Of the seven local seats across Carter County up for reelection in April, only one in Healdton will be decided by voters this year. City governments in Ardmore, Lone Grove, Ratliff City and Healdton will keep familiar faces in coming years since most incumbents in those positions did not receive any challengers during the three days of qualifying that ended Wednesday.

At least one seat in Healdton will be decided by voters since Elizabeth Sloat is challenging current Ward 2 Council Member James Stubblefield. Incumbent Ward 1 Council Member Josh Waddle did not receive any challengers.

In Lone Grove, incumbents Butch Kinslow and Jeff Matthews will each retain their seats on the city council, and Ratliff City Trustees Micah Newell and Bobby Davis will each retain their positions.

In Ardmore, Commissioners David Plesher and John Credle, Jr. each secured a second term on the Ardmore City Commission. It was a different situation for the political newcomers after each faced off against multiple challengers in 2021.

Uncontested local races have become a norm for many cities and town across Carter County. According to The Ardmoreite last year, nobody filed for two vacant seats for 2023 municipal elections in Ratliff City and both incumbents from Lone Grove up for reelection at the time also received no challengers¹.

The length of term varies by city and town. In Ardmore and Healdton, commissioners and councilors serve staggered 3-year terms²³. In Ratliff City, trustees serve staggered 4-year terms⁴.

Healdton voters wanting to cast ballots in the local election will have to register with the Carter County Election Board by Friday, March 8. Local elections will be held on Tuesday, April 2.

1. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=4EF91BAB151D4C6BB3C86C9C736E96DC&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F194079A92A062DC0 – Retrieved 8 Feb 2024 ↩︎
2. https://library.municode.com/ok/healdton/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CH_ARTVIEL_S6-2ELTENOELET – Retrieved 8 Feb 2024 ↩︎
3. https://library.municode.com/ok/ardmore/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTICH_ARTVIEL_S34COOVTETHYENOELLANOEL ↩︎
4. https://codemgmt.net/ratliff-city-oklahoma/ ↩︎