The Duncan Banner

Local News

August 27, 2012

Final push

Republican state Senate candidates will campaign until last minute

Mike Smith The Duncan Banner

DUNCAN — Voter turnout is expected to be low in Tuesday’s Republican runoff for state Senate District 43 – a likelihood that GOP candidates Corey Brooks and Peggy Davenport don’t dismiss.

So both have spent the past few days asking those who backed them in the June 26 primary to return to the polls in early voting or on Election Day Tuesday, while trying to woo other Republicans in the newly drawn district to take their side and vote.

Only 22.5 percent of registered Republicans voted in the primary, and if typical patterns hold, turnout for the runoff could be a third less than that.

The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Mike Fullerton of Newcastle for the Senate seat covering Duncan and most of Stephens County, all of McClain County and parts of Garvin and Grady counties.

Brooks, 33, of Washington, Okla. in McClain County, spent some time at the Stephens County Fair on Friday and Saturday, dropped some more signs off in Newcastle, talked with some folks in Marlow and knocked on more doors.

He plans to knock on more doors Monday and volunteers are making phone calls encouraging people to vote. He said he is simply doing what he has done since he got into the race last winter.

“We have just stuck to the tried-and-true measure, which is meeting the people where they are,” Brooks said Saturday while he and his father, David, talked with people at the Stephens County Republican Party’s booth at the fair.

The county party has made no endorsement in the runoff, and the booth table included fliers and campaign material from both candidates.

Davenport, 63, of Duncan, spent most of her time at the fair from Thursday afternoon through Saturday evening, greeting people at the state party table and her own booth just down the way.

“I’m trying to get people engaged in the process, to give people a voice,” Davenport said. “If you are enlisting their input, you have to listen. A lot of people know me and they know I am just who I am.”

Brooks finished first in the four-way GOP primary with 1,664 votes – nearly 46 percent. Davenport was second with 928 votes, just over 25 percent. Primary candidates must win 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a runoff.

Clark Southard of Duncan and Ron Magar of Newcastle were third and fourth, each getting about 14 percent each.

Brooks said he has been campaigning for the runoff as if he had not finished first in the primary, and Davenport said the primary results didn’t matter much because there were four candidates then.

Meanwhile, the Stephens County Democratic Party is looking to the November 6 general election with their Senate District 43 candidate – Fullerton – having faced no primary opposition.

County Democrats, including Shelly Coker of Empire and Jack Guerkink of Duncan, manned their own booth at the fair, with “I Like Mike” T-shirts for sale and yard signs for the taking.

Guerkink acknowledged that Oklahoma has become a more Republican state in recent years, but said Fullerton was a bright, reliable man who had strong family ties in Duncan and Stephens County, as well as McClain County.

“I think he has a pretty good hand on the pulse of the area,” Guerikink said. “This used to be a dominant Democratic county. You have cyclical swings so hopefully it will swing back to Democrats.”

Registered voters in Stephens County may cast early ballots Monday at the County Election Board on the ground floor of the Stephens County Courthouse. Regular precinct polls will be open from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

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