By Rex Hogan
Published on July 24, 2008

The campaign to become the next Canadian County Court Clerk is pitting four co-workers against one another to succeed their boss who is retiring.

Two of the candidates are Republicans and two are Democrats. None of them have run for public office before.

It’s the only county race with Democrats in it. The winner of the Republican and Democrat primaries on July 29 will face off in the Nov. 4 general election.

Court Clerk Dee Ray is retiring after serving six years as the Canadian County court clerk and working 30 years with the county.

Ray said there are some rules about the campaign and all of the deputies know them.
“Everybody knows that they can’t campaign on county time,“ she said.

“Is there a little stress here at times? Yes, there is,“ she said.

Ray said she has not “publicly” supported any of her four deputies.

The two Republican candidates are Allen Arnold and Marie Ramsey. The two Democratic candidates are Sherry Murray and Anna Hrdy.

Ramsey of El Reno has worked at the court clerk’s office for 13 years.

“It’s a lot of hard work, but I grew up on a farm so I’m not shy about working hard,” she said.

Arnold of Calumet has worked at the office for three and a half years.

“In addition to my primary duties, I am responsible for the entire inventory in the judicial building. I am also the sole support staff for the court clerk deputy at the Gary E. Miller Children’s Justice Center,” he said.

Hrdy is one of the two Democratic candidates. She has been working at the court clerk’s office for almost 20 years.

“I’ve been there the longest and am most familiar with the work. I think I’m the only one who has worked under three court clerks,” she said.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’ve been taking signs around the county.”

Murray has been a deputy at the court clerk’s office for almost seven years. She said campaigning to get onto the November ballot has “been a lot of hard work, but it’s been exciting.”

Murray said Ray has talked to all four candidates about how to conduct themselves at work.

“She told us not to discuss it (the campaign) at work. It hasn’t been bad, we all get along pretty good. I think we’re all doing good about it,” she said.

Murray said she has been emphasizing her ability and skills.

“In the past seven years, through good work ethic, enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, I have had the good fortune to work in various divisions of the court, and with a willingness to always accept more responsibility, now hold the position as assistant supervisor in the Civil Division of the District Court,” she said.