, and will be competing for the seat against John Christian, who declared his candidacy on Tuesday. Christian is the only individual to declare candidacy in Pontotoc County that did not do so on Monday. County clerk incumbent Pam Walker and court clerk incumbent Ernestine Eubank also filed for reelection. They were the only individuals to seek office in their respective seats.

As all the nominees have registered as Democrats, primary elections held on July 29 will decide the winners. In the case of the county commissioner election, one of the three candidates must obtain at least half of the total votes to declare victory. If none of the candidates can capture the majority of the votes, then the two candidates with the greatest number of votes will run again in a primary run-off election on August 26.

In the race for State Senate, district 13 Democrat incumbent Senator Susan Paddack of Ada is seeking re-election. She is running uncontested. District 13 encompasses Pontotoc and Hughes counties, as well as parts of Coal and Garvin Counties.

In regards to race for State House of Representatives, district 25 Republican incumbent Todd Thomsen of Ada will seek re-election in November. Challenging him for the district are Democrats Darrell E. Nemecek and Gary Starns, both of Ada. Nemecek and Starns will first have to face off in the July primaries, and the winner will go on to challenge Thomsen in the general election at the end of the year. District is comprised of parts of Hughes, McClain, Pontotoc, and Pottawatomie counties.

District 20 Democrat Paul D. Roan of Tishomingo and district 22 Democrat Wes Hilliard of Sulphur are also running for re-election unchallenged. District 20 is comprised of Atoka, Coal, and Johnston counties, as well as parts of Bryan and Pontotoc counties. District 22 is made up of Murray County and parts of Cleveland, Garvin, McClain, and Pontotoc counties.

On the national level, Republican U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma City will seek to defend his seat against six challengers. Republicans Dennis Lopez of Thackerville, Evelyn L. Rogers of Tulsa, and Ted Ryals of OKC will all challenge the incumbent senator for the GOP nomination during the primaries in July. Democrat State Senator Andrew Rice of OKC and Jim Rogers of Midwest City have declared their candidacy as well, the winner from the primaries going on to the general election in November. Independent candidate Stephen P. Wallace of Tulsa has also entered the race.

All five of Oklahoma’s U.S. Representative seats are up for re-election. In district 1, Republican incumbent John Sullivan is running against fellow Republican Fran Mo-ghaddam and Democrats Georgianna W. Oliver and Mark Manley. Like the other seats up for election, the two pairs will first face off during the July primaries, and the two victors will represent their parties in November. All four candidates are from Tulsa.

In district 2, Democrat incumbent Dan Boren of Muskogee will run against Democrat Kevin Coleman of Grove and Raymond J. Wickson of Okmulgee. District 3’s Republican incumbent Frank D. Lucas of Cheyenne will run against Democrat Frankie Robbins of Medford and Independent Forrest Michael of Cherokee. From district 4, GOP incumbent Tom Cole of Norman will defend his seat against Democrat Blake Cummings of Pauls Valley and Independent David E. Joyce of Wynnewood. In district 5 GOP incumbent Mary Fallin filed for candidacy, as did Democrats Bert Smith and Steven L. Perry. All three are from OKC.



Judd Morse can be contacted at jmorse@adaeveningnews.com.

     

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