Sand Springs plays pivotal role in several County and State elections

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Tuesday was Primary election day for the State of Oklahoma and Sand Springs was well represented in candidacy. Eight of the candidates for various State and County positions were registered with Sand Springs addresses, and even more had Sand Springs ties. Gross voter turnout was up slightly for the Sand Springs area at over 3,200, as opposed to 3,000 in 2014, which translates to approximately 22.7% of voting-age citizens.

Robert T. Murphy defeated Dax Ewbank for the Libertarian nomination for US Senator. Murphy has previously ran for US Congress five times and has never won more than 25% of the vote. He will take on incumbent Republican Senator James Lankford and Democratic nominee Mike Workman in November, along with independent candidates Sean Braddy and Mark Beard. Murphy won the Primary with 56.65% of the vote. Sand Springs voters supported Murphy 15 to 10.

Incumbent Republican Representative Jim Bridenstine won the Republican primary for Congressional District 1 with a landslide over Tom Atkinson and Evelyn L. Rogers. Bridenstine brought home 79.5% of the vote, Atkinson snagged 17.11% and Rogers got 3.39%. Sand Springs voters supported Bridenstine 1673 to 388. No Democrats filed and the lone independent has dropped out leaving the seat uncontested for Bridenstine.

Incumbent Republican Senator Dan Newberry easily warded off a pair of challengers for the State Senate District 37 nomination. Newberry won 69.18% of the vote followed by Sand Springs City Councilman Brian Jackson with 20.26% and Paula L. Patterson with 10.55%. Jackson fared slightly better in his native city with 29% of the vote, but was unable to rally voters to a campaign that focused solely on public education and never mentioned other issues. Newberry won Sand Springs 1244 to 805.

Outgoing Sand Springs Superintendent Lloyd Snow swept the Democratic side of the Senate 37 race with 77.04% of the vote over Cory Gage with 12.96% and Andrew Nutter with 10.00%. Snow's Sandite backing was especially apparent in that he won 88.61% of the vote in Sand Springs. Outside of his school district he still had an impressive record at nearly 70%. Snow won Sand springs 1090-140.

Snow and Newberry will face off against independent Shawn W. Ketcher, also of Sand Springs, in November.

Incumbent Republican Representative Jadine Nollan had little difficulty in fending off Emily G. Delozier for the State Representative District 66 nomination with 74.57% of the vote. Sand Springs supported the hometown representative 1450 to 378. Nollan's November opponent will be Democratic nominee Dianna Phillips, also of Sand Springs. Interestingly, it was Nollan's husband Phil who unseated Dianna's husband Michael in the City Council election this March. 

In the County Court Clerk election, Donald Newberry came out on top of an incredible close election, one of the closest in recent memory. Newberry claimed 35.16% of the vote, followed by Ron Phillips with 33.10% and Mary Atkinson with 31.74%. Newberry and Phillips will now go to a runoff election on August 23rd with the winner taking on Democratic nominee John R. Andrew in November. Sand Springs was nearly as evenly divided as the rest of the County, but put Atkinson ahead of Phillips. Newberry won the Sandite city 726 to 618 to 563.

Rex Berry bested Arthur Jackson 66.61% to 33.39% for the Democratic nomination for Tulsa County Sheriff. Sand Springs held almost identical figures at 756 to 369. Berry will face off against incumbent Vic Regalado in November.

Regalado shrugged off a vicious negative campaign from Luke Sherman with surprising ease for the Republican nomination. After less than three months on the job since winning a special election to replace Stanley Glanz, Regalado defended his position with a 64.31% victory over Sherman with 28.86% and Russell Crow with 6.83%. Once again, the candidate with the best ties to Sand Springs prevailed. The Sandites favored Regalado 1394 to Sherman with 489 and Crow with 172.

Michael Willis bested Nancy Rothman 59.32% to 40.68% in the Republican primary for Tulsa County Clerk. No Democrats, Independents, or Libertarians filed for the position, meaning Willis will win it unopposed. Sand Springs backed Willis 1139 to 743.

Incumbent County Commissioner Karen Keith warded off Deanna Vincent for the Democratic nomination for her position. Keith had the biggest blowout in Tulsa County with 81.95% of the vote and will take on a Republican challenger from Sand Springs in November.

Josh R. Turley won a close race with Jonathan Grable for the Republican nomination for County Commissioner with 52.55% of the vote. Sand Springs backed the Sandite 1157-722.