Rhonda Markum clinches District 3 seat on Payne County Commission
Aug. 24—District 3 in Payne County will have a new commissioner in January. Current District 3 assistant Rhonda Markum joined a select group of women in Oklahoma elected to the office of county commissioner when she won the Republican nomination and, lacking a Democratic opponent, claimed her seat on the Payne County Board of Commissioners against Sheryl Arthur Lacy in Tuesday's primary runoff election.
Markum easily clinched the victory with 1,707 or 60.7% of the 2,812 votes cast to Arthur's 1,105 or 39.3%.
She had led the field of candidates with 42.99% in the June 28 primary that eliminated former District 3 Commissioner Kent Bradley. Lacy, a legacy candidate whose father Jim Arthur served as the District 3 Commissioner for 16 years, received 30.3% of the vote in that election.
This year's race for Payne County Commissioner was an unusual one, with two women vying not just for a seat on the board of commissioners, but in a district with road maintenance responsibilities. In 2019, out of 231 county commissioners in the state, only seven were women.
Markum, who served as an assistant to two different County Commissioners, is well prepared, having already completed most of the training required for the top job, her boss District 3 Commissioner Rocky Blasier previously told the News Press.
Markum said she understands the job better than most people stepping into the role, having seen it up close for the past eight years.
She's comfortable on a tractor but says her job isn't to run the heavy equipment — that's why she has a road foreman and a crew. Her job as commissioner is to set priorities and budgets and to serve as an administrator for the district and the county.
Her first order of business will be to assess the condition of the roads in District 3. She wants to look for alternate sources of funding and plans to work with nearby tribal governments whenever possible.
She doesn't plan to pave more miles of road any time soon, instead focusing on maintaining what is already there and serving the residents of District 3, which covers the western half of the county.
Markum said she was grateful to all her supporters and the people who worked behind the scenes to help her campaign. She called Blasier, who paved the way for her when he chose not to seek re-election, her No. 1 supporter.
Markum and Lacy both agreed it was a hard-fought but clean campaign.
Lacy wished Markum luck in her new role and said she would support her efforts on behalf of the county but warned she doesn't plan to step aside.
"I may not be your county commissioner, but my dedication to the district does not die," Lacy said. "... We'll see what she can do with the next four years and I'll come back and run again next time."
