Races develop for all three Lawton City Council seats

The filing period ended Wednesday with races developing for all three Lawton City Council seats that are up for election.

The filing period for the special election to fill the vacant Oklahoma Senate District 32 seat also ended Wednesday, with four Republicans and two Democrats filing their declarations of candidacy.

In Lawton’s Ward 6, Councilman Robert Weger is being challenged by Jacobi Crowley, who filed for the office Wednesday. Weger has held the seat since May, when the council appointed him to fill the unexpired term of former Councilman Sean Fortenbaugh after he resigned in March. The winner of this race will be sworn into office Jan. 8 for a new three-year term.

In Ward 7, incumbent Onreka Johnson faces three challengers: Sherene L. Williams, Cindy Edgar and Cristal Thompkins.

In Ward 8, incumbent Randy Warren changed his mind and filed for a new term Wednesday. He faces two challengers: Malden Smith and Carolyn Marie Shyne (who filed Wednesday).

City Council candidates will face each other in the primary election set for Sept. 12, with a runoff — if needed — set for Nov. 14. All candidates will be sworn into office Jan. 8.

At the state level, six candidates filed their declarations of candidacy this week for the State Senate seat that was formally vacated Aug. 1 by John Michael Montgomery. Montgomery, who won his second term to the office in November, resigned the seat to become president/CEO of the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce.

That partisan race has four Republican candidates: Dr. Jean Hausheer, Lawton; J.J. Francais, Elgin; Jennifer Ellis, Medicine Park; and Dusty Deevers, Elgin. In addition, two Democrats filed for the seat: Larry Bush, Lawton; and Johnny Jernigan, Lawton. Jernigan was the Democratic candidate when Montgomery, a Republican, won the seat in November.

Those candidates will face each other on Republican and Democratic ballots in a special election Oct. 10. The general election will be Dec. 12.

Oklahoma State Election Board officials also said Wednesday there will be a public drawing at 10 a.m. today in their office in Oklahoma City to determine the order in which the name of each candidate will appear on the primary election ballot.