Tony Hill
Jason Ricketts
Bruce Shirey
McCurtain County Republicans strongly declared their opinion on who should not be the county’s next sheriff on Tuesday, with both challengers in the GOP primary winning handily over incumbent Kevin Clardy.
Tuesday’s vote had only 18.26 percent of voters favor Clardy, a total of 399 votes out a total of 2,185 cast, according to unofficial results from the McCurtain County Election Board.
Clardy carried only the Idabel Library precinct, with 40 votes to Jason Ricketts’ 39 votes and Shirey’s 26 votes.
Clardy tied with Ricketts as top vote-getters at the Pleasant Hill Methodist Church, and with Bruce Shirey at the Tom Civic Center.
Neither of Clardy’s two challengers in the Republican primary, Shirey and Ricketts, gained enough votes (50 percent) to avoid a run-off election, though Shirey came within a few votes.
Shirey collected 1,080 total ballots, a total of 49.43 percent. Ricketts received 706 votes, a total of 32.32 percent.
Assuming official results remain the same, Shirey and Ricketts will now face each other in the run-off on Aug. 27. A candidate in a race with three or more candidates must obtain 50 percent or more of the vote to avoid a run-off.
Also decided on Tuesday was the Democratic primary for District 2 County Commissioner, with Tony Hill scoring a strong win over Ronald Barnes.
Hill received 250 votes, or 80.65 percent, of the 310 votes cast. Barnes received 60, or 19.35 percent.
Hill will face incumbent Republican Tina Foshee-Thomas in November.
In the statewide Republican primary for Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner J. Brian Bingman defeated Russell Ray and Justin Hornback with Bingman receiving 126,733 votes (53.42 percent) compared to Hornback’s 68,003 (28.66 percent) and Ray’s 42,498 (17.91 percent).
Local totals were 903 (44.93 percent) for Bingman, 730 (36.32 percent) for Hornback and 377 (18.76 percent) for Ray.
Bingman’s total avoids the run-off requirement. He will face Democrat Harold Spradling and Libertarian Chad Williams on Nov. 5; both Spradling and Williams ran uncontested for their party’s nomination.
