By Matt Montgomery
editor@piedmontnewsonline.com

Since the filing period deadline last week, five Republicans and one Democrat have made their bids for the Canadian County commissioner’s seat official. The Republicans vying for the District 1 seat are Surrey Hills resident Marc Hader, Piedmont resident Kevin Hopkins, Yukon resident Scott Deatherage, El Reno resident Wes Higgins and Yukon resident Clifford Lawson. Canadian County Road Foreman Justin Atkinson will represent the Democratic party.

The District 1 seat, occupied by Phil Carson, will be up for grabs since Carson has announced he will not seek another term once his term is up this year.

The primary election for the District 1 seat is June 24. The runoff is Aug. 24 and the general election is Nov. 4.

Earlier candidate and Piedmont City Councilman Bobby Williamson had previously announced his intention to run for Carson’s seat but recently changed his mind.

The lone Democrat in this race, Justin Atkinson, works as the Canadian County road foreman and has been a El Reno resident his entire life.

Atkinson said he isn’t worried about being the only Democrat in the race and said he wants to focus on the issues at hand and not about the party he is running against.

“I am a person who is dedicated to the county and the community here,” Atkinson said. “It doesn’t matter which party, I’m on both sides here.”

Atkinson said since he has already worked in the county as the District 1 road foreman, he would work with communities in the county and work together to repair the 417 miles of roads in Canadian County.

“I’ve been employed with the district for 17 years,” Atkinson said. “This isn’t going to happen overnight, we are on a limited budget so we try to work our way around the county and do what we can, when we can, and try to take care of the roads as they get outdated.”

There were more who filed for other offices last week in Canadian County. Some of those include:
County commissioner District 3
Rick Opitz, Republican, Yukon
Jack Stewart, Incumbent Republican, Yukon

County Treasurer
Matt Wehmuller, Republican, Okarche

Federal Office, U.S. Senator
Jim Inhofe, Incumbent, Republican, Tulsa
Jean McBride Samuels, Democrat, Jenks
Erick Paul Wyatt, Incumbent, Norman
Ray Woods, Fairview

U.S. Senator (Tom Coburn’s seat)
Connie Johnson, Democrat, Oklahoma City
Jason Weger, Republican, Norman
Kevin Crow, Republican, Chickasha
Eric McCray, Republican, Tulsa
T.W. Shannon, Republican, Lawton

U.S. Representatives-District 3
Frank Lucas, Incumbent, Republican, Cheyenne
Robert Hubbard, Republican, Yukon

U.S. Representatives-District 4
Tae Si, Democrat, Norman
Bert Smith, Democrat, Moore
Tom Cole, Incumbent, Republican, Moore

Governor
Joe Dorman, Democrat, Rush Springs
Mary Fallin, Incumbent, Republican, Oklahoma City