The Duncan Banner

Local News

December 14, 2009

Candidates file for school board positions

Derrick Miller

DUNCAN — The filing period for several school board seats throughout Stephens County came to a close at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Two school boards didn’t have anyone file, while several school boards had three or four people running for the open positions.

Peggy Winton, Stephens County Election Board secretary, said, “It’s going to be one of the most interesting school board elections we’ve had in a while.”

The election is set for Feb. 9.

Of the school elections with multiple candidates running, Winton said a fun one to watch will be the Marlow School Board because all four people running for the position are excited about the prospect of helping the community by serving on the board.

The seat is held by Bill Horn, who decided not to file for re-election. Horn is the president of the Marlow Board of Education.

The four people running for the seat 5 position are Cody Bannister, Steven D. Huddleston, Terry Turner and Lisa Crawford. Winton said it may be difficult to get people to vote in the Marlow school election because of the lack of controversy.

“They’re all newcomers, and all four are very enthusiastic,” Winton said. “It’s going to be whoever gets the most family and friends out to vote.”

Another school election with multiple people running is the Bray-Doyle Board of Education.

Seat 5 incumbent Kent Spivey will be facing Larry Osborne, Cris Sparks and Tony Stults.

To win an election, a candidate must get at least 51 percent of the vote. If none of the candidates get that big of a percentage, the school district will have a runoff election among the candidates with the most votes.

Three people are running for the Central High Board of Education. They are incumbent Donald E. Sorrels Jr., Clint Russell and Tracy D. Cox.

Velma has two seats up for grabs in the upcoming election. People running for those seats include seat 2 unexpired: Wade Williams and Dewayne Richardson; and seat 5: James Layn and Dawn McGuire.

Several school boards have one person running for their seat 5 positions, and therefore, will not have an election. They include Charlie Gay for Comanche Board of Education, Sandy Bowden for Grandview Board of Education and Dee Williams for Red River Technology Center.

Neither Duncan nor Empire school districts had someone running for the seat five positions on their school board. Winton said this means they’ll have to appoint someone or have a special election, which will cost the school district more later.

Neither incumbent, Duncan’s Kevin Kinnaird nor Empire’s Kirk Schreiner, chose to run for re-election for those boards.

In addition to people running for school board, the Marlow City Council also had two ward positions coming up for election. Incumbent Don Ridley filed for the Ward 1 position, unopposed. Wes Walker filed for the Ward 4 position, also unopposed.

Without multiple candidates running for those positions, Ridley and Walker will get those seats.

Winton said she is looking forward to the upcoming election night in February.

“I love a good election,” Winton said. “A good election is when someone says ‘I want that job, I can do that job.’”



— Derrick Miller is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 160, or via e-mail at derrick.miller@duncanbanner.com.

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