CHICKASHA – Grady County residents will have plenty of choices at the polling booth during the general election Nov. 5.
Leading the list of contests are the five teams of candidates for President and Vice President. Voters will cast their ballots for electors who pledge to support:
• Republicans Donald Trump and J.D. Vance,
• Democrats Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
• Libertarians Chase Oliver and Mike Ter Maat.
• Independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan.
• Independents Chris Garrity and Cody Ballard.
In Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Cole faces Democrat Mary Brannon and Independent James Stacy.
Corp. Commission, State Senate 43 Three men are vying to succeed veteran Bob Anthony on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates the oil-and-gas industry and public utilities. The candidates are Libertarian Chad Williams, Democrat Harold Spradling, and Republican Brian Bingman.
Republican Kendal Sacchieri and Democrat Sam Graefe square off in the state Senate District 43 race. Sacchieri is the McClain County Assessor; Graefe, of Blanchard, is an oil and gas industry retiree. The winner will replace incumbent Jessica Garvin of Duncan, who lost to Sacchieri in the June 18 primary election in her bid for a second four-year term. County sales tax, 2 state questions Grady County voters will be asked to authorize a sales tax of one-eighth of a penny (0.125%) “for the support of fire departments” in the county. The levy would start on April 1, 2025, and end a decade later, on March 30, 2035.
The funds would be divided equally among “existing and current ‘fire run’ areas” and any additional, lawfully created fire run areas “that may become necessary in the future.”
The 18 fire departments listed on the ballot include Alex, Amber, Blanchard, Bradley, Bridge Creek, Chickasha, Cox City, Farwell, Friend, Harold, Minco, Naples, Ninnekah, Pioneer, Pocasset, Rush Springs, Tuttle, and Verden.
Proceeds from the sales tax would be used for “acquiring, purchasing, continuing, equipping, repairing, renovating, operating, maintaining, training and advancing fire protection, prevention, and/or communication services on equipment.”
Two state constitutional amendments proposed by the Legislature are on the ballot.
State Question 833 would authorize creation of public infrastructure districts, and State Question 834 would clarify that “only citizens of the United States are qualified to vote in this state.” Judicial retention A dozen state jurists are on the judicial retention ballot list this year. They include:
• Supreme Court Justices Noma Gurich, Yvonne Kauger, and James Edmondson.
• Court of Criminal Appeals judges William J. Musseman, Scott Rowland, and David B. Lewis.
• Court of Civil Appeals judges James R. Huber, Timothy J. Downing, Thomas E. Prince, Robert “Bobby” Bell, E. Bay Mitchell, and Brian Jack Goree.