IDABEL — Voters in Idabel and other McCurtain County towns went to the polls last week to narrow down the list of candidates in a special election for county commissioner. The primary was held to replace County Commissioner Mark Jennings who resigned his seat in April.
Republican Tina Foshee-Thomas will face Democrat Tony Hill in a general election set for Sept. 12. Foshee-Thomas captured 75% of the vote, far outdistancing her two opponents. On the Democratic side, Hill captured 73% of the vote while Ronald Gene Barnes came in a distant second with 27%.
The election in the latest chapter in an ongoing turmoil of McCurtain County.
In April, Jennings and three other county officials were recorded by the McCurtain Gazette newspaper, making racist comments, plotting the deaths of two local journalists and bemoaning that Black residents are no longer lynched in the county.
After the tape surfaced, Governor Kevin Stitt called on the group to resign and asked Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond to investigate the incident.
Only Jennings resigned. Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix was placed on paid administrative leave. County Sheriff Kevin Clardy and his deputy, Alicia Manning remain in their posts.
Since then, Drummond has asked to expand the investigation, but just last week told representatives of the Oklahoma Press Association that so far his investigation had turned up nothing that could be used to force Clardy or Manning out of office.
“As much as I would like racism to be against the law, it is not,” the attorney general said. “So, the fact that we have a sheriff, or county commissioners or elected or appointed officials in the county that are pigheaded racists well, the solution is at the ballot box.”