Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel made the following comments Friday night in response to the petition filed by his defeated opponent requesting a hand recount by the Oklahoma County Election Board.
Republican Darrel Sorrels lost by 74,487 votes.
“Apparently Darrel Sorrels does not believe in our system of democracy, nor does he trust Oklahoma voters to cast their votes for the person they believe is most qualified to serve as Sheriff.
“I am honored that 163,839 or 65% of Oklahoma County voters cast their ballot for me to serve another term as their Sheriff. I believe it is pure harassment and total lunacy that Sorrels and his band of conspiracy-minded supporters would spend more than $25,000 to make the Election Board hand recount the ballots cast in this election. We know that Sorrels was accompanied to the Election Board yesterday by his attorney Stephen Jones, Al Gerhart of the Sooner Tea Party, and conspiracy theorist Charles Key. Evidently, the only person not available to accompany Sorrels yesterday was Elvis.
“I think a great question is who is really paying for this and what is the source of the $25,800 to try and overturn the will of the people.
“A hearing will be held Wednesday, November 14 at 9:00 a.m. where I will be represented by an attorney. I am confident in the ability of our citizens to know what they were doing on Election Day.”
Whoever doesn’t think that a re-count is in order is the true lunatic . Whetsel could not have possibly won, and if he did it wasn’t due to democratic voter’s. Whetsel has had the position way,way,way to long. His cheesy remark about the Mr. Sorrels not trusting the democratic voting citizen’s is nothing more than a insincere slam towards the public. . I don’t know a single person that voted for Whetsel. I am glad that there is a recount.. Where did Whetsel get his funding to run in the first place one might wonder. He stinks.
Why would Mr Sorrels be doing this?
At the same time why is the sheriff complaining about it?
It’s no skin off of his nose….then maybe he has something to hide?
Not at all chasing conspiracy theories here, this. Just seems strange.
Mr. McCarville, do you have any thoughts about this?
Mark, Mr. Sorrels’ supporters can’t believe he lost…and surely not by the margin he did. I live in Midwest City (where Mr. Sorrels does) and I don’t know anyone who supported him. I’ve heard just the opposite from his supporters…that they don’t know anyone who supported Sheriff Whetsel. Most recounts don’t change anything and unless there’s some monumental discovery, this one likely won’t either, the margin being almost 75,000 votes.
My gut says this is going to be some challenge of the straight party voting. Having sat through a number of recounts in the past, I know that if someone marks straight party, and then votes for individuals, the counting process ignores the straight party mark. I venture to guess that Sorrels will challenge these “mixed signal” voters and ask that those voting straight Republican but for Whetsel individually bec counted for him. Stephen Jones is a good lawyer — I do not envy the position of Doug Sanderson or Paul Ziriax as they go through any recount process.
Well, one thing is for sure – this is going to be interesting. I have never heard of a recount with a margin like this one. It strikes me that there must be something I don’t know. I am out of the loop on this effort.
As you know, I supported Darrell Sorrels. My support became much stronger the better I got to know him, and the more I looked at Whetsel’s past, which is sadly under-reported. I wonder what the result of the illegal sign making investigation will be, since I can see multiple felonies committed there, and whoever was supervising has not been charged or publicly identified. That is a big deal, and it’s not going to go away quietly.
A number of people have much to answer for in this race. There are a lot of places besides H&H to go, that actually have a problem with a sheriff who fought for the Brady bill and against concealed carry, nationally. Republican office holders who supported the democrat can count on blowback for their actions, as well. So can former public officials, and those who would run for office down the road.
I await the results of the recount with intense interest. Wonder what the percentage of straight party GOP voters will be?
Steve, I believe Pat McFerron has this pegged; likely any challenge will hinge on straight GOP ballots that include a vote for Whetsel. There is precedent to count such votes individually rather than as straight party. But I’m unaware of a legal challenge to that procedure in the past, so it will be interesting to see what the Jones/Gerhart/Terrill/Key group comes up with. Your position on Whetsel’s view of the right to carry is 20 years dated; he did support Brady, but shortly after doing so said he realized the impact it had on ordinary gun owners and reversed himself. He has since been an advocate of the 2nd Amendment and thats among the reasons the Oklahoma Rifle Association has honored him several times in the last few years. It is my sense that the “investigation” into sign-making is a non-starter and is going nowhere; time will tell. Regardless how the vote challenge turns out, it is clear that Whetsel enjoys support vastly superior to that of Sorrels. I wrote earlier that Sorrels would be the heads-on favorite to follow Whetsel in the sheriff’s office; that was predicated on a decent showing against Whetsel and before Whetsel crushed him and before this legal challenge developed. As with all such things, time and circumstances will be the determinants.
I might well be wrong in my earlier comment. Don’t be suprised if the charge is about ballot security (which is left to the county Sheriff’s office).