Published: August 24, 2008 12:00 am            

GOP voters go back to the polls Tuesday

Cleveland County Republicans will return to the polls Tuesday to pick a nominee for the fall sheriff's race and choose a state Senator for Senate District 45.

In the contest for sheriff, voters will choose between Joe Lester of Norman and Mark Hamm from Moore. The winner Tuesday will face Democrat Rick Adkins in the Nov. 4 general election.

Last week both men said they were ready for the runoff.

"I assumed that's what would happen," Hamm said. "With just 106 votes separating us, I believe all my hard work in the primary paid off. Most people weren't expecting me to do as well as I did, but I think that support came from just going out and knocking on doors and telling people why I wanted to be sheriff."

Hamm said his campaign centered on the county's new detention facility.

"I believe the issue is the jail," he said. "The commissioners are talking about building a new county jail, the biggest expense on the taxpayers of the county. I think we need to ask, if one is built, how is it going to be paid for and will it meet our needs for years to come?"

The next sheriff, he said, needs to have an understanding of the jail's "basic day-to-day operations."

"We need to make sure the facility that's going to be built is going to be able to meet our needs for the next 25-plus years," he said. "We need to make sure it's user-friendly, built in a responsible way. Plus there are issues in having to transport inmates back and forth to court. I hope the new sheriff will have input as regards to those housing issues."

Lester said his campaign focused on management of the sheriff's office.

"The sheriff's office is a $5.5 million budget," he said. "It's very important the citizens of Cleveland County pick someone as sheriff who has the educational and supervisory experience to operate the department."

To do that, Lester said, the sheriff needs experience.

"You don't turn a big company over to someone who has no experience. If you owned a big company and you were on the board of directors, would you turn the helm of that company over to someone who had no experience in budgets, supervision or management?"

The sheriff, Lester said, "doesn't need to be wearing cowboy boots, a hat and big belt buckle, and drive around on patrol" but instead "needs to be an administrator and have educated individuals around him or her who can do the job."

A 22-year veteran of the Tulsa Police Department, Lester spent 12 years as the director of public safety and the chief of the University of Oklahoma's police force. He retired from OU several years ago. OU's new Department of Public Safety building is named for him.

Hamm, who spent 12 years with the Cleveland County's sheriff's office, said he worked his way up from a deputy at the detention center to the officer in charge of the sheriff's K-9 unit. He left the sheriff's office several years ago and currently works providing security for country singer Toby Keith.

Some county voters will also choose a new state senator.

What originally started out as a five-person GOP contest to replace outgoing state Senator Kathleen Wilcoxson has become a two-man runoff featuring former congressional aide, Kyle Loveless and ex-Marine colonel, Steve Russell.

In July, Russell and Loveless defeated Jerry Foshee, Melinda Daugherty and Marty Gormley.

Russell earned 2,307 votes while Loveless polled 1,526.

Because no Democrat filed in the race, Tuesday's election is a winner-take-all runoff.

Last week Loveless said he's tried to focus on "real issues" and take his message to voters with his "face to face" style of campaigning.

"You know, talking to voters and contacting them, getting my message out ... that hasn't changed any. I'm doing as much as I can. The most important thing is getting my people out. And that's what I've been doing.

Russell focused his campaign on a message of experience and leadership.

"I think our message is very strong and I think it identifies with voters," he said. "I've handled positions of authority and responsibility before. I know how to lead."

He said voters responded to his "experience and integrity" and his pro-family platform.

"People realize if our families and our ability to raise our children continues to be too expense, then so many other issues are for not," he said. "We have to protect working folks."

Voting for the race opened Friday.

Cleveland County Election Board officials said Republican voters could still vote by absentee-in-person ballot today from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Cleveland County Election Board, 122 S. Peters Ave., in Norman.

Regular polling is set for Tuesday, Aug. 26 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the county's various precincts.

        

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