The seven men running for the position of McClain County commissioner in Tuesday’s primary have known each other for decades.

“Most of them I went to school with and I know them all real well,” candidate Andy Madden said.

The race is so crowded because the election is wide open. The former district 2 commissioner, Loyd Tucker, 67, died while at work March 11. His foreman, David Perry, took over for him in the final months of Tucker’s term.

Perry, of Purcell, has thrown his hat in the ring for election, but will have to beat out fellow Democrats Bryan Jenkins of Goldsby, Madden of Purcell and Ronnie Little of Washington in the primary election Tuesday.

The Republican candidate also will be decided in the primary. Republicans Jerry England of Dibble, Wilson Lyles of Goldsby and Kent Smith of Washington are running.

The race so far has been cordial, commissioner candidates said. Perry said he got a personal call from each one before they filed for candidacy.

“They all called and asked me what I thought and I said, ‘Guys, the way I look at this is we’re all applying for a job and you’re all friends of mine and we’re going to be friends when this is over,’” Perry said.

Little said citizens were often surprised by how friendly the candidates are with one another.

“At meetings we all walk in as a group and we sit as a group, and I think that throws the voters off because they’re expecting stares and glares,” Little said.

But the candidates still are running on the grounds that they are better than the others for the job.

Perry, 51, said he has the experience to do a good job. He worked for the county 17 years. He worked through four disasters while he was road foreman.

“I had an ice storm and three floods and I worked on one with FEMA on how to get federal money, so I feel that’s why I’m more qualified,” Perry said. “I’ve been there. … There’s more to being a county commissioner than just roads. You have to find funding.”

He said he is looking into grants to help develop the area.

“We need to fill out every grant that we can get,” he said. “…Our road budget’s not very good, so we got to go out and find help elsewhere.”

He said he also is trying to bring in some factories to some county-owned property near Wayne to help the county economically.