From staff reports ALTUS – Jackson County voters just may be a slightly deeper shade of conservative red than Oklahoma voters overall.
Unofficial results from the Oklahoma State Election Board show that in the Nov. 5 General Election, Jackson County voted 78.17% for the Donald Trump/J.D.
Vance Republican ticket compared to 66.16% statewide. For Corporation Commissioner, 75.19% of Jackson County voters said Republican Brian Bingham was their choice, compared to 63.67% statewide.
In regards to retaining the three state Supreme Court Justices, Jackson County voters wanted to oust all three: Yvonne Kauger, James Edmondson and Noma Gurich.
However, Oklahoma overall voted to remove Kauger and retained Edmondson and Gurich by a narrow margin.
According to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, this is the first time in Oklahoma history that voters have chosen to oust a sitting member of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Information is rarely provided about judges facing retention elections until this year.
There was a robust campaign waged with significant campaign spending by officials on both sides of the question, the OCPA said.
As for the retention questions for three seats on the Court of Criminal Appeals and six seats on the Court of Civil Appeals, Jackson County voters elected to retain all current office holders, as did Oklahoma voters statewide.
Voters in Jackson County and statewide rejected State Question 833 by a large margin; 59.11% in the county and 61.61% statewide.
The proposed amendment to Oklahoma’s constitution would have allowed municipalities to create Public Infrastructure Districts that could issue bonds for projects.
State Question 834, which passed by a large margin in the county and statewide amends Section 1 of Article III in the Oklahoma Constitution. It now clarifies that only citizens of the United States are qualified to vote in the state. Jackson County approved this proposition by 89.41% compared to statewide 80.73%.