(Update:Â On Tuesday, June 16, Republicans Jessica Clayton and Alex Warren advanced to an Aug. 25 runoff for Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners District 3.)
The District 3 Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners race is crowded, with five candidates seeking the GOP nomination in the June 16 primary election to replace former Commissioner Myles Davidson. While Davidson had been up for reelection this year, he resigned this spring after a Cleveland County District Court judge granted a protective order against him, requested by a woman who said Davidson sexually harassed and assaulted her.
Davidson had already drawn two challengers before his resignation, but his decision to step down shook up the race.
The Republican field for District 3 now includes Jessica Clayton, Scott Ermis, Wendy Jo Hampton, Thomas Parkhurst and Alex Warren. While the five-way race is likely headed to an Aug. 25 runoff, Republican candidates have held this seat for two decades. However, three Democrats are hoping to flip the seat blue.
Whoever wins the District 3 position will have plenty to grapple with — and could become a pivotal voice in — shaping the future of the Oklahoma County Jail, arguably the county’s biggest and most enduring headache. Voters passed a $260 million bond to pay for a new jail in 2022, but that amount has proved to be far below the more than $800 million required to complete the project.
To fund it, one commissioner proposed a first-of-its-kind county sales tax, but efforts have since stalled. District 1 incumbent Commissioner Jason Lowe, who is up for reelection this year, proposed the sales tax earlier this year, but the effort did not receive support from Davidson or District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan.
Spanning the northern part of Oklahoma County, District 3 covers far northwest Oklahoma City, Edmond, Arcadia and Luther. If no candidate earns more than 50 percent of the vote on June 16, the top two finishers will proceed to a runoff Aug. 25.
The following cheat sheet provides an overview of the Oklahoma County District 3 Democratic candidates and is derived from publicly available information, such as campaign websites, news reports and social media accounts. The candidates are listed alphabetically.
Jessica Clayton
Age: 45
Profession/background: Jessica Clayton is the Oklahoma County manager, where she oversees county budgets and operations, according to her campaign website. She owns American Collision and American Construction, and she was the former chief deputy for District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan.
Platform: If elected, Clayton says she will work to finish the proposed new Oklahoma County Jail and its connected behavioral health center while also addressing chronic, long-term staffing issues at the facility. She would also aim to boost “smart growth” and infrastructure improvements in the county.
Clayton also believes her experience as county manager will pay off if she is elected. She currently manages more than $160 million in grant funding and has leadership experience as president and CEO of Daily Living Centers.
“The people of Oklahoma County District 3 deserve a public servant who understands she is accountable to the people in everything she does — from the delivery of local services to the professionalism taxpayers expect of us,” Clayton said on her website.
Scott Ermis
Age: 57
Profession/background: Scott Ermis is an IT services director based in Edmond, according to his LinkedIn.
Platform: Ermis does not appear to have a website or social media account dedicated to his campaign, but shortly after the April filing period ended, Ermis wrote on his personal Facebook page that he is running to bring results to the county government. The post’s visibility settings have since been changed, meaning Ermis has either deleted the post or made it private.
“I am running for county commissioner to bring a practical, results-driven approach to local government, with a focus on responsible budgeting, infrastructure reliability and efficient county operations,” Ermis wrote. “I believe county government should operate with accountability, transparency and a strong commitment to serving the public effectively. As an Edmond resident who works closely with locally owned businesses, I understand the needs of families, workers and the broader community. My priority is to ensure county resources are managed wisely, infrastructure is maintained proactively and public services are delivered efficiently without unnecessary waste.”
Online: Personal Facebook | LinkedIn
Wendy Jo Hampton
Age: 46
Profession/background: Wendy Jo Hampton is the owner of Equipped Marketing, a communications firm. She has lived in Edmond since 1992, according to her campaign website.
Platform: Hampton was one of the first candidates in District 3 to announce her campaign and to call for the resignation of Davidson, citing a lack of integrity and transparency.
“I’m running because as a mother, a wife, a business owner, and a lifelong resident of Oklahoma County, I believe it’s time for leadership that reflects the values and integrity our citizens deserve,” Hampton said. “Enough is enough. Our community deserves better.”
If elected, Hampton’s priorities are making the jail cost-effective and well-managed while also working to tamp down the chaos around the facility. She would also push for funding of preventive maintenance for the county’s roads and bridges as a way to head off future problems that can be costly. Hampton would also like to foster more transparency in county government and make it easier for residents to understand how it works.
Thomas Parkhurst
Age: 61
Profession/background: Thomas Parkhurst is an Edmond-based auctioneer, according to The Oklahoman. His personal Facebook also lists him as the director of operations for Hospital Housekeeping Systems. He previously ran as a Democrat for the District 3 seat four separate times — in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.
Platform: When Parkhurst ran for the seat in 2018, finishing well behind former Commissioner Kevin Calvey, Parkhurst told The Oklahoman he was not in favor of raising taxes to pay for a new county jail but believed the jail was understaffed.
“We have to utilize what we have and work with what we have to work with and get those issues addressed,” he said at the time.
He further characterized himself as a “working man” as opposed to a politician.
Parkhurst does not appear to be running an active campaign online this year, however, as he does not appear to have a website or social media account dedicated to his campaign.
Online: Personal Facebook
Alex Warren
Age: 64
Profession/background: Alex Warren is an Edmond-based small business owner, where he has worked on projects “from building salons to supporting infrastructure projects like roads, buildings and affordable housing,” according to his campaign website. Warren is the brother of Oklahoma County Court Clerk Rick Warren.
Platform: Warren bills himself as a Christian conservative on his campaign website. As for policy priorities, Warren has said the county must protect roads and bridges from too much wear and tear through the enforcement of weight limits on heavy machinery and trucks that use county roads. Warren also supports responsible growth that is transparent to taxpayers and that addresses real concerns like traffic, drainage and density.
Warren believes the county jail is chronically understaffed, well below its budget limit of 400 employees. Warren said recent hiring practices have been inadequate in addressing safety and that the jail needs to get back to basics when it comes to staffing, directing funds where they need to go and holding leadership of the facility accountable.
“For years, the jail trust has been funded for more than 400 employees,” Warren wrote on Facebook. “Instead of fully staffing detention officer positions, those resources have too often been redirected elsewhere. Now taxpayers are being asked for more money to fix a problem that, in many ways, was created by those decisions.”
Along with Hampton, Warren was one of the earliest candidates to enter the race and call for Davidson’s resignation.
Online: Website | Facebook | LinkedIn
