Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you know there is a municipal election coming up. Several, actually, including Watonga, Okeene, Canton, Longdale and Geary.
In order to better serve the voters of the City of Watonga, the Watonga Republican has set up two candidate forums for those seeking seats on the city council.
The forum setting was broken into two sets so that the candidates could have adequate time to set out their plans and vision for the city as well as acquaint themselves with the voters and each other.
The first forum, set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 11at the Foley Building at the Blaine County Fairgrounds and will feature candidates for Ward # 4 and the at-large seat.
Running for the seat in Ward #4 are Howard Hursh and Gerald Fortney. Running for the at large seat are Trey Chapman, Neal Riley, Verlen Bills and Marcus Wray.
Each seat is for the remainder of a two-year unexpired term.
The second forum, set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13, also at the fairgrounds will feature candidates for Ward #1 and Ward #2.
Running for Ward #1 are Roy Hampton, Tumara Moore, Cheyenne Brown and Dylan Ford.
Running for Ward # 2 are Robert Sawyer and Deborah McGee. Each of these seats is for a fouryear term.
Generally speaking, terms overlap more than the election would indicate. However, there were two resignations, bringing the open seats to four rather than the anticipated two.
Under Oklahoma election law, there is no runoff in municipal elections. The candidate who receives the most votes wins the seat. In the event of a tie, there is a mandatory recount. If the recount shows a true tie, the candidates determine who should take the seat, sometimes by flipping a coin, as was the case in a Blaine County Sheriff’s race several years ago.