OKLAHOMA CITY – Petitions for recounts in county office races in Oklahoma and Nowata counties were filed with the State Election Board prior to the 5 p.m. Friday deadline.
In Nowata County, Ryan S. Harden filed for a recount in the County Assessor’s race. Of the 1,231 ballots counted in that contest, Harden received 614 votes (49.88%) to 617 votes (50.12%) for Chris Clouse, who was appointed to the post on March 13 to fill a vacancy.
In the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s race, Kevin Calvey filed for a recount. In a four-way contest in which 53,980 ballots were counted, the final tally was 26,975 votes (49.97%) for Calvey and 12,548 for Gayland Gieger (23.25%). Calveymissed being elected outright by 21 votes, which would have put him over the halfway point at 50.01%.
A manual recount of the ballots cast in the Oklahoma County D.A.’s contest is scheduled for Wednesday.
Calvey, 55, is a former state legislator who voluntarily joined the Judge Advocate General’s staff during the Iraq War. As an Army captain, he prosecuted terrorists between Jan. 28, 2007, and Jan. 27, 2008, he said. He was elected Oklahoma County’s District 3 county commissioner and assumed the office in 2019; his four-year term ends next January. Calvey also owns a real estate investment company
Geiger, 55, has served as a prosecutor in the Oklahoma County D.A.’s office for more than two decades.
“It’s my observation that machines don’t always get it right,” Calvey said Friday. He said his application for a recount is not a reflection on the integrity of the election. “I just want an accurate count,” he said.
Calvey noted that 56,766 ballots were counted in Oklahoma County in the U.S. Sen. James Lankford’s Republican primary.
“It’s a matter of due diligence,” Calvey said. “I just want to know whether those optical scanners undercounted” in his DA’s race.