Voters in Blaine County went to the polls June 30 to decide a number of measures. They included statewide votes on the Democratic ticket for the U.S. Senate. In Blaine County, Abby Broyles won with 47.29% of the votes, followed by Elysabeth Britt with 20.09%; R.O. Joe Cassity, Jr. with 19.79%; and Sheila Bilyeu with 12.84%. The sentiment was the same statewide with voters, with Broyles pulling in 60.46% of the votes on the Democratic ticket. In November, she will face the winner of the race for U.S. Senate on the Republican ballot.
That race in the county had longtime Senator Jim Inhofe with 68.89%; JJ Stitt with 23.15%; John Tompkins with 5.2%; and Neil Mavis with 2.73%. The rates were similar statewide, with Inhofe coming out on top with 74% of the votes cast, followed in order by Stitt, Tompkins and Mavis.
Statewide, Republicans could also choose between Todd Hiett vs Harold Spradling for a seat on the Corporation Commission. Hiett took the race in the county with 80.77% and in the state with 74.59% of the votes.
Locally there were Republican contests between Kristi Campos and Jennifer Haigler for county clerk and between Tony Almaguer and Travis Daugherty for county sheriff. Haigler, who won the clerks seat 1,028 votes to 600, will face Democratic challenger Tracey Walker in the November general election, while Daugherty, who took the sheriff’s race 1,055 to 599, will face Democrat Brian Johnson in November as well.
There was a race for the state representative’s seat for district 59 to be decided, too. That seat was held by Mike Sanders for many years, but he reached his term limit and could not run for re-election to that position. Contenders for the seat were Mike Dobrinski of Okeene and Adam Masters of Kingfisher. In Blaine County, Dobrinski outdistanced Masters with 81.22% of the votes, mimicking the district where Dobrinksi won the day with 71.73% of the votes districtwide.
For residents of the Geary School District, the choice for seat five was between incumbent Randall Base, who has served for 20 years and challenger Cecil Harrall. Harrall unseated the incumbent both in Blaine County, with 63.95% of the votes, and in the district, with 59.14%.
In the Watonga School District, seat five went to challenger Shawn Cox who unseated incumbent Lane Edsall by earning 61.31% of the votes.
Seeking seat five on the Caddo Kiowa Tech Center district were Patrick Hayes and Lance Shenold. Hayes took the Blaine County vote, with 63.97%, but Shenold won the seat by taking 56.72% of the votes in the district.
For seat five in the Cimarron School District, Steven Johnson was vying with Dani Wood for seat five. Although there were no votes cast in Blaine County, Johnson won the seat with 62.42% in the district.
In Blaine County, state question 802 seeking to add the expansion of Medicaid to the state Constitution failed, 1,434 votes to 973. However, the race at the state level passed the measure by the narrowest of margins, 50.48% to 49.52%. The yes votes were only 6,518 ahead of the nos.
The next election will be the general election set for Nov. 3 when Republican President Donald Trump will face off against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The runoffs for Blaine County Sheriff and County Clerk will take place at the same time.
Connie Burcham can be reached at Editor@WatongaRepublican.com