(Update: On Tuesday, June 16, Drew Phillip Cunningham won election to the Woods County associate district judge seat.)
Near the Oklahoma panhandle, Woods County’s approximately 5,000 registered voters will choose among three candidates to be the county’s next associate district judge June 16. Incumbent ADJ Mickey Hadwiger is retiring after 24 years, leaving Jeremy Bays, Drew Cunningham and Westline Ritter to campaign for his open seat.
Woods County includes Northwestern Oklahoma State University and the communities of Lookout, Winchester, Capron, Tegarden, Freedom, Hopetown, Dacona and Waynoka. The county seat of Alva has about 5,000 residents, with the whole county comprising about 8,600 people.
Six judicial elections across the state are set for a June primary after candidate filing. If no candidate secures a majority in the June election, the top two candidates will advance to a Nov. 3 runoff election.
The following candidate biographies were constructed from publicly available information, campaign websites and social media. Candidates for Woods County associate district judge are presented in alphabetical order by last name.
Jeremy Bays
Hometown:Â Dacona
Age:Â 55
Biography: Bays is a Oklahoma City University graduate, according to an interview with the Cherokee Messenger and Republican from 2014. He joined the Oklahoma Bar Association in 2000 and has spent most of his career in private practice. He has served as a municipal judge for Waynoka, according to the Enid News & Eagle.
He previously ran for district judge in 2014, placing second with 27.6 percent of the vote. His 2014 campaign committee was fined $1,000 by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission for not filing reports by proper deadlines.
He currently serves as an assistant district attorney for Woods County under DA Christopher Boring and is also a farmer and rancher from the Dacoma-Aline-Waynoka area.
Platform:Â Bays’ campaign appears to focus on his legal experience and his ties to the community.
“From district court proceedings to appeals before state commissions, I have spent decades navigating complex legal matters with professionalism, integrity, and experience,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
Bays has made seven Facebook posts about his campaign since May 29.
“If elected, I will approach the challenge of addressing a backlog of cases with the same work ethic I learned growing up. My grandfather taught me the value of hard work while cutting wheat, putting up hay, and working long days from sunrise to sunset. Those lessons of dedication, perseverance, and responsibility continue to guide me today,” Bays posted Friday. “I am committed to working diligently, treating every case with respect, and ensuring that justice is administered fairly and efficiently for the people of Woods County.”
Links: Facebook
Drew Cunningham
Hometown:Â Alva
Age:Â 34
Biography:Â Drew Cunningham was born and raised in Alva, according to the Alva Review-Courier, and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He joined the Oklahoma Bar Association in 2017 and has worked as a public defender. He has served as the Alva city attorney since 2022 and had the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System contract for both Woods and Major counties from 2021 to 2022.
Platform: Cunningham has campaigned on being “fair and impartial” on the bench, and he has cited his experience practicing in multiple fields as qualifying him for the office.
“If you follow any judicial candidates you’ve likely seen the words ‘fair’, ‘impartial’ and ‘justice’. There are a couple reasons for this,” Cunningham posted. “First, these are some of the most important qualities for a judge. The other reason is because judicial candidates have specific rules during a campaign that limit what can be discussed. Politics and a candidates position on certain topics are generally off limits.”
Cunningham has argued he is a similar age as three former Woods County associate district judges, Ray Dean Linder, Alan Gottsch and Hadwinger, when they were first elected.
“Our last three judges all first became a judge at about the same age I am at, 34 going on 35,” Cunningham said. “By practicing for nine years, I’ve gained experience in so many different areas of the law, in cases that this position presides over. Further, while this position is for a four-year term, Woods County’s history would suggest, when a person becomes judge, they are likely to hold the position for a long period of time. This provides consistency to the residents of Woods County. My goal if elected, is to provide sound judgment that residents have been blessed with dating back to 1969.”
Links: Facebook
Westline Ritter
Hometown:Â Alva
Age:Â 58
Biography:Â Ritter graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and joined the OBA in 1996. She currently works as assistant district attorney for Woods County, according to her campaign Facebook. In 2011, she prosecuted the parents of former Rep. Mike Jackson for marijuana cultivation.
Platform:Â Ritter’s platform focuses on “fairness, integrity and upholding the law.” Her campaign stresses her community roots, long career and her respect for the judiciary.
“Woods County, I’m ready to serve. With over 30 years of legal experience and 20 years dedicated to public service, I’ve built my career on fairness, integrity, and respect for the law,” Ritter said in a Facebook post. “I would be honored to earn your vote for associate district judge.”
Ritter’s campaign materials highlight her experience and her family’s agricultural background.
“Throughout my career as a prosecutor, my responsibility is to seek truth and justice,” Ritter said. “That requires me to make difficult decisions that may not be popular, but justice must be based on the law and the facts.”
Links: Facebook
