CHICKASHA – A City Council incumbent won a resounding victory and two new councilors were chosen by the voters in a non-partisan election April 2.
Ward 1 Councilwoman Kea Ginn coasted to reelection for a second term. Ginn, a registered nurse and clinical director of LifeLine Home Health and Hospice, received 444 votes to 256 for challenger David C. Lucas, a retiree.
John P. Smith, a U.S. Navy retiree who previously was a schoolteacher/administrator in Chickasha and Marlow, received 404 votes to become the new councilman for Ward 4. Eric Joseph Anderson, an Army veteran making his second bid for the Ward 4 seat, received 256 votes, and Isaac DeLeon, an electrician, received 46 votes.
Charlie Burruss edged Daniel Terry by three votes to capture the Ward 2 council seat occupied by appointee Rick Croslin, Chickasha Public Schools superintendent who agreed to fill a vacancy until a new councilor was elected.
Burruss, who is engaged in oil and gas mineral management, received 363 votes, while Daniel Terry, owner of Pro Auto Care, received 360 votes.
When asked by Southwest Ledger whether he would seek a recount, Terry replied, “I think that would show poor character.” And besides, he said, “We wouldn’t be talking about a recount if more people had voted.”
Chickasha has “around 8,101” registered voters, according to Katrina Hughes, Secretary of the Grady County Election Board. The 723 votes tallied in the Ward 2 race represented just under 9% of the registered voters in the community.
Every candidate for the city council must be a registered voter and a resident of the ward for which he/she seeks to be elected, but all candidates run at-large. The mayor and the eight council members are elected “by all [of] the qualified voters of the city,” the City Charter decrees. Councilors serve two-year terms and their service is voluntary; they receive no compensation.
“Charlie ran a clean race, and he’s a gentleman,” Terry continued. Nevertheless, “I think I could have made a difference.”
Erica Alexander, former owner of Alexander Eats, filed unopposed for the Ward 3 seat that Dr. R.P. Ashanti-Alexander, a school administrator, is vacating after 11 years in office.
Ward 4 Councilman Zach Grayson, an Army veteran and local business owner, was the only person to file for Mayor of Chickasha. He succeeds Chris Mosley, an insurance agency owner who is stepping down after six years as mayor.
The election results became official at 5 p.m. last Friday.
All four newly elected members will receive the oath of office at the April 15 City Council meeting.