Published: March 20, 2009 01:45 pm      

Ballots offer early peek

Sample ballots are now available as less than three weeks remain for an election that should help shape the municipal leadership for a handful of Garvin County cities, including Pauls Valley.

In each of those communities voters will make their choices for some posts on their local city councils or boards of trustees.

Ballots with the word sample printed directly on them are available during regular weekday hours at the Garvin County Election Board located in the county courthouse in PV.

The next deadline related to the April 7 election has even less time.

The last day to request mailed absentee ballots is Wednesday, April 1.

To submit a request for those ballots, forms are available at the election board office or online at www.elections.state.ok.us/.

In addition to Pauls Valley, the area cities with offices on the ballot are Maysville, Paoli, Elmore City and Stratford.

Here in PV the voter interest will focus on the council seats now held by Mayor Tim Gamble and Gary Alfred.

Gamble is set to go up against challengers Kevin Stark and Jerry Suggs.

As for Alfred, the challenge will come from Chris Coon and Hal Blevins.

The same number of candidates will be going at it in Maysville, where three spots on the local board of trustees is on the ballot.

The group of candidates are Marshall Neill, Trinity Jones, Jacque Martin, Dennis L. Purkhiser, Gay Freeman and Donald E. Breitkreutz.

Voters in Paoli will have a choice between Mary Lee Gish and Boyd L. Nichols for a two-year unexpired term on the board there.

Elmore City voters will chose between David K. Schmidt, Searcy J. Simmons Jr. and Steven Johnson as the trio are going for a single city council post.

The one race in Stratford is for a board office sought by Dorothy Pruitt and D. Mark Stone.

All remaining municipal offices that were part of the recent filing period, including all four in Wynnewood, were won by candidates who went unopposed.